AFTER HER

CHAPTER ONE

It happened one summer morning, in the year 2024. The sun rested all over the Santa Monica sky. Its warm breeze drifted in every corner of the neighborhood. It swayed through the rusting chains as it clacked from the swings. Children pumped their legs up, as it resounded into the sky.

That warm breeze continued and drifted on the other side of the block. The gable-roofed homes and unique design created a solemn ambiance. The trees aligned as the wind drifted further. It echoed through the screen doors. Slowly, it muffled the breakfast dishes.

Inside that living room, a sharp static sliced the silence. The rapid fire of clicks hammered the remote control. The light coming from television strobe across the room, as moving pictures lied to one another—commercials shrieked to cartoon theme songs.

Grace sat hunched in her chair. The coffee on the table next to her, slowly filling the room with a rich aroma— the vanilla blended with the coffee bean roasted a while ago.

Her fingers hammered the keys, eyes locked in front of her computer. Her project neared the finish line.

“Can you go back? ” she asked, as her eyes blinked. The rapid change of channels burned her eyes. Her partner, John, had already flipped the station.

Voices hummed from the television.

"Breaking news. The former OMNImedia CEO passed away last night at Memorial Hospital. Age fifty-six."

“Was she your boss? ” John said, while his gaze slowly turned to her.

Grace gave a slow nod while her eyes turned furrow. The silence then held her close to the wall.

Reality snapped her back to where she stood. She then grabbed the phone and dialed the number. The tone hummed and echoed on the line.

“Hello?”

“Yes… I saw it on the news.” Her voice trembled. While tears slowly filled her eyes. The heavy silence took over the room.

Grace still remembers everything: how she gazed at her back, as she sat behind her in every meeting. Her voice quickly pierced into Grace’s mind. She could still hear her talk. In those five years, OMNI had become what it is today, because of her.

Sarah Ellis.

Days before, footsteps began to echo through the hallways of OMNImedia. Voices bled into every conference room. And keyboards hammered away in the quiet corners. Every screen filled with excel— numbers slowly showing in every table. While on the other side, powerpoint presentations pierced through the screens—presenters gestured through and through in every meeting.

Slowly, a ringing sound lingered across the hallways, down every room, into every cubicle, until it reached a certain area.

People in different suits paced back and forth. One walked with a tablet in hand, the voice inside it blending with the ringing sound, nearly drowning out the whole lobby. Another was a man in a company uniform, pushing a cart. Its creak kept tempo with the tic-tac of shoes across the hallway.

Minutes later, the secretary rushed to the counter and grabbed the ringing phone.

"Hello, this is Neil Burnham's office," the secretary panted, sleeves crumpled, trying to smooth them down with her hands as she cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Can you transfer me to Neil, please? This is Mary, Sarah's daughter," the other line stammered.

The secretary knew Sarah Ellis. No need for a long queue. She hit the transfer button—Neil snatched the phone in one ring.

"Hello?" silent lingering through the line "This is Mary… Sarah's daughter."

He turned around in his chair, as he faced through the window pane. “Oh, Mary,” Neil exclaimed. “How are you? How’s your mother? ”

“That’s why I called," Mary sighed. “It’s about mom.”

A brief silence lingered on the other line.

“I came bearing news,” she replied, her voice . “I wanted to tell you before you heard it somewhere else.”

Neil turned back, facing his table. His eyes fixed in the corner as he waited for Mary to continue talking.

“Mom died last night,” Mary finally said, her voice breaking slightly. She let out a shaky breath before continuing.

“Can you help us deal with the media? Maybe help minimize the reporters around the hospital and the house? ”

Neil lowered his head, stunned by the news. “Oh… Mary, I’m so sorry.” His voice softened. “Yes, of course. We’ll do everything we can to help.”

“Thank you," Mary whispered.

He then dropped the call and called his assistant.

“Alex? Can you set up an emergency meeting with the head immediately? "

Alex came forward and nodded quickly. Both of her hands are already clicking the touchscreen of her phone. Then the message was sent, as its tone echoed to every number, including Neil’s.

