King of All I Survey
Chapter 137: Susan and Maribel Wrestle with Relationships

Chapter 137: Susan and Maribel Wrestle with Relationships

Susan stepped through the door of the airport terminal, trailing her roll-along suitcase and stepped into the Lookout Tower without the illusory suitcase. She reached out for support in a sudden panic, before realizing where she was. Her face scrunched up in consternation, she spoke aloud although there was no one there. "Joe, if you’re going to transport someone into a fully transparent room high up in the air, maybe give them some warning so they don’t think their falling out of the sky all of the sudden..."

"Sorry, about that. I will make a note for next time," Joe voice seemed to emanate from some point nearby in the empty air. "I though you might want a few minutes alone to decompress. I imagine that was pretty emotional for you."

Susan shook her head, "You imagine nothing! You saw every second of it. You created the whole damn illusion. And yes, it was very emotional, thank you very much!"

"Sometimes, it helps to just talk about the way you feel out loud. I’m here if you’d like to chat for a bit before you head back downstairs to see Tim and your husband. I’m a very good listener and I can keep a secret..."

Susan smiled, "Do you think there’s something I need to keep secret from my family?"

"I don’t know, do you feel like there’s anything about the visit or the way it makes you feel that might be uncomfortable to share with Dan?" Joe asked in a calm, neutral voice.

Susan thought about the visit, especially the last part of the conversation about Rafael. She remembered the time when she, herself, was Maribel a couple weeks ago. She remembered kissing Rafael. She remembered the fierce passion she had felt, the look of surprise, delight, and confusion on his face when she had just pulled him close and kissed him. The way she had felt inside at the time, the way she still felt when she thought about it.

"Maybe..." she confided, "but just because something makes me uncomfortable doesn’t mean I should hide it. I love Dan, I can tell him anything, and he’ll love me anyway."

"That’s a healthy attitude. Open communication can be a strong foundation for a relationship. Does Dan feel he can tell you anything and receive the same support?"

"Of course," Susan replied automatically. She considered for a second, "I mean, I think so."

"Have you told him that?"

"Not in so many words, but..."

"It sounds like you’re not sure."

"I’m sure. I just... I just don’t know if Dan knows he can tell me anything, and I’ll love him no matter what."

"Do you think it would make both of you feel better if that were made clear?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But if I just say it, it sounds like I suspect him of something."

"Do you suspect him of something?"

"No, of course, not," she said shaking her head and adding a little emphasis to the statement.

"Maybe if you told him how much you appreciate him being there for you and then stressed that you are there for him, too, it would seem more natural and less like an accusation."

"Susan shrugged, "Yeah, maybe." She rolled her eyes in sudden realization. "Hey, what is this? My therapy session?"

Joe chuckled, "Do you find talking through your feelings therapeutic?"

"Yes, damn it. Now, stop that," she said with a playful anger. "And thank you."

"You’re welcome," Joe replied, "and just to be clear, if you ever want to just talk, I’m here for you, too. Completely confidential and judgment free."

Susan smiled. "Thanks, that’s good to know."

She looked out over the countryside. "Joe, can you make a mirror on the wall here? I’m sure my face is a mess from all the crying."

"Absolutely," he said as a section of the clear wall suddenly became a mirror and Susan’s face was perfectly illuminated to let her see it perfectly.

A few moments later, she was putting her make-up kit back into her purse. "Ok, I’m ready," she declared and stepped onto the elevator platform and willed it to descend.

---

Maribel sat in the back of her armored Prada as Luis drove her from the airport to her home. She could not get over how much her sister looked just like her. They could almost be identical twins! Susan was a year younger than Maribel, and she did look a little younger. Her skin tone was a little lighter and her hair lighter as well, though Susan had confided that she had it colored regularly to lighten it even further.

She had known that she had a sister her whole life. Her mother and father had divorced when she was very young, she honestly didn’t even remember her mother or her sister. Right after the divorce, her mother had moved from Peru to the United States and applied for citizenship, along with her daughter. When she moved, she had listed her daughter’s name as the Americanized Susan instead of Susana, the name under which she had been born. In all those years, she had never come back, never tried to contact her or her father, and now she was dead. Killed in a car accident while Susan was away at college. She would never know her mother- except through the stories her sister told her. At least the two of them were now together as real sisters.

These thoughts ran through her head as she rode, her eyes stared out the window, barely registering the scenery.

She wondered if she would ever have children. It wasn’t something that really crossed her mind very often. She had never really wanted children. She had so many things she wanted to accomplish in life, she feared she would split her time between work and children and that wouldn’t be fair to them.

