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I went closer, rather unwillingly. I took her hand and she grasped it tightly. Too tightly.
“Where were you?”
As if I had disappeared without leaving word for weeks. It had only been a few days.
“I was with Lauren,” I said.
I saw her face harden, but she did not let go of my hand.
“I’m glad to see you’re well,” I said. “The doctor said you must have fainted due to dehydration, anemia and low blood pressure.”
My mother made a disparaging sound, indicating how little she thought of him.
“I have been so upset about everything,” she said. “I had chest pains before it happened.”
“They did an EKG. Your heart is fine,” I said, pulling my hand from her grasp. “Perhaps it was a panic attack.”
My mother made a disparaging noise.
“Do you need anything?”
“I need my son back,” my mother said, her voice shaking.
“I’m here,” I said.
Then I said, “But I might as well tell you, I’ve decided to resign as CEO from Egal.”
“What?” she cried out and her heart rate monitor started bleeping.
I had thought that of all the places in the world where I could break the news to my mother, a hospital was probably best.
“These last couple of days, being away from the company have been so liberating. I have felt so happy.”
“But what about the company?”
“Another family member can take over, Will perhaps?”
“But it was your father’s dream that you take over from him!” Tears were running down her face.
“I don’t know, Mother. I’ve started thinking it was more your dream than his. And now that Lauren and I have managed to work things out, I can tell you that my dreams have changed.”
She stared at me, too shocked to respond.
“I’ve been CEO for five years now and I think that is enough.”
“But… the future…” Her heart rate went up even more and a nurse came in to check on it. She looked angrily at me, “You need to leave. You’re upsetting Mrs. Waterstone.”
“No, no!” My mother cried out. “Don’t leave. Please, let him stay.”
“Five minutes more,” the nurse said sternly.
I waited until the nurse was out of the room.
I kept my voice calm, reasonable.
“I have given it a lot of thought. I don’t want to upset you, but my future is with Lauren and my baby. Your grandchild. You don’t think Father would have wanted me to be in my child’s life, the way he could not? You don’t think he’d want me to be happy?”
She stared at me, wide-eyed, unable to respond.
