Solstice - The Goddess Awakens

There were actually ten missed calls and two text messages from Alex. Hitting the redial button she waited anxiously for him to pick up. ‘Lola, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all last night,’ answered Alex. Lola’s voice was still a little groggy from the sleep.

‘Sorry, Alex, I wasn’t feeling too good and went to bed early. I left my phone downstairs.’

‘You still don’t sound good. Is everything okay?’

Of course he knew that it wasn’t. He knew that she had been in Tara with the Moone girl and he had also heard about what had happened at the paper. Most of all, he knew that Lola wasn’t going to divulge any of this information to him. She didn’t trust him, yet she cared for him. He could see this conflict playing out in her eyes every time she was with him. He felt ludicrous for testing her in the ways that he did. Somewhere in his head he believed that she should trust him, but how could she when he had only ever deceived her. He could no longer deny that he cared about her too, that how he felt when he was with her was the only truth between them.

‘I’m fine, Alex, really, just a bit run down.’

‘Is that why you’re not at work today?’

‘I’m not at work today because the Ballyvalley News printed something they shouldn’t have about Arthur. I was livid and went in yesterday in a blaze of glory, and let rip. I even punched Drew. So I would imagine that I won’t be allowed to set foot in the place anytime soon. But, I’m sure you already know all this. So let’s not play games, Alex.’

Lola’s candidness caught Alex off guard, a million thoughts ran through his head – had she figured it all out, did she know who he really was?

‘Come on now, I know Abbey would have been bursting to tell you about how mental I am,’ jibed Lola.

Relieved, Alex decided to change the subject.

‘So does that mean you can come up to Portstewart any time then?’

‘I suppose it does.’

‘How does tonight sound then? I can pick you up say around seven or so?’ he asked.

‘Okay. Why not!’

‘Great, I’ll meet you at the gates.’

Before Lola could change her mind, he had hung up. She cursed herself for not telling him to call to the house. Instinctively, Lola typed ‘Stein Corp’ into the search engine and picked through the official website, which gave an overview of the company, its holdings and stakes in other areas. It also gave a short bio on the company’s founder, Carl Stein.

Born in New Orleans, Carl Stein was educated at Yale, reading architecture and antiquities. After leaving Yale top of his class, he set up his own architectural consultancy company. This company rapidly expanded, allowing him to diversify into engineering, construction and finance. Over the years Stein Corp has become a multi-million pound business, with offices in America, Europe, the Middle East and Far East. After visiting Ireland in the late 1980s, Carl fell in love with the Emerald Isle, and decided to move there, feeling that he could create opportunity in what was a divided and fractured country. He re-located to Northern Ireland, a country ravaged by tribal violence at the time.

Currently Stein Corp and their affiliated companies provide over a thousand jobs throughout the whole island of Ireland, not to mention Mr Stein’s extensive charity work. Stein Corp continues to grow and prosper in its vision of creating a New World Order.

The last three words made the hairs on the back of Lola’s neck stand to attention. A ‘New World Order’. There was something inherently menacing about the idea in this context. A new dawn, or a new world for mankind, yes she could accept that, but a New World Order, she didn’t quite like the implications of this. Scrolling down the page she stopped at the picture of Carl Stein smiling back at her. His flawless well-shaven face and that all-American smile, painted perfectly white. He had a presence about him, she could even tell that from the picture. It was clear where Alex got his arrogance from, but again looking at him, apart from the eyes, it was hard to believe that Alex was his son. Lola wondered what his mother might look like. Perhaps Alex favoured her. Then it occurred to Lola, he never spoke about his mum, only his dad, and even when he spoke about him he always addressed him as ‘father’ not dad or daddy or even da.

It was obvious that he respected his father, but Lola respected hers too, only she didn’t call him father. To her it sounded more like fear. It was subtle, but she could sense that Alex feared his dad. Looking at the picture she could see why, he had all the swagger of someone who was used to being in control. He looked like a man who always got what he wanted. How he would react to her would be interesting. She had thought a lot about that and now she was prepared to face Carl Stein.