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I tsk, as I think I was pretty sure I had at least twenty minutes to go through my emails and have a coffee before they arrive.
“I’ve put your coffee on the table,” she chimes as if she read my mind.
“You read my mind!”
She tilts her head to the side, and stares at me for a brief second before getting on with whatever she was doing on the computer.
Strange.
I head to the conference room feeling the weight of the world, no more on my shoulders but as if they were lifting off.
As I open the door, I’m surprised to see Abuela and George are sitting on the same side of the table, no lawyers. Nothing.
“Did I miss something?”
“Buenos días, Diego,” George says, and I raise an eyebrow as I wait for him to say something more than that.
Nothing.
I approach Abuela and give her two kisses, one on each cheek. She smiles at me, but she says nothing. She’s wearing a black suit, which represents her still being in mourning.
“Diego, you look good, you had good sleep.” She smiles as she cups my face. I nod, returning her smile.
“I’m happy for you. No drinking,” George says.
I was waiting for him to say something but I ignore him as I sit at the head of the table and take a sip of my coffee.
“George, I will not stand for it. I will not tolerate it any longer. You need to stop it now,” Abuela says.
He shrugs his shoulders, and I hover at my chair, not sure whether to sit or leave.
“That boy has done nothing to you. If anyone killed Lola, it was you.”
“What?” he snaps as he stands up. I can see the rage on his face, I’ve been confronted with it many times.
“You’re the reason she had another child when the doctors told her not to. You’re the reason she thought maybe if you had a daughter that you could love her again. Not him. You. And I’m sick of you blaming him for it!”
All this is news to me. Why did Abuela never tell me this side of the story? I’m annoyed with her for hiding it, protecting her son as if what he did to me in the past meant nothing.
“I know. I know, Diego, you’re mad with me for not telling you. I didn’t want there to be any more hate. If I told you what George did in the past then you would hate him even more than you already do. My silence has been painful and losing my best friend has taught me once again that I’m not immortal.”
She takes in a deep breath and it is if the air in the room is still. She’s not making eye contact with either of us. If anything, she’s looking at the table.
“I’ve decided that George should be in his position as CEO. It is his birthright, and I can see the last three years of Diego being in this position has put a toll on him.”
“What about Jorge?” George asks.
Are you fucking kidding me? His precious son couldn’t even be in charge of a bus let alone a billionaire dollar company.
“Diego, you’ve got some demons to face. One of them is sitting next to me. I want you to ask for forgiveness, George, before we all make this legal,” Abuela says sternly.
“What?” He jumps up, and then Abuela tugs at his arm to sit down. I’ve seen her determined to do something and puther opinions across, but this time is different. I can tell that she doesn’t want to be messed with and no one will dare.
“Diego sold his house. He’s staying …”
She turns to me to fill in the blanks.
“In a hotel suite.”
