Andrew Parker looked at the gift he'd been given with a sort of puzzlement. He never knew anyone in the office to send gifts, least of all in this season. Being that his business was retail, Parker & Sons - so named by Andrew's father - was usually packed now. Operating out of California and the small town of North Beacon, which blew up and gentrified over night once Andrew moved in, they handled multiple different avenues of retail - and even delivered via an app in case people didn't want to come down to the store personally. There had been a lot of growth in recent years once Andrew took over from his father, who had retired to a nursing home when his mental faculties started declining.
Of course, there was an element of much stricter guidance once Andrew did assume control. Hence why he wouldn't have expected there to be a gift given to him. It was more or less accepted around the office that Andrew ran a tight ship, and there wasn't much room for this kind of whimsical camaraderie.
Andrew was a tall and imposing man who contrasted with his lanky and old-fashioned father Jim in many ways. Whereas Jim was always kind of thin and svelte, Andrew was a tremendous, brawny man with a history in the gym. At 45, many other men would've likely let themselves go in the midst of office culture and stress. Not Andrew. If anything he intensified his exercise routine. His curly black hair was styled back to minimize the fact his hair had slightly declined, and his eyes were an icy blue.
Following an amiable separation with his now ex-wife, many of the women in the office thought him to be surprisingly good eye-candy and a possible hook up. Andrew however frequently reminded them that workplace fraternization was against policy and not to push him on that. Though many could understand why they made such an effort; Andrew was very handsome indeed, his face lantern jawed and strong. His body featured a pair of boulder-like shoulders that stressed his suits, strong and impressive biceps and triceps, and a flat, well toned midsection. While he couldn't quite manage abs any more, he could at least look great otherwise with his shirt off.
Andrew shook his head and hoped it wasn't another attempt by one of the women here to get into his pants. Policy was policy, even if the women here were lovely. As he opened the box anyway, he saw it was some sort of small acorn, with a note attached. It was from Pedro Armauld - a name he had thought he might never hear again.
Pedro was one of the old guard of the place. His dad had kept Pedro and others like him around, but Andrew preferred to only keep young men and women around. It kept things running well, he thought. So it was really no hard feelings, as far as he was concerned, but he had to let Pedro go. It had been about three years since that day, and Andrew had not heard hide nor hair of Pedro since.
The letter read, "Dear Andy," He already scowled at the juvenile nickname,
"I took vacation here in Jamaica, and the locals directed me to this sort of tree, which supposedly has some relation with youth and vitality. I have deigned to send you an acorn to plant, which should appeal to you and your obsession with keeping the workforce young and vital. I only hope it helps you keep away from old age, which you so evidently revile and desire to keep away from yourself."
Pfft, so it was just a targeted message about his style of business. Well Andrew decided he was going to keep it, after all, what kind of man throws away a gift from his father's friend? Even though it came with such a biting letter. Ah well, the acorn at least seemed like it might give rise to a pretty impressive tree. And the old tree next to the business had died the last year...so maybe it was all fortuitous. Andrew had no idea what sort of tree the Jamaicans had around their island...
But it had to be at least impressive. He wondered about that legend or myth that Pedro spoke to him about.
He decided to look into it after planting the tree. As he planted it in the ground and headed inside, he wondered about what in all might come of this...