The Private Sector

Volera Enterprise, a successful manufacturer of a silicone products, entered the world of business during the height of the housing market recession in 2008, going public two years later.

The ambitious and lucrative endeavor sprang from the imagination of two college sweethearts who dreamed of carving a fruitful path of their own.

Charlotte Willoughby and her boyfriend at the time, Maurice Richards, eerily grew up living similar lives in separate worlds, achieving honor status every year of high school. Both were from middle class families with two siblings. Both celebrated birthdays in January, Charlotte being the eldest by eleven days.

And they both acquired an undying itch to succeed...

As fate would have it, they met at a frat party where some of the goers took part in an excessive drinking game, leaving of few of them hugging the porcelain bowl. But not Charlotte or Maurice. They both learned the hard way on their own about knowing when enough is enough.

The instant Maurice saw her across the room socializing with sorority sisters, his eyes became locked in place on a vision of beauty. With rosy cheeks and a picture-perfect smile, the young brunette's charismatic presence lit up the room in a way he'd never experienced. She felt vaguely familiar to him, like being caught in a moment of Deja vu.

After several minutes of internal deliberation, Maurice gathered enough courage to ask her a question, wedging through all the ruckus to stand beside her. Charlotte noticed him in her peripheral but didn't feel the need to react. That’s until she felt a light tap on her shoulder.

"Pretty loud in here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

The moment became awkward for him because her expression showed a hint of annoyance that he had intruded in her space. But something inside him had to know if it was the right thing to do.

"I know this is a long shot, but... do you mind if I talk to you for a minute? If you're not busy."

"Maybe. What do you want to talk about?" Charlotte responded with a curious beam.

"I don't know, but I would definitely compliment you on your beautiful smile."

That small moment shifted the mood in his favor, allowing her walls to lower a touch. Charlotte thought his advance was cute and sincere. Her bright smile beamed even brighter, wondering what else the handsome jock from Williamsburg had to say.

Before the boisterous gathering was over, they left the party together. Maurice kindly offered Charlotte a ride back to her dorm. She accepted.

They met for lunch the next afternoon between classes, repeating daily for a week before mutually agreeing to begin dating.

***

Having the utmost confidence in their idea, they could barely wait to graduate. Maurice once tried to convince Charlotte of them dropping out. He felt they were wasting time and that some billionaire would stumble upon their idea, blowing them out the water. But Charlotte’s way of doing things didn’t involve her being a quitter. Instead, she reminded him of the benefits of having a degree. That it builds credentials. Credentials that may help influence trajectory down the uncharted path they were choosing to explore.

Graduation took place in June of 2006, but not before Charlotte proposed to him a month before during a late dinner on a Friday night. She saw herself helping Maurice to become more practical. Level-headed. She was maturing faster than her boyfriend but considered him her equal, secretly wanting him all to herself.

Her attempts to mold him into the perfect man, would prove to be a daunting task.

***

With a hundred plus guests in attendance, their stylish wedding was flawlessly executed. The honeymoon was also just right, spending five days and four nights at a luxury hotel in Honolulu.

At the end of night one, Maurice surprised her with a red, leather box in their room. Her eyes squinted, expressing a kind of playful suspicion. He'd already given her many generous gifts over the previous week.

Maurice held a prideful smile he couldn't shake, watching as she slowly undid the red bow, lifting off the top.

Shuffling through red tissue paper, Charlotte found a pamphlet. Her gaze sharpened with immediate interest, dropping her jaw at the same time. What she was holding was the lease contract for their first office. Her stare transformed into a fantasy of commencing a dream. She calmly placed the contract on the table then morphed into an overjoyed wife, diving right on top of Maurice in bed, screaming words of joy over and over.

"Relax, Char! We get the key cards in two months but check the box again. You might have missed something."

Charlotte's demeanor returned to curiosity.

She headed back to the box with increasing speed, nearly tripping over open luggage in excitement. She thrashed the red tissue from it to the floor and froze at the sight. Sitting at the bottom was a shiny, black plaque with a raised-gold insignia and the name Volera Enterprise elegantly etched into it. Her hands were just as excited as she was, but managed to remove the plaque from the box with the care of a newborn.

"It's beautiful... Wait! You said you hated this font." Charlotte said, turning to him with a questioning look, quickly realizing he did it especially for her. "Thank you so much, Reecey. It's absolutely stunning... I'm speechless."

Tears began welling up in her eyes at the prospect of owning a business. But it was really Maurice's thoughtfulness in orchestrating the surprise that touched her heart, pulling her onto a euphoric plane of sensuality. She gently placed the plaque back into the box, dropped her nightie to the floor and joined her equally excited husband in the king-sized bed.

***

Volera saw earnings right away, landing accounts with big name companies in the first five years alone. After ten years, they had become multi-millionaires, securing 8% of the market.

Through unbroken dedication, Volera reached a milestone and were soon to be considered for Blue-Chip Stock status. Something that could further increase popularity but was never the goal.

As the years rolled by, life aligned with their expectations. Their ingrained determination and hard work paid off, projecting the image of the perfect couple who had it all and maintained it all with absolute precision.

