Page 65 of The Cost of Love

This is the weakest attempt at trying to undermine someone I have ever seen. I have done more in these three months than my father did in his last three years. The projected profits for the year are higher than they were when I started. I am priming the company to push into a new market and solidifying deals that will have us catching up to our competitors. Whether I want to do it or not, I have been excelling in this role.

“Please tell me where I have failed to warrant the rating of just adequate?” I quirk one eyebrow, unable to stop the smug look from taking over my face.

Watching in silence as they all turn to each other for the answer, I wait for them to explain their reasoning. They are quiet for longer than what is appropriate, and it makes me wonder what their plan was.

“We just feel you aren’t taking the role seriously.” Lorenzo’s neck is red, so I know he is either angry or embarrassed by their failure. I kind of want him to throw a tantrum.

“And what is it that you think I should be doing to show I am more serious?” They look at each other again, and this time I can’t help but sigh.

“We just expect more of a commitment. You have missed a lot of days and have left early often.”

The only way they would know this is if they spoke with my secretary. I knew she was not to be trusted. She will be replaced by the end of the week.

Annoyed that they have a foot to stand on, I sit up straighter.

“I think the work I have produced, even with my days away, is substantial.” Some members smile in agreement, and he shoots them dead with his eyes. The swaying of some people was not a part of his plans.

“While that is all well and good, imagine what you would have accomplished if you had adhered to the responsibility of this role? If you want to keep this position, then you need to give more.”

I want to yell that I am giving them everything. I want to wipe the smile off his face with my fist and never walk into this room again. It’s my turn to hold back my own fit of anger.

If I give them what they are asking, then I will be the exact person I never wanted to be. How will I have time for Chanice or my family if I am constantly in this office trying to prove my worth? This doesn’t even hold value for me. The pressure is getting heavier as the weighted expectation pushes me down even more. Part of me is begging myself to just let it go.

“Is that all?” Not giving them a promise, I refuse to bow down to their whims.

“The company’s sponsored charity is holding a gala. It’s important that the CEO is seen there.”

This could be the perfect opportunity to give Chanice the experience I promised her when we first met. I agree to show up and then promptly leave. Calling her once I am back in my office, I am disappointed when she tells me she has to work that night. Promising her another time, I hang up.

If we can’t go together, then this will be a great chance to get my last date with Elizabeth out of the way. I have been avoiding her, unsure of whether or not to go through with my promise. After these last few weeks with Chanice, how can I? With the things we have shared, it feels like cheating to do anything else. But being a man of my word, is it right to just break it after the other person held up their end? I sigh and pick up the phone, clicking on her contact.

In the end, I end things. It feels wrong on so many levels to even falsely entertain another woman after the night I had with Chanice. Her trusting me to hold her through that breakdown has leveled the rest of the boundaries we had in place. Even if it takes her a little longer to give herself to me, I am fully hers.

So I can’t bring myself to fulfill my promise to my mother. The one I silently made to Chanice when I held her that night holds more value than the one I gave under manipulation. I mostly held up my end of the deal anyway, having gone on two of the three dates.

But somehow my mother must know I ended things. Like she has some sort of sick sixth sense about me making my own decisions, she shows up a week later.

My new assistant, Ms. Keller, opens the door to announce her, and is promptly pushed to the side. She panics and tries to over-explain what sounds like a harrowing ten-minute conversation with my mother, but I tell her it’s okay, dismissing her.

“Where is Ms. Welch?” My mother asks in greeting before sitting across from me.

“I fired her.” I adjust my tie and sit back, trying to keep my hands from throwing her out. Still not over her reaction at the hospital, I’m surprised she had the nerve to show up.

“That was a mistake.” She picks up my picture frame and stares at me and Liv. Smiling, she puts it back so that it’s facing her.

“Why are you here?” Despite my desire to never speak to her again, if the hospital has shown me anything, it’s that my sister still needs her.

“I came to see how you are doing.”

I lift one eyebrow and place my hands on my stomach. “I’m fine.”

“Good. How do you feel about September sixteenth next year?”

“For what?” I ask sitting forward.

“For your wedding.”

This gets my spine to straighten entirely as I’m shocked into a stiff position. Always ill-prepared for her mode of attack, out of everything I thought she would say, I didn’t think it would be this.