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I followed Mackenzie out of the office, he hailed a taxi and gave his homeaddress.
“I feel like playing hooky,” hesaid.
“I’m not sure my new boss will be pleased if I do that,” Ireplied.
“I think your boss will be just fine. Call it ameeting.”
He settled back into his seat, and I wondered if this was our question and answer session broughtforward.
We pulled up outside his house, and he paid the taxi as I climbed out. He keyed in a code and the gates swungopen.
“2207,” hesaid.
“Sorry?”
“The gate code, if you arrive unexpectedly, it’s2207.”
“You’re telling me your gate code?” I wasn’t sure if that was significant ornot.
“I’m not going to leave you standing outside, I might be in the shower orsomething.”
“Is Addisonhere?”
He stopped and turned to me, we were halfway up thedrive.
“No, of course not. She’s staying in a hotel. Why would she behere?”
“I justthought…”
“You think toomuch.”
“Are you going to show her thesights?”
“Like fuck amI.”
“Why is shehere?”
“Do you think we can get inside? Then I’ll tellyou.”
He took my hand and we continued to walk to the frontdoor.
I was seated at the breakfast bar and Mackenzie made us coffee. He had a built in stainless steel machine, the kind I’d see in a coffee shop. When he’d made two, he took a seat besideme.
“I met Addison when we were in high school. There was a small crowd of us: her, Gabriella, Damien, Daniel, and me, we were best friends. Addison and I dated, on and off. I started working in my father’s business and quickly learned that it was in trouble. Addison’s family came forward with a proposal to save his business. Her father invested in ailing businesses. What I didn’t know was there were conditions. Two conditions. One, I was to marry his daughter. The other, which I didn’t find out until after the wedding, he was to strip my father’s business, put everyone out of work, sell off the plant, and make a shitload of money along theway.”
“You married her to save your father’sbusiness?”
“I was in love with her. Saving my father’s business was just the icing on the proverbialcake.”
“How long after did he shut your father’s companydown?”
“It was a year or so. I knew the company wasn’t viable, but it was the way he did it. He walked in one day, laid off all the staff without a care about them or their families. He sold off every piece of equipment, then the factory. All I could do was sit by and watch. I saw grown men cry, not knowing how they would feed their children. I watched my father suffer cardiac arrest because of thestress.
“But I was tied to him. By marrying his daughter, he thought he owned me. He provided the house we lived in, the cars we drove. I got bitter because there was fuck all I could do in the beginning. I had to work for him and stuck it out for five years. Then I told him to shove his job. I’d make it on my own. I’d saved a little money and I got lucky. I invested that in a bar, turned the business around, and sold it for a profit. I did that again, andagain.”
“What happened to you andAddison?”
“We stayed together for another couple of years after my father lost his business. She came home one day and told me she was pregnant. I packed a bag andleft.”
