Page 8 of Room Service

3

Trent

I left work an hour after talking to Emily and drove home, where I packed a small bag before starting on the journey back home, to Charlotte.

Damn, I’d hoped I’d never had to go back there.

There was a reason I hadn't been back since high school, but this was something important.

Please, I thought. Let nothing happen to Dad.

The extent of my worry surprised me a little. My dad and I hadn't been close in quite a while. I could barely remember the times when I loved and respected him like a father without any smudges getting in the way. That had been gone a while ago.

But here I was putting my whole life on hold. On hold, because I knew what I was going to do once I got home. Yeah, I already did work for my dad and his empire, but I also had my separate career. I’d spent time building it, and I was leaving it like it was nothing.

There was no way to know how long this was all going to take. I’d left Jennifer with a lot of work to do, and I’d be immersed in running things for my dad soon. I knew just how much work he had on his plate because I still remembered how he’d stay out late more often than not, and when he did get back, he looked exhausted.

Nothing is going to happen to him, I thought to myself, wanting to make it through if I had to use sheer force of will. I’ll get there, and he’ll be just fine, asking me why this was the first time I was visiting in so long, and saying what a bad son I am.

It didn’t make the clench around my heart ease, and after a while I decided to put on some music, hoping it would distract me.

After hours of steady driving on some rather bone-crushing roads and a few stops on the way to catch something to eat and stretch my legs, I made it home. Dad’s mansion was located on the outskirts of Charlotte. It was this huge, brick thing of marble columns and three floors, shaped like an angular ‘c’, with two wings on each side. It was visible from a distance, and I couldn’t help scoffing at it. Most people would look at it and see a beautiful house, but all I saw was a prison I was willingly taking myself into.

“It hasn’t changed at all, has it?” I muttered to myself, feeling a little awed.

More than a decade had passed and this place still looked timeless. I could remember distant memories of Mom and me coming back home after we’d gone out to have fun just the two of us because Dad was always so busy. There were few times when he ever joined in.

This house… it had been my hell and my haven in my formative years.

It was pretty big for three people, though after Dad remarrying I’d felt stifled in there, even though it was the one place with the happiest memories of my mom in it.

A lot of people were under the impression it was my father’s name that brought me so many clients. I’d launched my career years ago, but it had picked up pretty quickly. A couple of years after I’d started out I was on my way to the top. I knew people who’d started earlier than I did were still struggling to make ends meet.

People had way too many false impressions about me.

It was this place that had given me the drive I needed to get out from under my father’s thumb, to escape the stifling atmosphere. I had a good dose of my mom’s charm and intelligence, to go with it, which helped.

This mansion was the place I shared memories with my mom. Yet not long after she was gone, all these strangers were coming out of nowhere and making their happy memories when my mom was dead.

I’d resented them all for being happy. Even while I’d known that wasn’t completely fair of me. But I’d been so lost in my pain back then that I didn’t care, and I was too old to be thinking of starting anything with my family anymore.

When I pulled up to the gate, I was ready to call in to have the doors unlocked, but they pulled open without my having to do anything. I arched an eyebrow, somewhat impressed by the tech Dad must have invested into his home. I’d told Emily I would arrive tomorrow, but I’d changed my plans as Dad’s condition finally sank in and I’d realized I might have little time to waste.

In my mind, my place was nothing compared to the mansion. It was just enough space for me to live comfortably, while pleasant enough for the occasional company. It wasn’t too far from the office, and not too far from the mountains either.

I aimed the car down the long driveway, taking deep breaths to settle myself internally. No one here needed to know that I was the least bit ruffled. I didn’t particularly care what they thought anyway, but the fact I’d appeared should have been enough to show that I cared.

Let’s just get inside and see him first, I told myself. Worry about whatever else later.

And there would be a lot to worry about.

I parked the car a short distance from the massive front doors that were usually left open during daylight hours. I got out of the car with a grin, a rather self-satisfied one, picking my sports coat up from the back seat and putting it on. I didn’t want to give the help the wrong impression. It just simply wouldn’t do to have them thinking I was slouching.

I was a grown-up, and I was a successful businessman in my own right. It had been the right decision to leave this house, and I wanted them to know it. I cared what they thought less than what my dad thought, but I had an image to keep up.

I headed for the house, jogging up the short flight of stairs to the entrance. I walked inside, breezing past Ted. He was the family butler and had been for as long as I could remember. Though I hadn't paid much attention to the help growing up, I’d paid attention to him, because he was Jessi’s father.

Jessi.