Get together

Mrs Daisy woke up very worried, she was expecting her guests but she didn't know the exact time they were coming. "It doesn't matter," she assured herself, "I'd just wait here". She picked up her cellphone and called Angeline her PA.

"I won't be at the office for the time being" she said

"...but make sure everything is in order"

"yes ma'am, please accept my condolences"... Angeline replied

       Mrs Daisy stared aimlessly at her image in the mirror and suddenly, like something clicked in head, she picked up the telephone and called the maid quarters.

"hello madam, what do you need?" came Rose from the receiving end

"relay this message to the head cook" Mrs Daisy spoke.

"Tell her to prepare the meals I selected, I'm expecting some guests later today, and I don't want to be embarrassed." Mrs Daisy paused.

"make sure Treasure is well prepared for school" she spoke again,

" make her favourite for breakfast, I will be down there in fifteen minutes"

..."yes madam" Rose replied

      Treasure had stayed up all night studying and practicing her ballet moves. She had woken up a bit late for school but her maidservants made sure she prepared quickly and neatly too. Ruth, one of the maidservants escorted Treasure to the dinning room, holding her backpack for her, still accessing Treasure's uniform to make sure they had worn everything right. Treasure was lost observing her surrounding, she kept asking herself what was going on as she watched Mr Lockhart, the Butler, direct the other manservants who were each holding a tray of wine and wine glasses to the other dinning room. He spoke words to another set of manservants who nodded in affirmative and walked towards the kitchen. Then he beckoned on two maidservants who were struggling with a trolley on which stood a pile of clean dishes. They left it and hurried to him, he said something to them that Treasure couldn't hear and they hurried on, leaving the trolley of dishes there. Then, on Mr Lockhart's orders, another manservant came and wheeled the trolley into the other dinning room. Treasure couldn't hold it anymore when she saw her mom descending from the stairs in one of her most expensive dresses. Treasure's nose twitched from the fragrance of the perfume her mother had worn.

"Volare!" Treasure guessed the name of the perfume and turning back to Ruth, she asked...

"what's going on? What is it with all these preparations?"

Ruth was about to speak in reply when Mrs Daisy called out to Treasure.

"Sweetheart! come over here." She said in the most loving tone

"good morning mom" Treasure greeted, and Mrs Daisy drew her into a warm embrace. Treasure's nose was now filled with the fragrance of the perfume, that she thought her sinuses were going to explode.

"Good morning my angel, come, let's have breakfast."

Mrs Daisy replied holding Treasure's hand and leading her to their private dinning room. Ruth left them to drop Treasure's backpack in the car

        Treasure and her mom both ate quietly, until Treasure broke the silence. "you look pretty today mom, but don't you think this outfit is too sophisticated and uncomfortable for your office work? have you got guests coming today?" She asked still eating her food. Mrs Daisy smiled warmly.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier." she said.

" your step siblings and their moms will be coming today in respect of your father's funeral, that is why I'm getting the house prepared for them. Treasure's face brightened. Unlike her mom, she had never resented her step siblings or their moms, and now they were coming to her home, she did not only feel delighted but also eager to meet them.

     "Wow mom!, am so excited!" She exclaimed.

"when exactly are they coming? Have they been informed beforehand?" She asked excitedly... Mrs Daisy was surprised at her daughter's curiosity.

"Yes, they were informed, Mrs Daisy replied still dumbfounded.

"But I wasn't told the exact time they'd be arrivig, they are all coming from really far places, and I'm sure they can't all arrive at the same time since they live in different places too"

Treasure smiled in return and checking her wristwatch, she said alarmed

"I must be on my way, I don't want to be late." She said getting up on her feet...

"here, have some cookies"... Mrs Daisy said holding out a tray of butter cookies to her.

"no mom, she replied, "I'm getting out of shape and I intend to keep my body weight in check from now on" she replied.

"Please do well to have them entertained mom, and don't fret okay?.. I will be back soon." She said smiling and walking out of the dinning room to the hallway.

     At school, Treasure kept thinking about her mom and her guests.

"I hope she's handling things well" she muttered to herself. "Hi Treasure, is everything alright?" Jake asked grinning at her.

"Yes" she replied, I'm just..."

"yeah, a little worried about your step siblings and their moms coming over to your house right?" Jake asked interrupting her. Treasure was taken aback..

"How did you know that?" She asked a bit annoyed...

"I'm sorry Treasure" he replied.