Thoughts of work brought her back to her family. Her father wanted her sister to play a major role in his foundations along with Maribel. She was sure he’d be happy to know that they got along so well, she was sure. A part of her resented giving up full control of the charities. Another part of her welcomed the help. She supposed it would all depend upon how well they worked together, how well their goals aligned.

So far, it seemed they were both on the same page. She had feared that growing up in the United States would have given her sister a different perspective. Americans sometimes seemed so... cold. From what she knew of them, they didn’t seem to have the deep community attachments that was deeper part of the culture in the poorer countries of South and Central America. Everyone was different she knew, and it was probably wrong to judge all Americans together, especially with her limited contact.

Her sister, for example, seemed to have a high regard for family and community and she shared Maribel’s deep compassion for the common people. Raising people up by providing infrastructure, education, healthcare, and basic levels of support had seemed as much as part of Susan’s overall goals for the foundations as it was for Maribel. That was good. They hadn’t spent a lot of time talking about that. Sisters who hadn’t seen each other since infancy had a lot to catch up on after all. There would be time for business later.

Her father planned to have Susan and Maribel work together from a common location. He had sent them a message describing his plan for a world-wide headquarters building, yet to be acquired. He envisioned them working from there and directing actions globally. Eventually, he said, he wanted all of his commercial, for-profit companies to be fully owned and controlled by the charitable foundations, providing a continuous and growing source of funding for their activities. Maribel knew little about the commercial side of his financial empire. She knew he had mostly gained his wealth through investments, but beyond that... A few new factories had been started and placed strategically in the countries where Maribel was operating to help support her efforts by providing good jobs for the people, but someone else in his organization handled that.

Someone else handled the other work, too. Dealing with the cartels and gangs. Whoever that person was had apparently undertaken some ruthless actions. She heard about the massacre of the Chiapas gangs as they tried to invade Guatemala and restore the trafficking routes. So many dead, and as far as she heard, not a single life lost for the Guatemalan defenders. Something about scores of hidden sharpshooters armed with some kind of precision targeting laser weapons... She shivered to think about it. Would that fall under the two sister’s control as well, she wondered.

She knew her father had greater plans, still. He dreamed of a world without war, without extreme poverty, and without violent crime. His goal was to unite all of humanity under a single government. Her father had been a little taken aback by her impulsive promise to Rafael that she would help him become President of Guatemala. It was not a choice he would have made, she knew. It said a lot about his faith in her that he had accepted her decision almost without question.

She sighed. She, herself, had growing doubts about Rafael’s suitability for such a role. He had a good side, an idealism that would make him a wonderful leader for the country, but... he did not handle opposition well. He was quick to lose his temper and quick to violence. Extreme violence, he was not a man for half-measures. She shuddered to think of some of the crimes and cruelty he had committed before her father’s operations had destroyed his criminal network. Rafael could be so sweet and kind. She had to admit to herself that she was in love with him.

It was crazy, but right from the start she had been attracted to him. But why? He was handsome, certainly. When he wanted to be, he was the most charming man she had ever met. When he talked with her, he gave her his full attention, as if whatever she had to say was the most important thing in the world at that moment. It wasn’t just for show. He really listened and took what she said to heart. He valued her opinions, he valued her. Yet, he was a powerful and dangerous man. He was used to getting, or taking to be more accurate, whatever he wanted. That excited her somehow. She knew he would go to any lengths to please her, if they were truly committed to each other.

He had even agreed to spend a week in a private retreat for her. It was an exclusive treatment facility where he would have the best and most scientifically based psychological therapy that existed in the world, according to her father. While there, he would receive counseling and therapy to help him come to terms with himself. He would decide what kind of man he wanted to be, whether his actions and future would be controlled by his own will and desires, or whether they would continue to be dictated by the actions of the hate-filled, cruelty of others. The others who took his parents’ lives while he watched, destroyed the village in which he had lived. Those who turned him toward a life of crime and cruelty. In the end, they had made him act like one of them, passing on a legacy of cruelty and suffering. She knew he acknowledged that at an intellectual level, but she felt that at some deeper emotional level, he embraced the power that it offered him, the way it made him feel to have the lives of others under his control. That part of him scared her to the core. She hoped with all her heart that with this week away, he would, as they say, find himself. His true self, a man she could love without hesitation.

She didn’t want to consider any alternative outcome. She thought about her sister’s advice. As long as she was with him, she could help him stay on the right path. She could help him find goals and missions to focus his power and energy. He could be an amazing force for good in the world. Or he could go the other way...

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