A Little Touch of Greed

By William B. Franklin

A short story of manipulation and subterfuge with greed being the driving force.

Charles, a philanthropist in a way, wins a great deal on the lotto. After looking after his charities and other special interests, he decides to do some travelling to places he always wanted to see. However, on his travels, there is one important ingredient missing, and that is to have someone to share it with.

Enter Jade, a strikingly beautiful young woman who shares Charless interest in travel, and within a short time, they get married. He buys her all she wants, and still she wants more. His life becomes very unhappy with Jade, compounded by a pain in his side, which, after a visit to his doctor, is diagnosed as cancer.

Devastated, he finds the nearest park to sit in and pour out his grief. As he is about to put his head into his hands, his attention is diverted to a young woman, not beautiful in the sense as Jade but beautiful in her own right, propelling herself in a wheelchair with a lovely smile on her face greeting all and sundry. He forgets his troubles and is determined to find out who she is. On finally meeting her, he finds out she is a violinist whose ambition in life is to form her own group. He now knows he has a purpose in life, and so the tail unfolds.

And Jade? Well, there is a twist in the tale for her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jun 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504944496

William B. Franklin

William was born in London in 1940 and grew up during the Blitz. He vividly remembers seeing a V1 flying bomb flying over their house in Blackheath, London. At the age of seven, the family moved to South Africa. After leaving school, he joined his father’s marketing research business, giving him the untold opportunity to visit many towns and cities throughout Southern Africa. He later managed his own business and acquired his pilot’s license, giving him the means to visit customers in different parts of the country. He returned to England many years later and now resides in Norwich.

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2015 William B. Franklin. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/25/2015

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4448-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-4449-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 1

‘Oh, for crying out loud do I have to do every bloody thing around here’ cried Jade in her spiteful way.

Charles looked sadly at her, wondering how the hell he came to be saddled with this woman who said she loved him so much that she wanted to be with him until the end of days. Yes, end of days, he thought. Hers or mine.

To keep the peace, he got up to turn on the main outside lights. ‘OK darling,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it.’

He saw her wince when he referred to her as his darling, which made him very sad.

Charles was not a young man nor was he very well. He was nearly 57 years of age, and although he was fairly fit, he did have a constant pain in his side. It was sometimes worse than others. He was hoping things would be different and that he could spend the rest of his life in comfort and happiness after winning all that money.

‘Oh, don’t bother. I’ll do it,’ she said as she got up and made her way to the door. ‘You’re getting too old to do anything these days.’

He figured she was referring to their sex life. Although it had been off to good to start, as of about three years ago it was not quite up to her standards.

She was made up and looked very pretty. She was almost twenty-eight years his junior. Being in the prime of her life, she had needs.

‘I’ll be going out with my friends this evening,’ she said. ‘OK?’

Going out with her friends meant that she would be going out alone – she did not want him along.

‘That’s all right,’ he said. He would rather stay at home reading and listening to his music than mix with her lot, who would drink more than they could afford and expect her to pay for the entire evening.

‘I’ll be taking my Ferrari, so no need for you to wait up, OK?’ she said.

Why did she always end her statements with that word, as if challenging a response?

‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why you don’t take a taxi instead. It would be much safer.’

He could see her temper rising and put his hands up in mock resignation.

She was wearing a minidress – if it could be called a dress. With a low neckline and a hem just an inch or two below her bum, it looked like a dress that had all the hallmarks of saying, ‘Come and get me, and if you can catch me, I’m all yours.’ Her lovely figure was adorned in expensive jewellery, and all this beauty was standing in a pair of the latest high heels from Paris.

‘You look very nice tonight,’ he said, hoping to please her.

‘Yes,’ she said as she came over and kissed him on the head like an elder daughter. ‘Goodnight – no need to wait up.’ Gathering her clutch bag and car keys, she walked to the main door.

‘Well, it’s just you and me again,’ he said to Sally, his dog, as Jade walked out. Jade had told him many times that the dog should stay outside, but he was adamant that Sally would always be inside the house – after all, this was her home as well. When Jade tried to press the point, she saw in his eyes that she would be in trouble if she persisted, so Sally had pride of place next to him. The dog did not like her that much and would always be at Charles’ side.

‘Come on, pet,’ he said to his dog. ‘Let’s go outside for wee-wees.’

When she heard those words, she sprang to life. She was a pretty dog, a cross between an Irish setter and German shepherd; she took her temperament from the former and her good looks from