"but its all over the news" Treasure looked him over and walked away angrily, while Vanessa, Lexi and Romane scolded him for being such a jerk. "Nothing of the Marcus is a secret anyway" Treasure said to herself. Without knowing, she bumped into Claude at the hallway and the startled girl began blabbering in her French accent...

"Seriously?!! 'ave you finally gone blind?! Or..eez eet ze trauma of 'aving to entertain your step siblings zat 'as caused you zis?..she stepped closer to Treasure and grinning, she said.

"maybe you are worried about your inheritance right?" she asked

..."Shut up!" Lexi yelled walking in on the two of them, and looking to Claude she said

"Claude, how could you be so.petty? How dare you speak of Treasure's inheritance like that? we all know that whatever you'd own, would still be worth less compared toTreasure's, so stop being jealous and learn to appreciate what you get." Holding Treasure arm in arm, she said.

"Come now Treasure, let's get out of here, you shouldn't be in the presence of such a person as Claude, she's infective"...They both walked away leaving Claude dumbstruck. She had always been jealous of Treasure, but she had never imagined the real reason behind her increased hatred for her would be revealed like this. Treasure's had always been better than her and she had lived as a shadow because of Treasure. Claude's dad was also a rich business tycoon but his wealth was nothing compared to late lord Marcus', and her mom was a typical house wife doing nothing other than shopping and giving orders everyday, whereas, Treasure's mom was the CEO of a textile company named after her favourite shopping mall in Paris, 'Rendezvous'. She was already a woman of affluence even before she got married to Marcus. Everyone including Claude's mom had admired her but that had only added to Claude's disappointment and ill behavior towards Treasure. She was still lost in thoughts when one of her close friends, Bianca, a slender British girl with brown hair and freckles on her cheeks approached her.

"is everything all right Claude?" She asked touching Claude's shoulders.

"yes"...Claude replied rather coldly and walked away.

        Mrs Daisy's mansion was finally ready to receive its guest. The servants had done excellently well in decorating the house, and after Mrs Daisy had inspected everything, she sat down in the magnificent living room waiting for her so called guest. It was already 11 am when a car drove into her premises. Mr Lockhart opened the huge door and ushered in the family lawyer, Barrister Malcolm.

"Oh!, it's so good to see you..um...He said trying to remember Mrs Daisy's name...

"Its Daisy"... She said ushering him to a sit

"Aha!..yesss...Mrs Daisy Adama Marcus, late lord Marcus'..um..third wife I suppose,...the other two are divorced anyways" he muttered to himself.

"I'm I right madam?"...he asked while sitting and Mrs Daisy smiled nodding in affirmative. When he had settled down, Mrs Daisy signalled Lockhart and he quickly left to get Mr Malcolm a drink. Mrs Daisy knew too well the man sitting before her, in as much as he was Lord Marcus' trusted friend, she knew well she could not afford to make any mistake before him. Mr Lockhart came back with Mr Malcolm's favorite wine and a champagne flute, he grinned in excitement.

"This is excellent..." He said and after taking a sip, he began.

"I must say..um..Mrs Marcus, you look stunning today" Mrs Daisy winced as Mr Malcolm addressed her as "Mrs Marcus", ever since she left lord Marcus without a divorce, she had refused to be addressed as Mrs Marcus, she felt it was bad luck to her to be addressed with the same name with two other women who were once married to her husband.

"thank you Barrister Malcolm"...she managed to say adjusting her hair in a stylish manner.

"oh, its nothing, at least its the truth, you are prettier than Marcus' ex_wives and girlfriends put together." Mr Malcolm adjusted his tie and continued.. "Speaking of wives, haven't they arrived yet?" He asked and Mrs Daisy's countenance fell.

"its obvious, no one is here yet, and I'm loosing my patience, if not for your advice, I would have had Marcus buried without any care for those sluts he called wives. I could have done it without their help, then maybe next year, you could invite them over for the will, but now I don't...

"Mrs Daisy was interrupted by Mr Lockhart, the butler...

"Madam, they are arriving,..." He said. "that's excellent, please open up the doors and usher them in here, be quick please" Barrister Malcolm spoke.

"Relax Mrs Marcus." he said to Mrs Daisy.

"you'd be fine". Mrs Daisy placed her right hand over her chest and took in a deep breath before exhaling again. "umm...you should know Mrs Marcus, you are the youngest of the other women, so..um..try to be a little bit polite ok?" He said and Mrs Daisy nodded in agreement.

