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“So,” I said calmly. “Who’s the old high school friend you are going to go see at the mall today?”
The color drained from Alyssa’s face. She sighed in resignation when I gave her a pointed look while sipping at my coffee.
“His name is Scott,” she said. “He was one grade above me in high school, so he’s a sophomore here in Chicago.”
I thinned my lips because no matter how much of an adult I knew Alyssa was, I still didn’t like the idea of my daughter dating while in college. I wanted her to concentrate on her studies and not get distracted. Even if I couldn’t keep her away from the opposite gender completely, I could discourage it.
“You know how I feel about you dating while you’re at school,” I said. “I’m not paying for you to find a boyfriend. I’m paying for you to get an education.”
“I know that. Hence, the date today is during the break for the both of us.”
“So, it is a date then?” I asked.
“I’m an adult, Dad,” Alyssa said, hopping up from the stool. “I know that you can’t let me go, but I am going to eventually find someone I want to be in a relationship with
. Until then, I just want to have a little bit of fun.”
I shook my head at her in exasperation. “You’re only nineteen years old, Alyssa. I don’t think you have a clue about what you want.”
“Oh, trust me. I know exactly what I want.”
“Too much information,” I said, grimacing at the mischievous look in her eyes. “Fine, Alyssa. Just promise to keep yourself protected at all times.”
Alyssa laughed as she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. She smelled of coffee and perfume, but I still smelled baby power and lotion like when she was a child. A pang filled me as I squeezed her back tightly. Then, the guilt followed as she pulled back to look up at me with a frown.
“Is everything okay with you, Dad? I’ve noticed that something is bothering you over the past couple of days.”
“It’s nothing,” I said and plastered on an assuring smile. “Don’t worry about me. I’m able to take care of myself, despite what you might think.”
“I suppose you do a good job at taking care of yourself,” she conceded, eyeing my broad chest with a small smile. “I bet Mom didn’t know what to think when she saw you. I’ve seen pictures of Jack Miller on the internet. You’re way better looking than he is.”
I chuckled at her attempt to cheer me up. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, grinning. “Any woman you want would be lucky to have you in their lives.”
She slipped out of my arms to go down the hallway in the direction of her room. I downed the last bit of my coffee with a queasy stomach, then I texted my driver to meet me in five minutes while I gathered up my things for the day. At least my daughter didn’t know the truth about my “relationships” with women when she was away at college. She’d think I was a straight-up hypocrite for encouraging her to stay away from sleeping with whoever she wanted. I lingered in the hallway for a moment to gaze at Penny’s closed door. I didn’t know if she was awake yet, or if she would even welcome me going down there to talk to her at this point. My phone buzzed with a text message from William to let me know that he was waiting for me down in the parking lot. Tucking my phone into my pocket, I slid into my heavy jacket before leaving the condo to let Penny have some time alone. I didn’t need to complicate things any further by trying to talk to her.
Not until I figured out what the fuck was going on inside of my own head.
The morning hours ticked by slowly as I focused on the upcoming week. The lawsuit wouldn’t go anywhere. My legal team was sure of that, but I wanted everything to be perfect. I didn’t care how irritated my employees were getting with my foul mood whenever I told them to tweak the presentations or to run through another algorithm. It wasn’t until Neil stepped into my office with a concerned frown on his face that I realized something was wrong.
“I think we should take a break from work for lunch,” he said. “Get something to eat at a place I know for an hour or two.”
I glanced up at Neil when he closed the door to my office to keep our conversation private. My foul mood only worsened when he shook his head at me.
“I know you have a lot going on,” Neil said. “But your employees are getting the brunt of whatever is pissing you off. You aren’t making any sense up there, either. You’re running around in circles.”
“I know what I’m doing,” I snapped churlishly. “I’m trying to run through every possible scenario, Neil. I want this to be perfect and—”
“And it will be perfect. I promise you that.” He swept a glance over the bags beneath my eyes. “I’m taking you out to lunch. No questions asked, and you can tell me about whatever the hell is bugging you so badly. Got it?”
“It sounds like I don’t have a choice,” I replied coolly. A little break from the office did sound good, though. “Just for an hour, Neil. I want to get back here to do a few more scenarios on an economic crash, or a housing market crash.”
“We’ll get to it when we get back,” he said. “I’ll let the rest of the office know that they need to consider those scenarios. That’s why you hired these people.”
“Good point, I suppose.”
I powered down my computer before locking up my office to meet Neil at the elevators. I left word with my receptionist to call if anyone needed me. We ended up in a small Italian restaurant fifteen minutes away from the office. The entire time, I resisted the urge to call Penny to check up on her. A small part of me was troubled by her sleeping in this morning, but it occurred to me then that she was most likely hiding out in the guestroom to avoid interacting with me. I would have to be the one to bridge that gap if I wanted to fix the situation before it spun of control.
