A Second Chance to Grow

Chapter 1

Matthew Weston was in a hurry. The brunch meeting that one of the senior partners had dragged him along to, though delicious, went on forever. Looking back on the entire affair now, he honestly thought that some of the chatter was definitely unnecessary. Yet, it would have been rude of him to get up and excuse himself from the table.Those files he had to get processed at the courthouse were just sitting in his car. He visualised his boss back at the office with an impatient look on her face and a weight grew on his shoulders. This was bad. His boss would be furious!

As soon as the last word was uttered Matthew was already aiming for the hotel lobby. He made a signal to his senior which indicated his haste to leave. He rushed out so fast that he didn't notice if the man acknowledged. He got to his little old jalopy at the end of the car park in quick time and sat inside. It was only autumn but the weather already carried a Winter chill. His car wasn’t the best but it had four wheels, a warmer and could get him from point A to B.

His stomach protested loudly as he settled in to start the car but lunch would have to wait.
He really wished he could have gone for another plate or two of brunch food during the meeting but his presence was needed only for the drudgery the lawyers in the room did not want to do. After all, someone still had to take the meeting minutes.

Putting the car in reverse, he backed out carefully. No one one else was getting out of the parking lot any time soon so Matthew sped off to cut down on his arrival time to his next destination. The traffic ahead was light so he sped up a little more as he got to the traffic light ahead.

Making good pace, he thought. Once all went well, he’d be out in 15-20 minutes tops and off for a huge lunch. He patted his stomach in anticipation but zoned out on the road. In that split second, he rear ended the car in front of him.

Before he had a chance to process what was happening, he leapt out of his car to investigate the damage. Now lunch would be definitely out of the question and not to mention that his boss was definitely going to fire him after this. His distracted mind tried to focus on the accident instead of his impending fate.

The other driver, seemingly startled by what had happened, came out of his car shakily. He was tall and from all indications, a little stocky. As expected when he turned around, his blue shirt that was tucked away neatly in his dark jeans, showed off the thick overlap of his belly sitting on his belt buckle. His light brown skin seemed pale, and as Matthew focused on the man before him, he realised why.

“Jules?”