       Few minutes later, a plumpy woman in her late forties, adorned in expensive jewelries, and a plain scarlet gown with a matching stiletto, walked in holding a little boy of about twelve years old, who was an exact replica of her. She stood at the door observing her surrounding while caressing her son's head. They were both blond and their faces carried saucy expressions reminding Mrs Daisy that they were up to no good.

"ahem!!..." The woman cleared her throat signalling her butler to carry her purse. she walked inside with pride in her steps and the little blonde boy walked behind her picking his nose. Before Mrs Daisy could say a word, the woman said to her butler...

"Bernard, the couch please.." The butler quickly got out his duster and began to dust every bit of the furniture clean, and when he was done, the woman sat down putting her hand on her son's shoulders. Mrs Daisy took a deep breath at the insult she had just received and sat down too, trying not to look at Barrister Malcolm. She was about to speak when she was interrupted again...

"are you comfy dear? Do you like it here?" The woman asked her son pretending Mrs Daisy and Barrister Malcolm weren't there.

"why doesn't he try the floors?, it's more comfortable!" Mrs Daisy muttered to herself.

"Ahem...did you say something?" The woman asked but Barrister Malcolm quickly cut in...

"um..I didn't hear a thing...Mrs Daisy Adama Marcus, meet..."

"Enough!..." The woman yelled hushing Barrister Malcolm, I will do the introduction myself". She said adjusting her hair.

"I am Susan Dominic, and this is my son Austin Dominic"... She said caressing the boy's hair. Mrs Daisy stared at her trying to keep a straight face even though she was red with anger...

"yes, I'm Susan Dominic now, since I divorced Marcus long ago, but that didn't stop me from marrying my darling Dominic, amazing right?...she asked grinning before she continued... I'm no fool to leave just like that without having a child for him, you know, to inherit his properties... Hahaha...she laughed excitedly." Mrs Daisy and Barrister Malcolm both exchanged surprised looks. She noticed their stares and grinning, she said.

"I'm quite smart right? I mean what woman in her right senses would divorce a man as wealthy as Marcus, without bearing him a child? I needed to be honoured with my own share of his property, so I only left the house with my asset, my son, Elmer Marcus, with the assurance that Marcus would one day die, leaving his property for my beloved Elmer. I know him like the back of my palms, I'm his first love after all, unlike annoying fleas like you Daisy." She said eyeballing Mrs Daisy. Mr Malcolm quickly diverted her attention...

"But, how is it that none of this was ever on the news?... I mean you even have a son with the so called Dominic and...

"Yes!" She replied coldly, 

"I allow the press only what I feel they should know, and I have a talent for keeping lousy reporters away from me." She said with a smile.

"Anyways..." She continued, I wouldn't have honoured your invitation Malcolm, because Marcus' will won't be read until a year from now, but my first son...Marcus' first son and rightful heir to all of his empire, asked me to be here on his behalf..." She paused and observed Mrs Daisy's countenance.. "Sorry Daisy, you must be shocked, but its the truth dear, my son Elmer Marcus is the rightful heir..." Barrister Malcolm was already getting uncomfortable, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Mrs Daisy's words flew out...

"Susan?"...she called,

"I don't care to know who sent you here, and I am not in anyway interested in Marcus' properties. Your son can have it for all I care. But you should be worried about the other women and their children, as you know, your husband fell over and over again in love and had other children, sons, and maybe daughters who will put you and your son in your places since they are also as greedy as you are.." She paused, and getting on her feet as she was too annoyed to manage her pretence, she said.

"I didn't ask Barrister Malcolm to call you here so we could discuss anything concerning Marcus' properties and I am in no mood for your silly tantrums either. But if you know you can't cooperate and keep your filthy mouth shut, you better get up and leave my house immediately"... Susan was taken aback.

she had always mistaken Mrs Daisy for a quiet lowlife, but now she had seen the spiteful and pompous part of her. She was about to speak when Mr Lockhart interrupted her...

"Madam, another guest just arrived" he said to Mrs Daisy. She took a deep breath and sitting down she said,

"let her in"

       Another woman in her early forties, dark skinned just like Marcus, walked in with a guy in his twenties right behind her. He had a striking resemblance of lord Marcus and Mrs Daisy didn't need to look twice to confirm that he was indeed Lord Marcus' son. She was still observing him when a younger version of the guy, but a more handsome one walked in and held his mother, he was about six years older than Treasure, dark skinned like Marcus, curly dark hair like an African_American with a nicely cut face. They stood at the doorway without any butler like Mrs Susan's, and Barrister Malcolm quickly spoke...

