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“That sounds good, actually. Why don’t you order something for all of us from that deli? I’ll take an egg white scramble and some fruit.” I glanced at my watch and groaned. My meeting with Orion was in thirty minutes.
“I can go through all those emails and make a digest of anything you need to address,” Barb offered. “You may want to focus on the contract for your meeting about the Gideon development. And your father called yesterday and the day before, so you may want to return his call.”
“Eh. I’m already stressed and that call will likely push me over the edge.”
“I’ll tell him you’re very busy when he calls today.”
A wave of guilt hit. “No. I’ll call him. Might as well get it over with.”
Barb stepped out and pulled my office door closed. I pushed a button to call my dad and after two rings I started hoping I’d gotten lucky enough to get his voicemail.
“Sidney.”
Damn. I wasn’t lucky after all.
“How’s my little girl?”
“I’m good, Dad. How are you?”
“No complaints.” His voice was muffled as he stopped talking to me to direct his driver as to which road to take. “What’s this I hear about you investing in Gideon?”
“I haven’t inked anything yet, but I’m leaning that way.”
His sigh was loaded with aggravation. “It’s an undervalued company, I’ll give you that. But it’s too risky. You’ve been lucky, Sidney. Don’t squander what you have on a risky investment.”
“What you call luck, I call working my ass off.”
“Of course,” he said, chuckling. “You’ve done well, honey. But when are you going to stop focusing all your energy on work? You’ll be twenty-eight on your next birthday. Your mother and I are approaching sixty. We’d like some grandchildren soon.”
“I’m not even seeing anyone, Dad.”
“Exactly. Because you insist on working so much. You need to take what you have and cash out. Get serious about finding personal success. I can have Ron value your companies and I’ll buy them myself.”
“You aren’t buying my companies. They aren’t for sale.”
His conciliatory, happy tone disappeared. “No man worth having wants a woman who’s married to her work.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and counted to five. I’d have to count to ten thousand before the anxiety my father caused me would begin to fade.
“Dad, I have a busy day. Do you need something?”
“I just wanted to remind you that our anniversary party is coming up. Your mother will be very disappointed if you don’t come.”
I clicked my mouse onto the scheduler on my computer. “I have it scheduled. I’ll be there.”
“I hope so. You have a habit of missing important family occasions.”
Dad was right. I did miss some of the family get-togethers, but there was a good reason for it—I was always subjected to judgment and scrutiny every time we got together. My younger brother, on the other hand, was slapped on the back and told to focus on school and work. Seemed he had a free pass until he reached his thirties.
“The party is on a Saturday night and there’s no game that night, so I’ll be free and clear. I’ll be there, Dad.”
“Good. And consider my offer on your companies.”
It was seven forty-five AM, and I was already tired. “Talk to you later, Dad.”
Despite having been literally born into it, working in a man’s world had never been easy. But my dad’s criticism of my choices was part of the fuel that made me work so hard every day. Nothing made me want to succeed like being told I couldn’t.Killian
We’d hit the road for Alabama at four AM, and it was a long trip. The sun wasn’t up yet and the bus was quiet, but I still wasn’t able to fall sleep in my small bunk. I could hear a few guys talking quietly up near the front of the bus, but I wasn’t feeling social, so I stayed in bed.
I scrolled through the text messages on my phone. I’d gotten several last night from Tara, a woman I’d met on a road trip to Louisiana. We’d hooked up one time and now she texted me constantly. Her boob shots and messages about how bad she wanted to suck me off weren’t doing anything for me. I deleted all of the texts after skimming the first one.
A sense of restlessness had been with me since the year I graduated college, but it had gotten worse lately. The things that had amused and entertained me for the four years I’d been with the Flyers didn’t interest me anymore. I’d begun to rethink my decision to blow off my chance at the big leagues. I’d made that choice right before I’d joined the Fenway Flyers, and now I wondered if I’d made the right decision.
Women like Sidney weren’t interested in minor league hockey players. I made shit money and traveled all the time. None of that had mattered to me before. But seeing Lance Holt looking so smug with his hands all over Sidney in those photos was nagging at me.
