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“Seven,” I said. That would give us time to fly there.
“See you then,” he said and ended the call.
As I put my cell phone back in my pocket, I felt pretty impressed with myself. Just an hour ago I had no idea what we were going to do tonight. Part of me wanted to call Lindsay and let her know, but why spoil the surprise?
There was a knock on my office door. My next client wasn’t due for at least an hour. Which brother is here to interrupt my day now?
“Come in,” I called out. When the door opened, I sucked in my breath. “Mother, is everything okay?” She never stopped by. I got up and walked over to greet her with a quick hug.
She nodded, “Yes. I’m fine. Your father is fine. It’s you that I’m worried about.”
“Me? Why?” I was the one son they never had to have concerns about. I’ve always done what I was told, excelled in school and business, and my face never appeared in the tabloids.
“May I sit?”
I walked her over to the couch and sat beside her. She looked so serious. “Mother, there is nothing to worry about.”
“You say that, but I know you’re keeping something from me. I’m your mother. You can tell me anything,” she said, reaching out to hold my hand.
This can’t be over my not telling her about Lindsay. “Mother, tell me, what has you so upset?”
“I was told you were seen going into the emergency room. You never called and let me know you were having any difficulties,” she said.
I let out a long exhale. “Mother, I’m not. I was there with a…friend. Not for myself.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me about being sick, would you?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
She placed her hand on my forehead as though she still wasn’t convinced. Once she looked me over, she conceded. “Why do people start horrible rumors and scare me half to death?”
“You could’ve called and asked.” My mother might not appreciate this rumor, but usually she was in the middle of all the gossip and enjoying it.
“I needed to see for myself,” she huffed. “And for your information, I stopped in at your office and your penthouse yesterday. You weren’t at either. When I asked your secretary where you were, all she knew was that you left the office around noon yesterday and she hadn’t heard from you since.”
I was going to need to have a conversation with my secretary after this. No matter who it was, even my mother, my personal information should never leave this office. “I told you, I brought a friend to the emergency room.”
“And that took hours?” she questioned.
“I don’t know what else to tell you, Mother. I was not home, and not here.”
She looked at me long and hard, then asked, “Who is this friend? I mean, it must be a very good friend for you to leave work.”
And here it was, the interrogation that I was dreading for Lindsay. “You don’t know them.”
“How do you know if I know them or not? I know many people.”
“Not this one,” I said firmly.
She looked surprised and asked, “Why are you raising your voice at me?”
I hadn’t realized I had. But she was right. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
“You might not be ill, but there’s something you’re avoiding telling me. Maybe this friend of yours is not a good influence,” she warned.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Mother, I’m forty-two. I don’t think you need to worry about whom I chose to associate myself with any longer.”
“Age means nothing to a mother. Worry is a mother’s prerogative until the day we die.”