"please do come in Miss Cherry"...she signalled her sons and they all walked majestically to another seat and made themselves comfy. Unlike Mrs Susan, Miss Cherry looked rather rugged and ready for a fight. She was rich, but wasn't as fancy as Mrs Susan or Mrs Daisy, she dressed up in blue jeans and black leather jacket with matching boots just like her sons. She packed her negro hair into a bun with a thick rubber band she had been wearing on her wrist and crossed her legs staring at both Mrs Daisy and Barrister Malcolm as though she was waiting for them to say the rubbish they had wanted to say. Barrister Malcolm quietly spoke,

"umm...Miss cherry this is Mrs Daisy Adama Marcus, Mrs Daisy, meet Miss cherry... eh...Warren, and her sons, charles Marcus and Curtis Marcus... He kept quiet for a while but none of them said hello, so he continued...

"um Miss Warren, Charles, Curtis, meet Mrs Susan and her son, Austin Dominic..." He wanted to say something else when Miss Cherry spoke referring to Mrs Susan...

"I know this bitch, you are the so called Susan, Marcus' first love, but what's up with this pale kid? I thought your son's name was Elmer? Why the sudden change? Have you gone senile all of a sudden? She asked and her children burst into a rude laughter. Mrs Daisy and Barrister Malcolm, observing Mrs Susan's countenance, almost burst out laughing too. Mrs Daisy looked towards Miss Cherry and realized she wasn't even smiling, even with her age, she looked really young and could be mistaken for Charles, her twenty one years old son's girlfriend. She also looked very agile and a bit sturdy unlike Mrs Daisy and Mrs Susan. Mrs Daisy was still wondering how and why Lord Marcus had married such a woman when Mrs Susan replied.

"Be quiet bags of scum!" She said referring to charles and Curtis, and Miss Cherry yelled out in rage.

"your kid is the bag of scum, not mine!" Mrs Susan reddened in anger, but Barrister Malcolm spoke first.

"please that's enough, can we all just have it quiet in here? We are here to discuss a very important matter but...

"those animals are ruining everything..." Someone spoke from the door and their attention was diverted to a young Mexican woman in her early thirties. She looked exactly like a whore, as she was dressed in a pink satin gown, which exposed her thigh and her cleavages, her jewellery glittered, casting colourful lights on her neck and her wrist. Her makeover was so blinding, Mrs Daisy could not even stir at her face. Her red hair hung loosely on her shoulders covering half the tattoo of a huge spider and a gun on her back. She wore a stiletto and stood with her legs apart like a soldier, with one hand on her waist and the other holding a little girl of fifteen years. The girl was beautiful and had Treasure's skin tone, she looked exactly like her mom, with her red hair, pointed nose and brown eyeballs. But unlike her mother, she was decently dressed. The woman stepped away from the door observing her surrounding.

"This is huge! Marcus was a big liar...how dare he buy a bigger mansion than ours for some other woman?" She said aloud referring to her daughter who was also admiring Mrs Daisy's mansion. "I knew I should have married him, maybe he would have gotten us both a private jet"...

"please, Miss Valentina Montilla, come join us over here.." Barrister Malcolm called out to her and quickly, she adjusted her gown, suddenly feeling embarrassed that She had to be brought back from her dream world. She walked to the couch and sat close to Mrs Susan who quickly shifted away from her like she was some kind of big bag of fart. Valentina didn't seem to notice as she continued feeding her eyes with the beauty of the house. Mrs Susan kept a disgusted face, while Miss Cherry observed Valentina closely.

"Umm...Mrs Daisy, Miss Cherry, Mrs Susan, this is umm...Valentina Montilla,...umm...Marcus'...em...Barrister Malcolm searched for the right words to describe Valentina...

"You mean to say prostitute right?" Miss Cherry asked assessing Valentina. "What?!".... Valentina yelled,

"I am Marcus' baby mama!, take correction old hag!..." She said on top of her voice.

"oh be quiet you bunch of nuisance!" Mrs Susan yelled,

"Cherry is right, you are a prostitute!" she said

"My mother is not a prostitute!" Trinidad, Valentina's daughter spoke.

"oh yes, she is! Puke face!" Austin yelled at her, and they all began to yell at each other, on top of their voices. The chaos was becoming unbearable but Barrister Malcolm could not savage the situation. Mrs Daisy quickly grabbed her champagne flute and smashed it on the polished floor. Everyone kept quiet in shock and Mrs Daisy stood on her feet.

