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They weren’t happy about it at first, especially my father. It wasn’t that they were upset at my choice of career; they both believed that marketing was a strong career. One they could brag about. What they didn’t like was not being able to pick the college I had chosen. The direction I had taken my company. It wasn’t enough that I was worth billions of dollars. That my company would still be sustainable even three generations from now. They didn’t approve of how I spent my money.
Most would assume I was spending it on drugs and hookers, but I was actually donating it to various charities all around the world. Close to half a billion dollars a year from the revenue out of my company. To my parents it was good to donate to charity for a tax credit and to brag about it. However, most didn’t know I was donating and the amount was unacceptable.
What was unacceptable to me was rich people hoarding the money that they won’t be able to take with them when they die. They had the funds to help, so why not help? If I could help feed children in starving communities, why shouldn’t I? If I could help provide a school for girls in Africa or the Middle East, then why shouldn’t I? To my parents, though, it was lowering my net worth, and that was unacceptable in every way. One of the many differences we had.
My attention was thankfully disrupted by a knock at my door.
“Come in.” I knew it would be Janice.
My door opened, and Janice stayed in the doorway as she spoke, “A lawyer is here for you. A Jonathan Jackson.”
I had never heard of him, but I didn’t exactly travel in a legal circuit.
“Send him in.” At this point I would gladly take any distraction that I could get.
She gave a nod and left the door open as she went and grabbed Mr. Jackson. A moment later, a younger man walked into my office, and he was not what I was expecting. I’ve had visits from lawyers; that wasn’t too uncommon. Most would show up to gather paperwork for their client on a merger or new business venture. I dealt with the marketing aspect, but each client had to sign a contract with me, and I worked closely with them to ensure their branding was properly expressed. Sometimes, there was a crossover in what I did and what a lawyer did. So they would come down, and we would work on the paperwork together to skip a couple of steps.
“Mr. Jackson, what can I do for you?”
He pulled out a set of papers that were loosely folded from his inner suit pocket and handed them to me as he spoke, “I am here to serve you with court documents.”
Of course he was. I took the papers, but I didn’t open them. I already knew they would be from Ellis. She was suing me for full custody as she said she would. I had seen it coming. After all, she gave me plenty of warnings. On the other side of things, I didn’t see this coming. I figured she was just talking out of her ass, and she would go back to her carefree, no kid, lifestyle.
“I need you to sign,” Mr. Jackson said as he held out a piece of paper and a pen.
I took it and signed my name where I acknowledged that I received the papers. I handed it back to him, and he gave me a nod of thanks before he headed out. He was a man of few words, but I suspected he was just relieved I didn’t get irate with him.
“I’m sorry,” Janice said from her position in the doorway.
I wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault. She had no reason to be sorry. I needed to get back to work. I had meetings all day. I didn’t have time to linger on this right now. But all I could think about was getting a beer or a whiskey. Definitely a whiskey. I wasn’t much of a drinker, certainly not a day drinker. Hell, I hadn’t really done that in my twenties. Today though, today was a whole different story. I needed to go to those meetings but going when I wasn’t mentally ready would only make me appear incompetent, and that wasn’t something I would tolerate.
“Cancel my meetings today,” I told her as I started to pack up.
“Yes Sir,” was all she said before she turned and headed over to her desk to do her work.
I grabbed my coat and the custody papers before I headed out. I left my car. There was no way I was going to be driving home later, so there was no point in bringing it with me. There were multiple bars within walking distance, and it was a nice day out today. I headed down to the local’s bar that I have lunch at once or twice a week. I tended to avoid tourist spots, just because it is usually busy. I preferred the more local hang outs. Even if they were busy, it was a different atmosphere compared to a group of tourists.
Once I arrived, I walked through the bar to the back where the patio was that faced the ocean. It wasn’t too busy, which was nice. I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone. I grabbed a table and sat down. It was only a moment later a waitress came over and I gave her my order for a whiskey on the rocks and a bacon cheeseburger.
It wasn’t until I was alone did I finally pull out the court documents. I knew she wanted full custody, but I was more interested in the reasoning she stated. Negligence of child’s welfare. Controlling and abusive behavior.
Fucking bullshit.
I was the one neglecting Christian’s welfare. I was the one that stayed; she was the one that ran away and abandoned him. Fuck, this was the last thing that I needed. People say when it rains, it pours, but it could go and pour somewhere else now. I already had enough problems with keeping my hands off Jasmine. I didn’t need Ellis and her drama to go with it.
I gave a quick thanks to the waitress when she put my drink down. She had walked away, and I thought I was alone. That was until I heard a voice that I held zero desire in hearing at this moment.
“Day drinking? Really Liam.”
I couldn’t contain the annoyed sigh as I looked up and saw not only my father, but my mother as well. Fucking great.
“A little far from home aren’t you?” I countered as they both sat down across from me.
“I will never understand why you like this dreadful town,” my mother commented as she looked out at the ocean.
That should have answered her question, but she held zero interest in the beach. Her idea of beauty was skyscrapers. She wanted to be in a massive city that didn’t have winter. She would have loved to be in LA, but my father wasn’t about to move and lose everything he had worked for.
“Why are you both here?” I wasn’t about to get into some debate about why I preferred a small town.
