Behind the emerald door

As if needed, Benjamin arrives. He offers a cup of dark coffee -two sugars, no milk to Zane. This routine was already set in motion before Benjamin came to work with Zane. Every morning at exactly 8:15, not a second later, the butler, whether that is Benjamin or the guy before him, Stewart, or even the man before Stewart, would enter Zane’s oversized dressing room with the black substance. 

Then, a little bit later, at precisely 8:45, breakfast should already be severed but still warm as if just served. Out of the bowl the second the door opens and Zane enters. Not a second earlier or later. And no one should ever watch mr. Forest eat like the butlers in the movies. Zane would simply fire any rule-breaker, whether he or she was just curious or simply rebellious. 

Everything that happened was silent and efficient. Mr. Forest wanted to be able to hear the tick of every second on his wristwatch. Everything he did was scheduled and prepared for. His plans were thorough and without flaws. Nothing unexpected ever happened. 

No one knew much about Zane’s past. No one knew where he came from or who his parents are. He was always living in the moment, but even more, the future. Never in the past. Zane Forest was a complete mystery to anyone, and if you dared to mention anything from the past, or asked the wrong questions, you were terminated from your position.

Mr. Zane preferred his days like this. So different from his childhood home, but he liked it this way. He never went to parties, or any social gatherings, unless it was vital he went. As an owner of a multi-billion dollar company, you do get a lot of invitations to charitable events. His interactions with any person were professional, to the point, and limited. 

Stewart, the previous butler got fired for snooping around in places nobody but mr. Forest himself was allowed. The only place where the last piece of his past still exists- the second drawer in his dressing room, under the neatly folded pile of bathrobes he never uses. Just a single piece of paper, yellowed and crumpled by age. The little piece, about the size of a credit card, had a message scribbled on in blue ink. The handwriting is almost hard to decipher, but when inspected closely, you can read Zane’s prized possession.

It was an address in Vermont. A little cottage-like home with a white garden fence and half-dead grass. The front door was emerald green and the house itself was off-white. It didn't seem like much, but it was Zane’s favorite place in the world. He dreamt of this green-and-white house almost every night. It was absurd to think that he would long to be in that place because that place hurt him in a way nothing can. That place murdered the innocence in him and made him lose his sense of fun and imagination. That place made mr. Forest the cold person he is today.

At 9:30, Tanya (Zane’s assistant and secretary) would come to bring the news of the day. Every matter of Zane Inc. that needed attention. If the toilet on the fifth floor was out of order, Zane knew and either did or is taking care of the issue. Behind every Batman there is a trustworthy Robin, but behind this Batman, there was Tanya. Without her, mr. Forest would not be able to run his business as effectively as he is. 

At Zane Incorporated every worker had to be on time and precise. Whether there was an accident on the bridge or your alarm didn't go off, you were there on time. The employees were also obliged to sign a document stating that any disturbance in the daily schedule would force them to resign from Zane Inc. 

Mr. Forest ran a tight ship, but the system works exceptionally. 

He needed this immense control, chaos scared him. Chaos reminded him of the dark days behind the green door. His mother coming back from wherever she went, completely drugged and drunk. As the night went on, she would yell at him. Scream his ears off. Verbally attack him, blaming him for his father's departure. He would wake up with black eyes and burn marks from cigarettes put out on him. 

At 10:00 on the dot, Zane would get into the elevator and go down to the ground floor. Then the great checkup began. He talked to every staffer, starting at the security guard at the entrance and move his way up until he reached Tanya’s office (the office closest to his). After the check-in at every office, he would go he would sit at his desk and take meetings, sign documents and do everything discussed by him and Tanya that morning. 

He never understood his way of thinking. He hated every second at the White House, yet he misses his mom. He wanted to go back, to see whether the door was still the dark shade of pure green, or if the ceiling still had a huge hole in it where his mother threw his first phone he bought with the prize money he got at the local FunFest. But he wasn't allowed to. One of the richest men in the world could not get what he longed for. 

He could probably find a loophole and still go back to Vermont but being the controlling person that he is, he would never break a rule willingly. After years and years of suffering without any help, the police contacted him at the age of 21. It took them almost 19 years to find out that his mother was a drug addict. At that time, his mother was a suspect in a murder, and the night before she got arrested she vanished off the face of the earth. The police closed the property of anyone but an officer of the law, keeping Timothy Johnson, better known as Zane Forest, away from the green doored house, not wanting to be part of the investigation anyway. 

But one day they will find Margaret. They will find her and Zane will show her so much mercy she showed to him. He will let her rot in jail, for murdering that young man. He will not feel sorry. He will go back to his childhood home, and renovate it. He will make it the innocent cottage-like house it once was, and never look back. Never go back and talk to the woman who murdered his father. 

He has changed, he is not helpless anymore. He is Zane Forest.