"Enough everyone! This is my house, and you are all here for Marcus' funeral, not to yell out your grievances at each other or spread out your dirty under garments here, none of us is happy with the fact that Marcus had other women aside us, but please let's give him some respect and behave ourselves!" As she paused, a deafening silence filled the room. "Valentina..." she continued.

"you and umm...Mrs Daisy stopped to think but Trinidad spoke up...

"Its Trinidad...,"she said

"thank you"... Mrs Daisy said

"Valentina, Trinidad, you both are welcomed, I'm Mrs Daisy, Marcus' third and legal wife, and this is Barrister Malcolm as you know, and we would quickly proceed with the discussion about the funeral arrangements if you don't mind..." She kept quiet for a while but nobody spoke, they were suddenly calm and had focused their attention on her. Barrister Malcolm nodded proudly in affirmative and Mrs Daisy continued... "I wanted each and everyone of us to be here because I didn't want to make decisions that will raise brows..."

Ahem!! Mrs Daisy was interrupted and her gaze went to the door where the noise had come from. There, she saw another woman in her thirties, and a boy of seventeen years standing by her side. She dressed as attractive as Valentina but was a bit decent. Her son was also very handsome and looked very much like Marcus too. She walked in pulling the boy along and when she had gotten to where they sat, she spoke... "perfect afternoon I must say, I am Elizabeth Gregory, and this is my son, Ryan Marcus. I hope I didn't miss anything." She asked as she took a sit. Everyone stared at her and realising that anymore silence could yield more chaos, Mrs Daisy broke the silence.

"Barrister Malcolm, is there anyone else that we should be expecting?" She asked.

"Umm...no, his relatives are ok with whatever decision we make, they'd only attend the funeral and be here a year later for the will, so we can start immediately." Mrs Daisy started the meeting, and surprisingly, there were no further agruments. Soon they were having lunch and as they ate, they discussed.

          Two hours later, they were done with the meeting and they all agreed to perform Marcus' burial rites at Coventry cemetery where he had bought for his funeral, then the reception would take place in any of the most expensive halls in the country too. They were about leaving when Treasure walked in. All their attention was drawn to her and they all stared quietly. Treasure couldn't contain her happiness, she stared at them speechless still standing by the door. Just then, a maidservant hurried to take her back pack from her.

"Treasure baby! You are back, come and give mommy a hug!" She said stretching her arms out. Treasure suddenly felt so shy as she walked sluggishly into her mom's outstretched arms. Mrs Daisy cuddled her calling her different pet names while others watched with awe, at the little girl that got the mighty Marcus to attend a party. When Mrs Daisy had released her, she greeted the other women but they were too stunned to reply, they all admired her beauty, her eloquence and her rare humility.

"This is Treasure Elaine Marcus,...my daughter."  Mrs Daisy said proudly. Everyone including Mr Prescott, Mrs Susan's butler, stared at her in amazement before Barrister Malcolm broke the silence.

"You are indeed a beauty, welcome home." he said.

"I believe you haven't been opportuned to see your step moms and your step siblings like this, have you Elaine? He addressed her.

"no Barrister Malcolm,.." She replied and stepping away from Mrs Daisy, she continued...

"but I  must confess, I'm honoured to have you all here." No one said a word. They had expected Treasure to be rude after all the humiliation and scandals about she and her mother. They expected her to feel hatred towards them, and when she had reacted otherwise.

"Thank you"... Somebody finally broke the silence and they all looked towards the direction of Ryan. Treasure smiled in return but still feeling a bit embarrassed at the others' silence, went up the stairs to her room not minding her mother's call behind her.

          Finally, they all left. Mrs Daisy collapsed into an arm chair.

"finally!" she said

"its all over!" She muttered to herself. Just then, the thought of Treasure ran through her mind and quickly, she hurried up the stairs to see her.

"Can you spare mom some time with you?".. Mrs Daisy asked as she opened the door. Mrs Daisy sat on the bed close to Treasure

"baby, the meeting went well." she said

"we have fixed a date for the funeral. Its on a Saturday, so it won't meddle with your school..." Mrs Daisy paused and observed her daughter's countenance, but Treasure's face was expressionless

"Forget about the way they acted today baby, that shouldn't bother you at all ok?" She said.

"Yes mom, its ok, I understand". Treasure replied.