Chapter 11: Marigold's Past

Clank, boom, clank

Angela looked through her pots and cooking wear on a lower shelf in her kitchen. "Ah, there it is," she said while pulling out a light brown wood cutting board and rolling pin. She placed the cutting board on the island, looked through her fridge, and pulled out the pasta dough she had made earlier. She placed the pasta dough on the cutting board, turned to Marigold, and asked, "Would you like to roll the dough?" Marigold nodded and walked over to the cutting board. Marigold took the rolling pin and began rolling out the dough while Angela went through her cabinets, looking for flour. Angela grabbed the flour out of one of her upper cabinets while saying, "I hope this pasta turns out good, I've never actually made pasta from scratch before, and I hate looking up recipes. I just do trial and error, learning from my mistakes." Angela placed the flour next to the cutting board and said, "So my darling daughter in law, tell me about yourself." Marigold stared at the pasta dough that she (Marigold) was rolling, saying, "What do you want to know?" Angela said, "Well, everything, honestly. Your interests, your goals, your family, what school you went to, who are you as a person, etc…" Marigold began nervously laughing, saying, "Uh, there's not really much to me. I'm kind of a boring person." Angela said, "Nonsense! You won the heart of my Beau Bear, so you must be an interesting girl." Marigold looked at Angela with a soft smile, saying, "Beau Bear?" Angela said, "Ah yes. My son hates that nickname now, but when he was younger, I used to always call him Beau Bear because he was as sweet as a teddy bear. He still is if you ask me." Marigold thought, 'He's supposedly sweet but he's a liar.' Angela looked at Marigold and said, "Goodness child, every time I look at you, you always seem so deep in thought." Marigold said, "Oh, uh, I, uh… Think a lot. I often find myself lost in thought." Angela said, "I was like that too when I was younger. Always deep in thought… Have anything you want to talk about?" Marigold said, "Um… Not really…" Angela said, "Well, if you ever want to talk, I'm always here to listen. Sometimes, we girls need the opinion of another woman… Honestly, I'm really happy you're living here now. It gives me a break from being surrounded by all these men, and I've always wanted a daughter." Marigold said, "I know what you mean… I've always wanted some sort of mother figure to talk to… Someone I can go to about women's problems and not feel so alone." Angela said, "Good Heavens child, don't you have a mother you can talk to?" Marigold said, "My mother died when I was very young, so I never had the chance to really bond with another woman." Angela said, "But what about a sister or a teacher or friends." Marigold sighed, saying, "I never had a chance to bond with anyone. I don't have any sisters, I was an only child and no teachers or really any friends for me… I haven't really had any woman I could talk to." Angela said, "Oh, you poor dear… I am truly sorry for what happened to you, but might I ask how your mother died?" Marigold said, "Well, when I was 5 years old me and my mother were on a picnic waiting for my father to come and join us. While we were waiting, I decided to run through the grass while my mother chased after me. We were having so much fun… She caught me and tossed me up in the air… That was the last good memory I had of her. I took her hand and I wanted to explore everything outside… I was a fearless child so 'creepy wildlife,' didn't bother me at all, not a snake, not a lizard, not a toad, not a bug, and not a spider. Well, I wanted to touch everything, and that's what I did. My mother started to get nervous because she hated all the bugs and spiders, so we walked back to our picnic area and waited for my father. I was still not done exploring so I tried to see what I could find by our picnic area… And that's when I found it… The thing that would cause my mother's death… It was a big brown spider, wrapped up in a thick web. I was so fascinated I called my mother over to look at it. She didn't know that I was looking and trying to touch a highly dangerous and very venomous spider. By the time she got over to me and saw what I was looking at, the spider was getting ready to attack me because I was bothering it. My mother pulled me away and it bit her and then it jumped off of her and bit me… The effect of the spider's venom was almost instant… We both passed out after we got bit… Luckily someone found us and we were transported to a hospital. They were able to find the spider that bit us and gave us the anti-venom… Both me and my mother were fighting for our lives and luckily I was saved from death but… The venom over took my mother's body and by the time she had received the anti-venom it was too late. The venom already sent my mother into kidney failure and just 4 days later she was gone… I think about my mother all the time and since then I've been scared of spiders and bugs… I'm not who I was and my father was never the same after he lost my mother… It was like something in him died and he no longer cared for me…" Angela said, "Oh no, dear! You poor thing… I hope you know your mother died a hero. She