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I knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She’d throw herself into taking care of Ashley until she was safe in college, hang out with friends and volunteer as she always had. I knew that Mom would be fine in time but for that to happen, we had to do our parts as well.
I nodded and sipped my beer again. “You’re right. We do need to take care of the girls. Let’s go to the office next week and sit down with someone to get a feel for things. I don’t think we’ve been there since we were in school, right?” Dad had arranged for us to put in the hours at school in the office, so we knew a little but I shuddered at the idea of running the whole thing. It seemed like a lot of responsibility.
We had a few more drinks and got a cab home, finding the house dim and quiet. Brent led the way upstairs, where I showered and dropped against my pillows to stare at the ceiling. A lot was going to be changing and I let the past play through my mind. I saw my childhood, teenage years and then all the wild years in order and heard my phone vibrate.
Looking at the screen, I saw that it was a girl in Queens that I hooked up with every now and then. She told me that she was sorry about Dad, having heard it through the grapevine and asked if I wanted to hang out sometime.
I thought about that, wondering if I couldn’t have both. I could run a business and still see people. My father managed, traveling with us a lot when we were younger as well as Mom on their own. I didn’t think that Mom was going to sell any of the vacation homes. I told her that we could hang out over the weekend, since I knew she had her own flat out there now. It wasn’t that this place wasn’t big enough to bring a woman back to my room, though I kept that to a minimum. The plan was for Brent and me to get an apartment, but we traveled so much that it just never happened. We stayed at friend’s a lot here in the city as well.
The house was calming down by the weekend. I knew that Mom was struggling but it was good to see her seeing her friends again. Ashley was going back to school the following Monday and life was going to settle into something again. I met up with Carlie at a local bar, drinking heavily and ending up in her bed much later in the night. I fucked her hard, taking out a lot of my emotions on her from the last couple of weeks, making her cry out my name. “Jesus. What got into you?” She asked as her green eyes looked me over with a lazy sheen to them. Carlie was a pretty woman and I dropped beside her on the mattress, taking a deep breath.
“It’s been a long week,” I admitted before I shrugged. “Two weeks, if I’m counting. I guess I just needed to release some poison.” I winked at her, trying to make light of the situation. “Thanks for being there.”
“Are you nervous about M&P?” Carlie asked me as I took a deep breath.
“I think between Brent and I, we’ll be fine. I hope there’s a good staff there that will let me get some time off,” I joked as my smile faded. Reality was approaching me quickly and I felt her roll onto her side to wrap an arm around my waist.
“You are a wild man but I think you’ll be fine,” she assured me in a sleepy voice as I looked at her in the dim light from her lamp. I debated on sleeping there since tomorrow was Saturday, deciding that I would. We were meeting the heads at M&P at nine on Monday and I might as well have some fun. I knew that my brother was across town with his own girl, even though there was a different feeling to it now. A part of me wanted to be home with Mom and Ashley, making sure that they were doing okay. I knew they’d call if they needed me for anything. Mom didn’t want us to stop living simply because things changed but I’d feel a lot better being there with them.
Fuck. I wanted to stay and have another round with Carlie tomorrow morning so I turned to face her and pull her against me. They would be fine.
I woke up with her the following day and had a quickie before breakfast, something I didn’t usually do with a woman. Carlie was a regular when I was in New York though, so I decided to do it. I liked her though I wasn’t looking for any kind of relationship.
I headed home after taking her to eat, missing Dad when I walked into the front door. There was the smell of coffee on the first floor and I walked into the kitchen to see the chef, Monica. She was working on a dish to freeze and I smiled at her. “Thank God. I’ve had enough with casseroles.”
Monica gave me a warm look with her brown eyes that conveyed sympathy. “I am so sorry for everything.” She loved my father as much as anyone else and I could see the sadness on her face. “I am just trying to get some food in the freezer that you can heat that’s healthy.” I knew that everything that was brought by friends wasn’t always the best option.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked as she glanced at the back of the house. “Porch?” We’d added a porch in the back that was mostly windows so Mom could have a place to sit in the colder months. She often read or did some of her crafts out there, but today I just saw her sipping coffee as I went out to join her. “Morning.” I sat down with my own steaming cup and looked over the city silently for a moment. I finally looked closely at my beautiful mother, who had dark circles under her eyes and red eyes. “How are you doing?”