Neil then stood up and walked toward the skyline. Slowly, he leaned against the table next to the window and simply gazed toward his office. Neil then turned and stared at the horizon. His eyes settled on the skyscraper—the Grier Building.

Neil stood up and walked toward the skyline. Slowly, he leaned against the table next to the window and gazed toward his office. Neil turned and stared at the horizon, his eyes settling on the skyscraper—the Grier Building.

Slowly, paper-cut trails and long-buried folders began to resurface in his mind.

It was 2008. The Grier lobby slowly filled with people in dark-colored suits, all moving in an orderly rhythm. Beeping sounds echoed at the gates as employees tapped their IDs. The elevators kept moving up and down, opening and closing.

On the fifteenth floor, the lobby of Carson-Carson Law Firm welcomed the representatives from ModelClick. A woman in a black pencil skirt gestured for them to follow and led them to the conference hall inside the firm.

Minutes later, representatives from AlphaCorp arrived. Both conference halls remained locked. The lawyers paced the halls, back and forth.

Inside both rooms, documents had already been placed on the long tables. Everyone sat and read through the pages, front to back. Some furrowed their brows; others rubbed their jaws.

The ModelClick representatives exchanged uneasy glances. One had already slumped into his chair; others fidgeted. The silence stretched on, and the AlphaCorp lawyers still hadn't returned.

Neil placed his folder on the table and stood. "Our company is in good condition," he assured his colleagues, his voice low. "AlphaCorp will go with us. They know our value."

Meanwhile, at AlphaCorp, overlapping conversations filled the room. One representative frowned, pointing out a clause in the contract. Others answered back, their voices rising.

Then a call echoed across the room. Everyone fell silent as one of the representatives checked the caller ID.

It was Sarah Ellis.

"Yes? Sarah?" he answered, his voice calm.

"Continue with the merger," she said. Her voice cut through the hall as the call switched to speakerphone.

The representatives glanced at each other and nodded slowly. One of them called for the firm's lawyer.

The lawyer grabbed his phone and dialed. He turned and opened the door. When ModelClick heard the phone ring for the first time in hours, their eyes widened. Their own lawyer answered. Seconds later, their door opened too.

Neil shook everyone's hand, congratulating his colleagues. Their voices rose, nearly loud enough to carry into the next room.

Yet the merger wasn't out of the woods. Neil was summoned to AlphaCorp the following day.

He prepared himself and arrived early, parking in the designated lane. He straightened his coat and walked into the lobby, presenting his identification. The receptionist guided him to one of the conference rooms.

"Someone will be with you shortly, sir," she said, before leaving him alone.

A few minutes later, she returned. "Would you like some coffee, sir?"

Neil nodded once. "Black." He took a seat near the window overlooking the city below, his eyes drifting to every corner of the room. Minutes passed quietly before the door finally opened again.

The receptionist entered first, followed by one of the executives leading the acquisition.

Sarah.

"Good to see you, Neil Burnham," she said warmly, approaching him.

Neil stood immediately. "Yes—I'm honored to meet you."

Sarah placed a folder on the table before taking her seat across from him. "Let's discuss our plans moving forward," she said, her voice firm. "We want you to work with us in making ModelClick even more productive under AlphaCorp."

Neil leaned back, his face calm, as she carefully outlined everything written on the page. With every flip, the paper crisped open from start to end.

Sarah looked at him and handed him the pen. Neil took it, his eyes widening slightly. The ink smudged as he signed the contract.

Sarah stood and offered her hand. "Pleasure working with you," she said, with a faint smile.

Then, suddenly, someone called his name. Neil blinked and snapped back to reality.

"Sir?"

"Yes?" Neil answered quietly.

"They're all ready, sir," Alex said, with a careful breath.

"Good."

Neil straightened himself and made his way toward Conference Room A. When they reached the doors, Alex quickly opened them for him.

Inside, the room was already filled with executives seated around the long conference table. Some were locked to their phones, light flickering across their faces. Others paced, phones pressed to their ears.

Voices rose slowly, overlapping one another.

When they saw Neil enter, silence took over. For a moment, nobody spoke.

He sat at the center of the table, straightened himself, and fixed his eyes ahead.

