"Father, I received your message. You wanted to talk to me?" Rose said.
"Could you pa.s.s me that thing over there? Needs more seasoning," Rhett said.
Rose glanced over a table nearby. There was a brush dipped inside a container filled with sauce and spices.
She grabbed the container and pa.s.sed it to him.
Rhett took it.
"Thank you, darling. How spicy do you want yours?"
"I"m not hungry."
"Come on, darling."
"The usual then."
"Okay."
He brushed two burger patties and some vegetables.
"I remember back when you were still a kid you used to copy everything I do, including the food I eat," Rhett said.
Rose was silent.
Memories of her as a kid trying so hard to emulate her father flashed in her head.
One time, Raphael, Richard and her decided to steal the cigar and whiskey of their father to try it. Unfortunately, they were caught by one of the maids and they ended up being severely punished by their father.
"And when you entered high school, you got suspended on the first day of school because you refused to go home and change your male uniform when your homeroom teacher instructed you so you beat him up including the other faculty members with a stick. I had no choice but to transfer you to another private school the next day that doesn"t have uniforms," Rhett said and smiled.
He pa.s.sed the container with the brush inside back to Rose.
She returned it to the table.
"You were a little boyish back then. And I"ll be honest, as a father, I was a bit worried. But looking at you now, how you grew up to be a very beautiful, intelligent and strong person, as a father, I couldn"t help but be very proud. I look forward to seeing my grandchildren one day."
Rose didn"t react and sat on one of the chairs nearby.
"Do you know what"s the secret in grilling the perfect burger?"
"Father."
As for this story, her father already told her about the secret long ago and the story of how he discovered it.
"The first time I encountered this beef, I was out on the beach in the summer with my college friends. One of my friends brought this beef with him and started grilling. The first time I took a bite, that"s when I knew that it was the best burger patty I"ve ever eaten in my entire life. I"m happy that your younger siblings, Rico and Rica, love it as well."
"Father, can you just tell me what exactly you want to say? I have other things to attend to."
"You also used to love this," Rhett said.
Rose ma.s.saged her forehead.
As the leader of Red Dust, she was really busy.
She still had to talk with Derek. They haven"t yet had a proper discussion about what happened last night.
She also had to review some details regarding the mission of taking over Harry"s base tomorrow.
There were other things that she needed to deal with as well.
"Let me take it out from the grill," Rhett said and placed the burger along with some vegetables on a plate before giving it to Rose.
She grabbed the plate and said, "Thank you."
She placed it on her lap and took a small bite of the burger.
"The real secret is the beef and the spices" freshness. You can buy the same kind of beef and spices and cook it exactly the same way I cook it. However, if both of them aren"t fresh, the taste will be different. As for the bun, I recommend the one from the local bakeshop here at Haven Town."
"Father, is this about how I"m running things? Let me deal with it on how I see fit."
Rose got up from her seat and placed the plate on top of the chair.
She was about to leave.
"Rose, darling."
She stopped and turned around to face him.
"Father, I am the leader now, not you. I am my own self, not Remington. I welcome the opinion of others. But by the end of the day, I make the final decision."
Although Womania is a progressive country, there were still some circles that prefer a man to be its leader.
One of those circles was Red Dust where its leader has always been a man.
Remington, the eldest of Rhett"s children, was groomed to be the next leader of Red Dust once Rhett retires ever since he was a child.
Everyone knew it and it wasn"t an overstatement to say that he was the child favored the most by Rhett and many people within the organization.
Everywhere he went, everything he did, all eyes were on him.
However, that changed when the zombie apocalypse happened.
Remington was currently overseas for a business meeting when the zombie apocalypse began and no news about him has been heard ever since, leaving all those years of nurturing and planning down the drain.
Raphael, the second eldest child, tried to usurp the position from Rhett a few hours after the zombie apocalypse began which led to a b.l.o.o.d.y battle in Haven Manor.
But in the end, it was Rose, a person whom no one within the organization expected much from because of her gender, to come out of nowhere and seize the position for herself.
With her Chosen One powers, she was able to take the position as the leader of Red Dust.
However, it came with a b.l.o.o.d.y price.
The cost of it was killing Raphael, the first wife, and a number of people that were against her leadership.
Only a handful of them were taken as slaves.
And although she"s now recognized as the leader of Red Dust and was a Chosen One, she still had to deal with political issues from time-to-time if she wanted to maintain a certain peace:
One - The relationship between her and the key members of Red Dust.
Two - The relationship between Red Dust and the other groups they"re a.s.sociated with.
"Darling, listen to me."
"Please speak plainly, father. I"m really busy at the moment and I still have other things to deal with."
"Okay, I understand. This new Chosen One you"ve recruited. I believe his name is Nathan. Am I right?"
"Yes."
"With my years of experience, one thing I learned about being a leader is that you should carefully choose who you welcome to your group. This Nathan, although he"s a Chosen One like you and is as powerful as you, he isn"t fit to be here."
"Father, the world is changing fast. It isn"t the world you used to know. If we don"t surround ourselves with powerful allies as quickly as possible, we will be the ones getting devoured."
"Find other allies, darling. Just not this man."
Although Rose had to deal with political issues from time-to-time to maintain a certain peace, there are times she would need to use force.
There is where recruiting Nathan becomes a good choice.
In her mind, although Nathan"s att.i.tude was a little problematic, unlike Derek and Ashleigh, he was someone that doesn"t have any problem killing people. And with his power, he could easily a.s.sa.s.sinate the leader(s) of their enemies.
"Father, I respect your wisdom. But like I said earlier, I welcome the opinion of others. But by the end of the day, I make the final decision. I"ve already made my decision and I plan to stick with it."
Rhett still had many things to say. But he knew how stubborn this daughter of his can be sometimes and part of it was his fault and it was breaking his heart.
This blinding confidence of hers is actually mixed with a bit of an inferiority complex.
Because of the environment she grew up in where male energy was the driving force, she had to learn how to project an unyielding and confident persona if she wanted to escape the shadow cast by Remington.
This is also why she was a tomboy growing up and it was only around college when she began acting and dressing more feminine.
There"s also the cold heart of hers which was formed through years of trying to get the recognition of father.
As long as the final goal is achieved, it doesn"t matter if there were a few casualties along the way. She would only care if the casualties are people she cares about or are vital to her overall plans. However, if that person or people she cares about get in the way of her plans, she will deal with them the way she sees fit.
Add in the horrors that the zombie apocalypse brought, Rhett could only imagine how much it affected her view of the world.
As the previous leader of Red Dust, Rhett was, of course, a ruthless man. But when he lost Remington and saw his family members killing each other just for the sake of a position, that"s when he realized how messed up his family was due to his actions.
"If I could go back in time and treat all of you fairly, I would do it in a heartbeat. But alas, there"s a reason why they say regret always comes last. I just hope you won"t regret it that much when this decision of yours bites you back…" he thought. "I respect your decision as the leader."
"Thank you, father. Don"t worry, I have made other preparations as well. No matter what Nathan does, it will be futile."
"If that"s the case, I have nothing to worry about then. Come stay and join us for dinner, darling. Your mother and third mother will be joining us shortly. I"ve also called for Richard as well. It"s been a while since we all got together."
"Okay, but I can"t stay long."
Author"s thoughts:
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