Her expensive heels tap on the marble floors of her generous home. She clicks her way down the hall to the front office. Her spine is ramrod straight and her hair is tightly wound into a French bun. A light dab of perfume wafts from the hem of her skirt and the edge of the collar of her starched blouse. She does a quick tug of her perfectly manicured fingers against the bottom of her suit coat, pulling down to erase any evidence of a wayward wrinkle. Her tight matching skirt with a slight slit at the back stretches with each step. One last tilt of her chin and she pushes the doors open and commands the room with her entrance.

Both Janice and Manuel stiffen when she enters, each for different reasons. Manuel knows this woman holds everything dear in her hands, including his wife.

Janice strives to meet up to Cindra's expectations and somehow feels like she falls short. Adoration is too small of a word. To Janice, Cindra is practically a god. A standard that Janice, despite her many efforts, could never achieve. Janice, years ago, lopped off her beautiful long hair to adopt a style more similar to Cindra's and she dresses more and more like her every day. But not exactly, as that could be insulting, after all, she needs some distinction.

Cindra completes her walk into the room with a distinct plunk of a thick manila folder on the desk as she turns the corner to the back of the desk. The glitter of her oversized diamond ring flashes through the room like paparazzi at a movie opening. Both onlookers squint and recover.

She turns to look at the 2 in front of her. She knows her power over them and intends to use them over and again. Cindra knows her position in life and she had to scratch and crawl her way there and no one and nothing was going to take her down. She built her tower of protection out of manipulation, deceit, bribery and coercion. She is the puppet master and she will win.

Before her are her two greatest assets. These two will get her what she wants and needs. The only thing in her life that she cannot control, they will help her get. And that is her son. She is intent on it and in turn, her grandson. Her son will again see her worth. Inside, deep inside, what she really craves is her sons love and acceptance, but the hard shell of her heart can only see the control. Cindra despises losing above anything else. Mark has slipped away, for now, but if her plans all work out, he will be back and this time for good.

"Sit" was her command and sit they did. She directs her attention to Manuel.

"I have purchased 3 separates spaces for your clinics, the owner of the clinic chain is Arellano Enterprises. There is a business bank account with generous funds in it for you to purchase all the medical equipment and supplies you need. You have an appointment at the bank to sign all the necessary paperwork to get that started. There are documents registered that show that you, Manuel is the holder of the corporation. However, you will sign over that company to me today. I will not date the sale documents and I will hold them here. At such time that you have fulfilled your obligations, I will shred them and you will retain ownership. But let's be clear. My son will not know of my involvement, nor will my husband. The moment my son is your business partner I will step back. I only want the best for my son and he will not accept my help, so this is the way to ensure his and my grandson's future."

Manuel knew not to disagree with Cindra and he took the contracts and signed where he needed to. Manuel deeply resented her and could hardly keep the anger from shaking his fingers. He would do this one last thing for her so he could finally be free. If his clinics do well, he wouldn't need Cindra's help anymore. He would be able to support his family without her, and now that Janice is working as well, he wouldn't need to borrow anymore to keep her happy either. Time was all he needed.

She turns her serious face to Janice.

"Janice, I have purchased the old company where Aliss worked. It is time she went back to work there. You need to encourage her to do so. Go and see Don, her old boss. He already has instructions and a space in the office for you. You will be the new office manager as he is now the president and CEO. He is going to offer her the position as CFO. He does not know that I purchased the company, only my holdings company. Aliss is not to know."

Janice was thrilled to be working with Cindra. She wanted to learn everything she could about the woman. Aliss had become a stepping stone to her dreams and Cindra was the epitome of her achievements. Cindra was the Governors wife and staunch business owner all on her own. She is also president of multi corporations and a woman who commanded respect wherever she went. The vision of stylish perfection whether is business clothes or casual. Her home impeccably decorated with each piece handpicked by Cindra and regularly replaced as style and fashion dictated. Her vehicles were never more than 2 years old. Every staff member of her home was perfectly uniformed and strict in their execution of their duties. One slip up and they would be replaced. Cindra understood that a good wage made staff more faithful and she paid accordingly. And in many ways so did they.

Janice in her efforts to emulate Cindra was always overspending. She, at the current time, was a smaller and poorer version of her deity, but to society she was considered stylish and wealthy.
Cindra knew that Janice emulated her. After all, knowledge is power. She would occasionally offer feigned affection to Janice and would schedule regular lunches to foster that relationship. She knew that Mark loved his wife and so Cindra needed control on Aliss too. Aliss could not be approached directly and needed a gentler hand. The way to Aliss was going to have to be through Janice. Such deep devious plans, but necessary to reach the goal.

Janice stayed behind after Manuel left the office. "Cindra, I was wondering if you thought more about selling the accounting firm to me? I am sure I can get Manuel to pay for it and it would give more incentive for Aliss to come and work there." She offered with hesitation and nerves.

Cindra thought this girl was stupid. Aliss would never work for a friend. That would change the dynamic of their relationship. It is better that Aliss sees Janice as an equal or it wasn't going to work at all. Some people are better as workers rather than leaders. However, she needed Janice so she was going to have to appease her.

"Yes, I have. If you can get Aliss to come work at the firm again, I am prepared to offer you a partnership based on our agreement. Aliss must be working full time and for a minimum of 3 months and then we will talk contracts, ok?" She internally swallowed a small amount of bile. "Lunch on Thursday at 1, remember?" She said to Janice as she ushered her out the front door.
"See you there!" Said an excited Janice. She was always happy to be seen in public with Mrs. Cindra Conners, it made doors open for her in ways never before. For Janice, anything that can propel her forward was useful and anything that held her back was not. She didn't keep useless things around.

Janice's heart was getting colder by the day. No one knew the little secrets that Janice had. She was good at getting people to see her as simple and uncomplicated. Janice had goals and she was going to use everything at her hand to get there. She was collecting things on all of the people in her life. Some scandalous and some not so much. But collect she did. In time she was going to take them all down one by one. Soon she will prove to Cindra that she was her equal, and then maybe they could take on the world, together.