Page 52 of Winning Her

“A few calls for the meeting came in, sir,” she said. “I wanted to ask you for permission before setting any meetings.”

I didn’t want to take any meetings. All of this was supposed to be my dad’s job, and the old man was still hiding himself away in the mansion. I’d gone over to try and speak to him a few times, only to be rebuffed, and it just left me more confused about the whole situation. It had been nearly a month since I’d come back home, and there was no news of his health, so I was still handling things that should have been his to handle.

The meetings were particularly annoying because the people that came in were more about sucking up to me or talking down to me because I was there in place of my dad. It was so damn annoying I’d stopped taking meetings last week. I was busy enough as it was without them.

“Are they important?” I asked because that was all I cared about.

“I’m afraid they are, sir,” she said, almost apologetically. “I could set them up for some time next week?”

I nodded with a bit of relief. “I think that would be for the best.”

“I’ll get on it.”

She walked back out, and I leaned back into my seat with a heavy sigh.

I needed to talk to Dad before then. I wasn’t sitting in one more fucking meeting!

It wasn’t like I got anything from them, anyway. When I did pay attention, resolutions weren’t met, and follow up meetings had to be set. It was a far cry from the success I’d had with my own business, and it was so damn frustrating. I’d thought I was on my way to a beautiful career, but clearly, I still had much to learn about the business world. It was still annoying to learn I wasn’t as unflappable as I’d thought.

“Why did I have to be a Thompson?” I asked my empty office.

I got no answer, as expected, but that only made me even more irritated.

I hated the family name. I hadn't given much thought to it when I was younger, and I only started to know its true weight when I got to high school. When I’d walk to school, and I would have people fawn over me because of the name and the family it was attached to. I’d even toyed with getting my name legally changed, perhaps to my mom’s maiden name, but I knew Dad would never stand for it.

More than anything, I hated what it all stood for. People saw my name as something to be proud of, but I would rather hide it because all it reminded me of was a man who was fooled into a marriage when he still should have been grieving, and a woman who deluded a man because of her greed and needs.

I ran my hands over my face, feeling done with it all.

“Why can’t I go back home?” I wondered out loud. “I miss the mountains. It’s so much easier to hide from it all there. Hide from them.”

I couldn’t just up and leave, though. No matter how much resentment I held for my father, he was still my family, and I had my obligations. I had no intention of dropping them and leaving because I wanted to hide. It would be too shameful; my pride would never be okay with it.

There was another knock on the door, and I looked at it curiously with a small frown. If it was the secretary coming back to ask authorization for more meetings, I was going to refuse this time.

“Come in,” I called.

The door opened, and I was shocked to see Emily come in.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted, but really, I was just surprised she was polite this time, even taking the time to knock. It was a far cry from her behavior when she was last here.

“I came to see you,” she said matter-of-factly.

She was dressed more or less the same as the last time I saw her, in a designer dress and a pair of heels, with painted nails and her hair styled to fall around her shoulder, down her back. Only the colors were darker than last time, and I didn’t know if that was a clue to her mood or not.

“What did you come to see me about?” I asked cautiously.

She sighed as she slumped into the chair across my desk and looked up to meet my eyes with a determined gaze.

“It’s about Dad,” she said.

Immediately, I perked up. “What, did something happen?”

She waved a hand at me. “Don’t get so alarmed; Dad is fine. In fact, he’s always been fine. There was never a heart attack. Maybe a little heartbreak but that’s it.”

“I’m sorry?”

“How many ways can I say this, big brother?” she said with a heavy sigh, jumping out of the chair to pace the room, arms crossing over her chest. It was just like last time, only I figured this time around she had a different reason for not wanting to look at my face. “Dad deceived all of you, and he made me keep his secret. He wanted you guys to come back home, and he wanted you to help expand the business. He hasn’t been ill at home at all. Honestly, it’s like he’s on vacation or something.”