“I miss him. This was so sudden and he was so full of life, Bran. We had so many years left together.” She turned her soft, green eyes to meet mine. “I know that there is a lot of pressure on you boys, now. I know that you’re going to have to grow up quickly with all of this responsibility, but it is what he wanted.” Her eyes asked me so many questions as I stared at her quietly. “Do him proud?” It was Mom that sat me down and talked to me when she started to hear about all the women and parties, telling me and Brent that we were so intelligent and better than that. However, when you are one of the wealthiest families in the world, a lot of stories get told. They weren’t all true.
Okay, most of them probably were.
“Of course, Mom. I know how hard he worked for all of us. He gave us everything.” I waved my hand around as she wiped a tear from her cheek and nodded. “We’re going Monday for a meeting with the heads. It’ll be good.” I faked my confidence, still unsure of this change in my life. I was going from a life of fast-paced parties and women to working, running a big and very successful company. I knew that I’d be leaning on Brent a lot through this but I wanted to do my part as well. Mom deserved not to worry herself amid all this grieving and Ashley should finish school without distractions, like Brent and I got to do.
“I know that you’re young and him and I both were as well, once upon a time. I don’t expect you to spend your life at the office. I want you to live your life. I just don’t want to sell his hard work, not yet.” She shook her head and looked back out of the window. “I never thought this would happen so soon.”
We drank our coffee and sat together in silence for a while, looking over the buildings.
Brent
I woke up to the alarm Monday morning, rolling over as I sighed. I had to pull out my suit and go into the office to learn the ropes today. I’d been there as a kid and seen some of the operations, but it was mine now, as well as Brandon’s. I knew that we’d both been out this weekend, drinking and working the stress out of our systems but I felt guilty every moment. I knew that I needed to take care of Mom and Ashley, since our family happened to be small. There were a lot of friends and business partners offering help, making me feel the wonder of how many lives Dad had touched. I heard the alarm blaring through the room again and pushed the button to shut it off as I ran my hands through my hair.
Once I was showered and partly dressed, I walked downstairs with my tie and jacket to get some coffee. Brandon was already there and we exchanged a long look as he poured me a cup. He was dressed in similar black pants and a crisp white shirt and I sipped the hot liquid gratefully. “Ready for this?” His voice was gruff from sleep and I nodded as Mom walked into the room, admiring us both as she gave us each a tight hug.
“You boys look so handsome. Just like your father,” she sniffled a bit with those words, making slow work of preparing her coffee as we allowed her some privacy. “I think you’ll love everyone there. They are kind and welcoming because Dad wouldn’t have it any other way.”
We talked for a bit, eating some toast before we got into the Range Rover to head over to the office. M&P stood for Moyen and Parker, the last names of my father and his best friend. They started the company together, but eventually Jim moved onto something different. I looked at the tall building as we pulled into the garage, feeling my heart palpitating in my chest.
We got inside and went to the tenth floor, where the business took up the entire space. We greeted the receptionist, who gave us a sad smile before she directed us to the conference room in the right corner of the floor. I glanced around at all the offices along with Brandon and saw how many employees were busy with work in the generous spaces that offered beautiful views. Dad wanted nothing but the best for working conditions and I could see the expense of it all as I took a close look around.
The conference room was large and there was already some fruit and pastries on the table. We looked at a man sitting wit
h a folder, who glanced up at us and stood immediately. “The Moyen boys. I have heard so much about you.” He shook our hands and gave us a sympathetic look. “Again, I am so sorry for your loss but we are going to make this as smooth a transition as possible. Your dad ran a tight ship and we are all here to help you keep that aspect of this company. He was also so generous to all of us and the average career here is twelve years and going strong.”
I looked at Brandon, all too aware that we never worked a job for a couple of weeks much less years. He showed us to the spacious break room that offered all the amenities and we made some fresh coffee in the machine before following him back to the conference room. Brandon and I took seats and watched as the room filled with a total of ten people, all shaking our hands and extending their condolences before we got to business.
Dad had an impressive staff of three managers that handled the company, all intelligent and business savvy men. They went over the basics with us, assuring us that there would be a more private meeting many times to come. We spoke with a representative from customer service, a manager, who explained that process to us. I already knew that M&P was one of the best shipping companies due to their stellar customer service and now I saw the reasons why. She was professional and comfortable with her position, not to mention gorgeous.