But sometimes outward appearances only masked the actual truth.

They held their issues close, never letting them spill out in the open. Charlotte could feel her biological clock ticking. She wanted a child. Maurice wasn’t ready to take her seriously or didn't want to share his true feelings about becoming parents, always steering the conversation back to something work or stock related.

Charlotte wanted to move to the suburbs and enjoy peaceful surroundings. Maurice preferred the bustle of New York city life but agreed to having a second home away from it.

They were beginning to lose track of their original plan for life, discovering each others kept secrets along the way.

Charlotte learned that her husband purchased a vineyard in Guatemala without her knowledge or consent. He'd hope to renovate and resale it. Maurice also had ties with the Dark Web, making several disconcerting purchases including an illegal stun-gun. Charlotte knew confronting him could have unpredictable results. The last time they had a major disagreement, Maurice left for a week and refused to tell her where he went. She let it go even though she figured out he spent the time in Vegas.

Inside Charlotte's part of their world, Maurice stumbled upon a payroll advance she approved for a female board member they both knew very well. He never questioned her about it, but it stayed in the back of his mind, never understanding why she didn't include him in the knowledge of the transaction. Charlotte also had stock portfolios he eventually asked her about.

They began operating on the fumes of remaining trust. Eye contact between them held a different vibe from all those years of genuine admiration.

***

In August of 2019, an eventual turning point, Maurice crawled out of bed to answer the door. Charlotte had been away visiting friends in Seattle.

"Maurice Richards?"

"Yes? That's me."

"Please sign here."

They were official documents—the formal notice that his marriage was ending.

Charlotte had filed for divorce; having felt Maurice no longer represented the ideal future she worked so hard for.

Maurice stood in the doorway blindsided. Defeated. The courier walked away, feeling the gravity of the recipient's bad news.

Maurice became lost in his mind, pacing back and forth, wondering why. Within the hour he called Charlotte. She always answered by the third ring but not this time. He didn’t expect her to. Charlotte let it go to voicemail and texted him instead.

I’m sorry it had to go this way, Maurice. But don’t pretend this isn't what you wanted. I'm simply making it happen. I think you still love me. And I still love you. Always will. But we can't ignore that we have grown out of each other's reach. We want different things. Why waste more time? Love doesn't always mean happiness.

Maurice couldn't accept her choice. He felt there was another man involved, but that assumption would be incorrect. Their entire marriage, Charlotte had one flirtatious night out with a sales manager during a weekend business trip. Fueled by alcohol and laughter, her and the colleague enjoyed their time together a little too much, briefly holding hands before returning to their separate rooms for the night.

Maurice never looked at another woman, being satisfied with the love of his life from day one. He still wanted her more than anyone knew.

Two weeks after the notice, the two of them had been having serious talks over the phone. Charlotte looked forward to him coming over to their place in Cambridge for the weekend.

On the second night there, they made progress but still couldn't agree on everything, including possible settlements with the company. They sat down to a candlelight dinner she prepared in the home. Tension had but all dissipated.

"Let's just have a nice dinner and enjoy each other's company. I think trying to work this out is a great idea, Reecey. I want nothing more than us to stay together. I truly hope you want that too.”

***

"911 state your emergency."

"There's a fire at 372 Hampton Lane in Cambridge. It's the married couple's second home, right across the street from us on the corner of Lakeland and Hampton!"

"Do you see the fire, sir?"

"Yes, I do! I'm looking at it through my window right now!"

"Do you know who started the fire."

"No, I don't! Wait my wife heard some commotion almost an hour ago. It could've come from there. Both their cars are in the driveway. Do you think he might have killed her?"

"Who killed who sir?"

"I don't know. I'm asking you! Look, I'll talk to the police when they get here, just hurry!"

Mr. Wesley, a sixty-year-old concerned neighbor who placed the call, went outside with his wife to watch the fire consume the half million-dollar estate. Sirens wailed in the distance, getting closer to the property.

The blaze was fierce and stubborn, taking the skill set of ten firemen to bring it under control.

Once completely out, the investigators perused the area looking for possible witnesses. Mr. Wesley was one of the first to be questioned.

"I'm the one who called as soon as I saw the smoke. It quickly got out of control."

"Thank you for responding, Mr?..."

"Wesley. Gene Wesley. I've lived here for fifteen years and have never seen anything like this before. Were they able to save the owners?"

"First, did you see anyone else go into the house?

"No. Only ever saw those two go in there.”

“What do you know about the owners?”

“Charlotte and Maurice. They never gave us their last name. They're a young couple. I imagine in late thirties, early forties. They never say much but are nice people. Charlotte has been there for the last two weeks. I just saw Maurice's car show up a day ago. Are they dead?"

"Yes. Well, there are two bodies inside. The fire was put out before they were burned beyond recognition. I can't say much until the investigation is over. We can confirm that the male body is Maurice Richards, but the female body is not his wife, Charlotte. You folks should get some sleep. We'll be in contact."

***

Charlotte Richards, a woman who chased perfection, also had ties with the Dark Web. She gave up on Maurice and didn't feel he deserved what she spent years building for them.