Bill Gatwick

      Chapter twenty three
          The Reflection 2 

Christopher Golde

Date:          28th December 1999
Location:   Washington, USA




            It disturbed Gatwick to think that someone else could have gotten past his well-contrived plan. He sat in his Washington apartment slumped in his favourite easy chair and looked out over the winter grey waters of Lake Arbor.

            He enjoyed the cold, it brought back memories of the best times of his childhood, not that there had been many. Winter had been about the only time his father had actually spent time with him. For the rest of the year, he had been too busy with running his Washington law firm, or later, during Gatwick’s teenage years, campaigning for the position of District Attorney. When John Gatwick had eventually won the office, his son had seen even less of him. In his absence, Bill had spent just about every moment of his spare time on his father's computer, which at that time, in the early seventies, was unusual for a boy. The computer industry was still in its infancy when as a teenager, Bill began to write software which would one-day path the way for a global technology revolution.

            The boy Gatwick had grown up with few friends, inadequate parental companionship and ambition driven by personal revenge that soon became obsessive. His desire to prove himself to everyone and the lack of female interaction in his pubescent years combined explosively in his early adult life and culminated in a number, although small, of violent short-lived relationships.

            It wasn’t until he met Sally Ann at an IT expo, that he found a girl that suited his needs. As a young girl, she had been abused by her father and eventually, ran away to the streets in her early teens. For her, Gatwick was a dream-come-true; she didn’t even mind his violent sexual tendencies.

            Like father, like son, Gatwick was obsessed with work.  Also like his father, he had no interest in children of his own, but at least he chose not to have any. This suited Sally, as she was likewise too indulgent in her own lifestyle, which included, indulging in life.

            Gatwick was staring out at the icy lake and remembered how wonderful it had been on those rare occasions, to actually spend time with his father. The thought was short-lived, as he also remembered how he had been bullied by children at his school and how he had even been pushed into the icy waters of a river on one occasion and almost drowned. His childhood had been psychologically brutal most of the time, but now he could confidently say, he was having the last laugh.

            That thought brought him back to his immediate problem. ‘How will I handle this new competitor? Who is he?’

            He had to admit to himself, he was a little impressed by how ‘they’ had managed to put him in this position. He smiled to himself.

            ‘I have to meet this guy. This could be someone I can really relate to, a worthy adversary at last.’

            Even with this problem, looking at the waters of the lake relaxed him. His thoughts drifted to his mother. She had been a good woman but also neglected. Eventually, and unfortunately, just after he had left home in his early twenties, she had taken her own life. He had never quite gotten over the guilt he had felt. Instead of blaming his father, he had immediately felt the total burden of responsibility. He remembered the funeral; it had been near a small lake. Looking at the water now took him back.

            ‘If only I hadn’t left home,’ he thought.

            It was ridiculous of course, he would have eventually left, and it was his father who had left first, long before he had. His father had died five years after that from a stroke. ‘Stress-related’, they had said. He had gone to his father’s funeral, but there had been no tears, not like for his mother.

            The sun broke through some snow clouds and reflected off the waters of the lake as if it were meant to brighten his darkened spirit.

            ‘I should be happy,’ he thought, ‘I am the most powerful man in the world, the past is nothing to me now, and there is only the future ahead that is important.’

            As quickly as it had come, the ray of sunlight disappeared.