sacrificed her life to try to save you… She truly loved you." Tears filled Marigold's eyes, and she (Marigold) said, "And I loved her too. I miss her every day, but I know one day I see her again in Heaven… Since my mother's death, I tried to do well in school. Friends were put on the back burner for me until I had no friends anymore. I worked as hard as I could, hoping one day I could get a decent job and support me and my father so he wouldn't have to work anymore. I studied as hard as I could and ended up graduating at the top of my class with a 4.0 GPA. I had so much determination and I wasn't interested in having fun so I missed out on dances, festivals, and plays, school games, and fun days, etc… Even school field trips… I never wanted to go because I always wanted my focus to be on getting a great job to support my dad." Angela said, "But why would you need to support your father? Is he ill?" Marigold sighed, saying, "Not ill… Just doesn't want to work. He wants to retire early but doesn't want to work to do so… He wanted me to do it and I thought if I did he would start loving me again… So I put everything aside, my entire life to make sure I could afford to take care of my father and I got 10 full ride scholarships. Accepted in some of the top schools in the country but… My father wanted me to stay home and work… He really wanted to retire so… I gave all of it up and never accepted any of the scholarships so I could take care of my dad… The plan was always for me to get a job and give him my entire paycheck so that he can put that money away for when he stops working." Angela scoffed, saying, "That is INSANE! How can a father do that to his own daughter, and how on earth does he expect you to get a good, high paying job without the proper tools to get that high paying job?! I mean if Beau had the scholarships you did I would've let him go to whatever college he wanted to go to and the AUDACITY he has to try to take your ENTIRE paycheck just so he can 'retire early,' boils my blood. I am so sorry child…" Marigold looked at Angela, saying, "It's alright… I managed… I was finally able to obtain a job at The Straw Cafe after 2 months of job searching and interviews… I was so proud of myself but it wasn't enough for my father…. Nothing I did was ever enough for him…" Angela placed her (Angela's) hand on Marigold's shoulder, saying, "Well child, you don't ever have to worry about that here. You are an heiress and you can do whatever you want… Whatever you can dream of, so if you want to go back to school you can or if you want to start a business you can do that too! We will support you, and I know Beau Bear will support you as well." A soft smile came to Marigold's face, and she (Marigold) said, "Thank you Mrs.Bax…" Angela said, "Oh please, call me Angela." Marigold said, "Thank you Angela… I guess this is all just such a big change for me… I never imagined that I would be an heiress married to a Billionaire…" Angela said, "Oh I know the feeling. I felt the same way when I married Nathaniel… He was rich but I didn't know that at the time… I was selling roses, trying to make ends meet when he came to me and bought the entire basket. He was so handsome, so kind, and so well mannered. He was a true gentleman and swept me off my feet. He was extremely chivalrous. He came to me every day and bought all my roses just so he could take me out on dates. I had never met anyone like him and after a year he asked me to marry him and I said yes. At the time, he just started The Bax Company, and trust me, we have been through a lot with it… Even almost losing it at one point, but my Nathianel never gave up, and I stayed by his side. He built the company up, and now it's worth billions, and he passing it down to Beau. Yes, yes, my husband is something else. He gets on my nerves sometimes, but I couldn't imagine my life without my love. We've been married for 30 years now, and I have to say there isn't anyone on this earth that I would've wanted to go through ups and downs with other than my Nathaniel Love." Marigold said, "Wow, 30 years is a long time… How do you do it?" Angela chuckled, saying, "Communication and Prayer. There have been a lot of times where we've had our fair share of arguments and sometimes we would get angry at each other but we never gave up on our marriage and we always stuck by one another and I wouldn't want to be with anyone else." Marigold said, "Wow, I didn't know Mr.Bax… I mean, Nathianel had such a sweet side about him and was so committed." Angela said, "Ah yes, my love is a huge softy. He tries to hide it, but he is…Now enough about my love story. What about yours? How did you and Beau meet?" Marigold thought, 'Angela seems so nice, and she talks so highly of Beau and Nathaniel… Maybe I should keep what happened to me to myself… Just for a little while.' Marigold said, "Well actually Beau gave me a ride to an interview and our relationship just blossomed from there… Um… We don't really know each other all that well… I wish I knew a little more about him so I could understand him better…" Angela smiled and said, "Oh what would you like to know? I have tons of stories about Beau and his past… Maybe they'll help you understand Beau… Here let me tell you one."