Page 51 of At His Beck & Call

Carmen eats like a bird, picking at her fish and forking tiny pieces of it into her mouth while staring around the restaurant.

By the time the meeting is over, I can feel the tension in my shoulder blades. I hate socializing with clients these days. It feels like a lot more work than it used to.

Forcing smiles, pretending to care about them losing their eighth home, it’s all so soul-sucking.

“Natalia is a menace.”

I smile at my mother’s exasperated voice on the other end of the line. “What’s she up to now?” I ask, lowering into my chair with the phone to my ear, having just gotten back from lunch.

“She keeps moving my pills.”

I sit forward, frowning. “Really? Is she there? I’ll speak to her.”

“No. No. It’s just when she cleans, but the ones by my bed were in the bathroom, and I couldn’t find them.”

All amusement drains out of me. My mother is constantly complaining about Natalia. I know she loves her really, but her pills are an essential part of her care routine. If she doesn’t take the right pain medication, her back seizes up completely.

“Let me talk to her, Mom.”

“No. I won’t have you shouting at her.”

“You’re the one complaining. And I never shout, I’ll just ask what happened.”

“We dealt with it in the end,” she insists. “It’s all fine.”

I sigh, staring at my inbox. I have 36 unread emails, at least 10 of which are urgent, and there is a partner’s meeting on the horizon that I need to make sure I am fully prepped for. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

“How have you been feeling?” I ask.

“Oh, you know, tired and angry. How about you?”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“You’re not. You’re sad all the time these days, and you’re working too hard.”

“I always work too hard.”

She snorts. “Any ridiculous purchases lately?”

“Such as?” I ask, smiling fondly.

“Well, at last count, you had how many fountain pens?”

“Twenty-nine, yours made it an even thirty. I think I’ve got all of the Montblancs now. They’re beautiful. I’m looking at the one you bought me right now.”

“Ollie, you should be spending your money on a woman.”

If only you knew.“Is that right?”

“Yes. You’re too good for this world to be single, Oliver. You’re a handsome man and worthy of love.”

The words make something crack open inside me, my chest tightening painfully as I struggle to draw in a full breath.

Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I shift in my seat, feeling the scars on my back catch against my shirt.

“I don’t need a woman, Mom. You know how miserable I would make her.”

“I know no such thing. My boy doesn’t make anyone miserable; he brings light wherever he goes.”