Vindicated

“Boss, that's... I can't.... But-"

"You're hereby fired from this company for this stupid action of yours. I don't want to see you anywhere near here, or I'll have you arrested. Get out of the building now!!" He said.

"But-"

"Get out of the building immediately!!" Mr. Damon ordered.

He slowly turned, realizing that he had just messed up big time.

With one heavy step in front of the order, it was becoming surreal to him how quick he had put himself in trouble.

What was going to happen to him? Where was he going to go from here? He was just an orphan with no loved ones or friends, how was he going to survive without a job? Was Ryan going to come after him? His life was flashing through his eyes. He could not believe he was about to lose everything-

"He's foaming!! He's foaming!!" The receptionist suddenly screamed in terror.

Just as he was about to step his foot out of the door, he heard her scream and stopped at his track.

Right before everyone, Ryan was shaking vigorously on the spot. His eyes had turned pure white and just the same way water gushed from a fountain, foam gushed from his mouth. His veins were evident to everybody.

This horrific sight occurred for about seven seconds and he immediately collapsed to the floor like a heap of clothes.

Everyone gathered around terrified by what just happened and George immediately ran to the lifeless body. He checked his pulse and the heartbeat.

Unresponsive.

"Someone call an ambulance!!" George ordered in fear, as he began to perform desperate chest compressions on Ryan.

The noise brought attention from outside the room, and soon the whole building was in chaos, everyone trying to find their way through to see what happened to Mr. Ryan.

"Someone call an ambulance, right now!!" He yelled again, when he noticed that no one bulged the first time he made that command.

A security men immediately walked in, informing them that an ambulance was here already.

"Wait for me. I'll follow you guys!" Mr. Damon said.

He turned and gave George a quick glance before heading out of the office with the security men and lifeless Ryan.

LATER IN THE DAY…..

"The boss is asking for you. He wants you to come see him in his office immediately,” a staff notified George.

"He hasn't gone home yet?"

"No. He's been looking for you. Now that I found you, he's looking for you. Go meet him right now. You know he doesn't anyone to keep him waiting,” the staff replied.

At once, George’s intestines churned and twisted as he dragged his feet into the elevator to the top floor. This was exactly what he was avoiding - to see the boss.

He got out of the elevator and walked to the door of his boss. He knocked lightly and prayed that Mr. Damon would ignore the knock.

"Come in, George,” came the baritone reply from inside the office.

He sighed and walked into the office.

"First of all, how are you doing?" Mr. Damon asked.

"I'm... I'm fine sir,” he replied, after which a minute long silence ensued.

"First of all, I want to thank you for saving my life. Never would I have imagined that my own personal assistant would try to poison me.“

"George?"

"Yes sir?"

"You saved my life today. I would've died if not for you. Despite the fact that we were not that close, you decided to take the risk of exposing that snake, and because of you, I'm alive. No amount of "thank you"s would be enough to show my appreciation, so I want reward you the little way I can."

He brought out his cheque book and opened a blank page. He took out a pen and placed it on cheque book and then he pushed the cheque towards me.

"I want to give you a blank cheque. I want to make you a rich man overnight for saving me. Write out a figure there. Any figure want. Don't think twice about the figure, or worry that I wouldn't be able to provide it. Write the figure you want there.”

George smiled.

"I don't want the money?"

His reply got Damon surprised and impressed at the same time.

"You don't want my money?"

"Yes sir?"

He smiled.

"Name whatever you want then. Countless plots of lands. Houses in Hollywood. Lamborghinis and Ferraris. Shares in the biggest companies around the globe. Name it, and I will it happen,” he said.

"I don't want anything from you sir,” this time, he looked even more complex.

"I don't want anything, sir. You don't need to pay me.”

"But I need to. You saved my life. How can you go without taking substantial for your bravery?"

"I did it because you're a good man, sir. I did not plan to get any money from it. I'm okay with the simple life I'm living. I understand that you want to reward me and I appreciate it, but it would be wrong of me to take anything from you,” he explained to him.

He looked stunned, he took his time to study George.

"You're the first man who has ever rejected my money. You know that, right?"

"Oh no, sir! I don't want you to see it as an insult, sir It's just values and-"

"I still insist on rewarding you. Maybe not with money and luxury, but I have a very bright idea. First you have to promise me that you won't say no."

"But sir, I already told you that you don't need to-"

"Promise me you won't say no,” he insisted.

George let out a sigh. "Okay sir. I won't say no"

"Good. I want you to marry my granddaughter."

"I didn’t get you sir,” he stammered, the look on his showed that he believed that his ears were playing tricks on him.

"I want you to marry my granddaughter,” he repeated.

George opened his mouth to speak, but he was short of words. He had no idea of the next words to tell him.

"B... But mr Damon-"

Damon raised his hands in an attempt to stop George from saying anything further.

"Remember you said you were not going to say no to my request."

"If I may ask sir, why did you choose to give me such a reward? Why do you want me to get married to your granddaughter?" He quizzed, out of curiosity.

"You saved my life today. You could've just decided to let it be and forget about it. You had a job to keep, but you decided to risk it all, together with your life in order to expose that snake. I asked you to name whatever you wanted and you said you did not do this for money. You saved me without expecting anything in return. This character is not seen in a lot of people. Loyalty... Bravery, honesty. You don't find these values easily these days, so I want to make sure I have someone like you in my family. I won't be here forever, therefore I have to make sure there's someone I can trust to take over everything I've built so far."

"But I'm just a common cleaner, Mr. Damon. Why do you think I'd be able to take over from you?”

"That's is irrelevant. It doesn't matter who you are. All that matters is your heart. You're a genuine person. At least you will be able to make decisions for the interest of the company and not for selfish reasons. With this alone, you can comfortably take over the whole world"

George let out another sigh.

"Plus, if you're worrying about my granddaughter's physical features, then do not worry. She is very beautiful. She'd love to meet you,” he chuckled and stood up from his seat.

"Follow me,” he ordered and George complied immediately. He led him out of his office and to his car. They both got in and the driver turned on the ignition.

"Are we going straight home, boss?" The driver asked as he stared at the rearview mirror.

"No. Take me to the Men's Boutique. We need to touch up this young man a little before he meets his future bride,” he answered with a smirk.