"Our predecessor…" He sighed, his tone trembling. "One of our greatest mentors…"

He went silent, his eyes moving to every person in the room. "One of the founders of AlphaCorp, Sarah Ellis, died unexpectedly last night."

The room fell completely still.

Some lowered their heads. Others exchanged shocked glances, unable to fully process the news. The silence lingered far longer than anyone expected.

Neil inhaled deeply before continuing.

"I need a team to help the Ellis family minimize the chaos caused by the press outside the hospital and their home."

Several employees nodded immediately, already taking notes.

"We also need something to commemorate her years with us," he added quietly. "A tribute, perhaps."

No one interrupted.

"How do we handle this?" Neil finally asked the room. "How do we make sure her funeral happens peacefully—and with the dignity she deserves?"

Afterward, emails poured in from across the web. Phones rang throughout the offices of OMNI, voices overlapping in explanation after explanation. In the HR suite, the phones didn't stop ringing. The department head sat hunched over her desk, her voice growing raspy as she repeated the same rehearsed statement to journalist after journalist, trying to hold back the tide of cameras.

AlphaCorp responded and volunteered to help as well. The search engine's logo was replaced with one of her first doodles, a tribute to her passing.

Neil turned to Alex as they made their way to the elevator.

"Alex, clear my schedule for the week," Neil sighed, fixing his cufflink. "We need to speak with her family about how we're going to release the news properly."

"It's already done, sir," Alex answered. "The car is also ready to take you to the hospital."

"Good," Neil breathed.

The elevator rushed down from the twentieth floor. Neil hurried across the driveway. When he reached the car, he paused for a moment and looked back at the OMNI sign.

They'll keep things running while I'm gone for a couple of days, he thought.

He climbed into the passenger seat.

"To the hospital, Dan," he muttered.

His driver simply nodded, his eyes meeting Neil's in the rearview mirror.

The car slowly pulled away from the towering offices of OmniMedia, disappearing into the heavy traffic of the city. Neil stared silently through the window as memories began flooding back into his mind.

The lights inside AlphaCorp were slowly receding. The hallways, once filled with colorful, suited silhouettes, were slowly emptying, giving way to creamy white walls. Silence hummed through the halls, muting the voices that once filled the conference rooms.

Yet one office still stayed lit.

Sarah sat alone in her office, the city lights of Los Angeles stretching endlessly beyond the glass windows. A pile of documents rested on her glass table.

Her eyes moved across each paper, one hand shifting page after page, until she'd worked through half the stack.

A knock echoed from her door. It was Neil, his brow furrowed.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, his voice low. He walked farther into the office before taking a seat across from her.

Sarah looked up and set the papers in her hand down on the table.

"I know there will be problems acquiring your company, Neil," she admitted with a tired sigh. "But I'm not giving up."

Neil watched her carefully, his hand resting on his jaw. Sarah's face slowly furrowed, her eyes drifting back to the papers.

"The company has potential, Neil," she continued. "It just needs something that allows us to take full control."

"We can't just give in to what Macrowall wants from us, Sarah," Neil said, his voice starting to tremble.

"Yes… I know." Sarah reached for another document resting on the table beside her. "We still have to deal with this, Neil. This is a serious threat to the company."

She stood and walked slowly toward the window overlooking the city. "We need to take another step. Reboot. Realign the people behind ModelClick," she explained. "Maybe even lay people off if we have to."

Neil stayed silent. His jaw slowly tightened. ModelClick was slowly breaking apart—while Sarah saw only opportunity in it.

The memory suddenly faded.

"We're here, sir," the driver said.

Neil looked up through the car window and released a deep breath before stepping out. He headed straight toward the hospital entrance and made his way to the third floor, where the intensive care unit was located.

The silence muted the noise humming across the hallway.

As he approached the elevators, he noticed Mary walking toward the billing center, holding several documents tightly against her chest.

"Mary!" Neil called out.

The moment she saw him, tears streamed down her face as she stood there. Her knees weakened. Neil quickly walked toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Dear… dear, I know," he whispered gently, trying to calm her while she cried against his shoulder.