A NIGHT FULL OF SURPRISE

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I watched as vehicles of various colors, shapes and sizes sped past carrying people to and from their different destinations.
Still deep in thought, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching the balcony where I stood.

Turning my head a bit, I calmed down as I realized it was Raylene walking towards me in her long red gown. Beautiful, elegant and stunning, if there was anyone in the whole of Transville who could be described as an embodiment of fashion then she would be the one.
Unfortunately, her family and mine were the most popular business enemies in town.

Transville wasn't really a town with a lot of popularity, but what it did have was money. It was home to a number of the biggest wine businesses in the country and because of its size, most of the big businesses were usually family owned.

It was a well developed, sophisticated and mostly quiet town with no real source of entertainment, hence the parties by the different families from time to time to keep the boredom away.

Today the Arthur's which was Raylenes family were the host and I'd been more than surprised when my family got the invitation. We were usually ignored, although we did the same whenever we hosted ours.

It was more of a power statement between the two families because if all the others were invited and you weren't, we were essentially saying your presence was inconsequential.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked Raylene immediately she got closer.

If there's anyone who exudes handsomeness and arrogance rolled in one, then it would be you" she replied "In a gathering such as this, you were rather easy to spot"

"I'll take that as a compliment" I replied not minding the jab "Besides you're looking stunning tonight"

I looked into her blue eyes for a few seconds longer than necessary and was surprised when she blushed and looked away. This was a first for Raylene who as long as I'd known her didn't back down from a challenge.

Our conversations were sort of like a dance which we'd both come to accept were a part of our lives. Each side excessively complementing the other while dropping subtle insults alongside.

Many people assumed I disliked Raylene, but infact I admired her courage to get into the family business which was predominantly occupied by men.
We'd both grown up knowing both our families were business enemies and although we inherited a long feud, it had actually brought us closer.

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We were still having small talk when her father signalled for her to come over, it seemed he was going to make an announcement.

"I hope you're ready to give them the news John" Raylene said as she smiled at me and walked away.

This was the reason why I'd come to the balcony to get some air. I had an important announcement to make later on and I knew it would cause a lot of uproar.

The bell soon rung to indicate that we were all to gather in the hall for an important announcement. I looked down at my black well tailored suit and straightened out some imaginary wrinkles.
It was going to be a big night and only a new suit would do the job. Noticing I was only delaying the inevitable, I let out a long sigh and as I proceeded to locate my father in the gathering crowd.

Standing beside her father, one could easily see the resemblance between the two of them.
Although the old man was shorter, the determination in his eyes was one I'd seen often reflected whenever I looked at Raylene. Everyone was soon quiet as the old man proceeded to make his announcement.

"Lovely evening to you beautiful people gathered here. Although there are some not so much beautiful ones amongst us, that's inconsequential right now" he continued while fixating his eyes on me and my dad.

"Tonight I have a big announcement to make, you can all attest to the fact the Arthurian wine is the biggest brand in the market today" he paused still staring at us.
Most of the company growth lately has been because of the hardwork of none other than the the lady standing beside me this evening and I decided I want her to play an even bigger role in our growth. Which is why I will be retiring and she will be taking over as CEO of the company"

There was a general silence and I don't know who was more shocked between I and the room of businessmen. Although I had knowledge of the nature of the announcement beforehand, it didn't change the shock of actually hearing it.
The room broke into a loud applause and everyone began to come out of the initial surprise of hearing the great Arthur was retiring.

Raylene gave an appreciation speech as well but I wasn't listening, instead my focus was on my father. It was quite obvious he didn't like this particular surprise.
It didn't take a magician to know what was going to happen next as it was something we'd both been discussing for awhile and I knew from his look that he had finally reached a conclusion.

I watched as he walked all the way to the front of the crowd and I could see the confusion on everyone's face as he signalled me to join him in front. Apparently my father was going to make his own announcement.

My father announced he was also retiring and that I would be stepping up as the new CEO of
Vintmark wine.
If they'd been shocked earlier, they were properly stupefied by the second announcement. Mr Arthur was livid with anger while my father Mr Mark smiled on.

If there was anything I could count on about my dad, it was that he would try to prove I could run our company better than Raylene could run theirs.
Which was why when she told me about her father's intended decision days before the party, I knew I was going to be CEO as well.
I had my own announcement to make and I was quite sure the crowd was in for another shock.

I thanked my father for the confidence he had in me and promised to take the company to even greater heights.
Of course as it was a special night, I announced that I was also proposing to the most beautiful woman in the world. As Raylene walked towards me and I went on one knee holding the engagement ring, it was obvious the room wasn't ready for this surprise.

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Raylene and I had been dating for months after we realized we were both attracted to each other and that inheriting enemies was actually a stupid thing to do.
We kept up pretenses for the benefit of the family and the business. Until we were both ready to face our families, we didn't want any bad publicity for both our families.

There was no better time to announce this than when we'd both been named CEOs by both our father's in public. It was time to keep hate aside and revolutionalize the wine industry.

It wasn't as if both our father's actually hated one another, they'd simply taken their business competition too personal. I knew it was only a matter of time before we made them see reason and accept our relationship.