Chapter 20

Jonathan

“I think that went rather well,” my mother said as our therapist left the office.

“It did...” I wasn’t sure if it was because we were actually sorting out our issues, or if being with Claire so much made me calmer, but my mother and I had completed several therapy sessions without blowing up on one another.

She pulled a purse over her shoulder and stood up. “Did I tell you I got a raise last week?”

“No...You have a job?”

She nodded. “I didn’t want to say anything until I was past the probation period, but—”

“You don’t have to work.”

“I know, but I need something that’ll occupy my time and keep me on the straight and narrow. I don’t want to fall back into my old habits.”

Jesus...She really is trying to stay clean this time...

“Would you like a ride? I can have Greg take you. Where is it exactly?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m in a buddy program; my ride should be here in any second. It’s a small shop near the eastern docks. It has the most amazing view of the ocean.”

I stepped around my desk and gave her a hug. “I’m proud of you...” I wanted to say more, to say that I would meet her down there some time for lunch, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

I couldn’t let myself hope that she would actually change for good; she’d let me down way too many times for that.

My secretary buzzed my intercom. “Mr. Statham? I have—”

“I thought I said absolutely no interruptions today.” I groaned. “I told you I was going to be extremely busy and can’t afford to—”

“It’s Miss Gracen, sir.” 

“Oh...I’m sorry, Angela. Send her in please.”

I let go of my mother and noticed that she was raising her eyebrow, looking as if I owed her some type of explanation.

“Who is she?” she asked.

“Who’s who?”

“The woman who clearly has more privileges than I do...I’ve been turned away numerous times with the ‘Mr. Statham isn’t available for any unscheduled meetings today’ line. Why is this woman so important?”

I sighed. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Really? Can I meet her?” Her eyes lit up. “Please?”

“You can say Hello, and then you can say Goodbye.”

“Jonathan, I—”

“We’re not there yet. Don’t try to force it.”

She gritted her teeth. “Fine...”

Forget it. She doesn’t deserve to meet Claire.

I reached for her hand so I could walk her out, but the door to my office had already opened.

Claire sauntered in wearing a fitted navy blue dress and a light beige jacket, with matching high heels that made her legs look even longer.

She smiled, and just like that, I forgot all about my annoying mother and the hectic day ahead.

“Good afternoon.” I walked over and kissed her on the cheek. “You look amazing...” I led her over to my mom. “This is my mother, Denise Statham. Mother, this is—”

“Claire,” my mom interrupted as she reached out for Claire’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. You’re absolutely gorgeous... Jonathan’s very lucky to have you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Statham.”

“I’ll see you next week, son.” My mom gave me one last hug and headed towards the back walls of my office, towards the private elevator.

I pulled Claire into my arms. “Is something wrong? Are you sick? It must be something fatal if you came up here during the hours when people might actually see you.”

She rolled her eyes. “We just wrapped up the sTablet so Mr. Barnes is letting us go home early. My phone died, so I figured I’d come tell you that before you thought I was ignoring you.”

“Good decision. I would take you out to lunch to celebrate, but I’m booked with meetings until six. Dinner? There’s a new bistro down at—”

“Mr. Statham?” Angela’s voice came over the intercom once more. “I hate to bother you again, but Miss Griffin is here with an emergency. She says it can’t wait another second.”

I sighed and stepped back. “Wait here. Don’t go anywhere.” I pulled out a chair for her and walked out of the room. “This better be an emergency, Vanessa.”

“It is. I don’t use that word lightly.”

I followed her down the hall into a conference room and sat down. “What is it?”

“The Noracorps transaction was approved by the board and we were about to fax it off to the bank, but we’re missing your signature on several documents. It’s kind of the most important one, don’t you think?”

“Oh.” That definitely would’ve been a disaster...

I took the folder from her hands and pulled out a pen, initialing every necessary blank, reading over highlighted paragraphs here or there.

“Do I need to sign off on these C-18 forms too?”

She batted her eyes. “Yes...”

Ugh, god...I started signing the blanks faster, purposely avoiding her flirty glances each time she cleared her throat.

Ever since she’d gotten upset with me after that late night meeting, I’d put some serious distance between us. I still spoke with her after meetings, still laughed at her witty jokes, but I never allowed myself to be alone with her for too long.

“You’re really not going to tell me your new girlfriend’s name?” She placed her hand over the documents.

“It’s none of your business.”

“I’m dating someone new...”

“That’s great.” I smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.” Ecstatic to hear that...

“His name is Paul Jordan and he owns a chain of mid-scale hotels. See? I told you his name now you can tell me hers.”

“What does the name of the woman I’m dating have to do with our acquisition of NoraCorps tomorrow? I thought signing these documents was the reason why you came up here.”

She sighed. “It was. Don’t forget that they’re going to be here in the morning. They want to get official copies of the bank’s approval forms. I think this may be the second best investment we’ve ever made.”

“Me too.” I stood up. “I’ll get here early tomorrow. I’ll have the chef make something for—”

“Is it the redhead who works in Marketing?” She grabbed my hand. “The director who did all that work for the sPhone blue?”

I raised my eyebrow.

“I saw you two holding hands in the garage late last night...She’s really pretty—stunning even...I just...” She shook her head. “All these years that I’ve been here, I’ve tried getting close to you, and you’ve always pushed me away...Why? Why am I not good enough for you?”

I couldn’t believe she was trying to pull this emotional bullshit with me. I remained stoic; I needed to choose my next words very carefully.

“I’m not like Audrey...” She reached up and ran her hands across my chest, making my skin crawl. “I’m not trying to use you or push you over the edge to get your money. I’m your friend and you can’t deny that we have undeniable chemistry...I’ve looked out for you ever since my father invested in your company. I even sat with Hayley through some of her skin grafting surgeries when you couldn’t be there...I’m not a dimwitted bimbo, a gold-digger, or a divorcée with kids whose trying to live out her cougar dreams and get you to marry her so she can run off with all your money after she divorces you. I’m not like —”

“Excuse me?”

She bit her lip and traced her fingertips along my mouth. “I’m just saying that I wouldn’t take advantage of you like some of the women you’ve been interested in. And even though I’m dating someone else now, whenever you come to your senses, I’ll—”

“Okay.” I grabbed her hand and moved it away. “Since you clearly don’t understand what the word ‘no’ means, let me help you with the exact definition: I am not interested in you. I will never be interested in you. I don’t give a damn what you think about whoever you assume I’m dating, but if she happens to be a divorcée with kids, she’s ten times better than you would ever be for me. I’m aware that me canceling the employee fraternization policy left you feeling confused about your imaginary status of “us,” but sexual harassment goes both ways and that policy is still in effect. Are we clear?”

I took her stunned silence and dropped jaw to be a yes.

“I’ll see you in the morning.” I turned away from her and walked out.

I headed to my office and took a deep breath. I was going to have to limit my interactions with Vanessa to business only until she got a grip on herself—maybe even avoid her completely.

I walked inside and pulled Claire to her feet. “I’m so sorry about that. What was I saying before?”

“Dinner...”

“Right. There’s a new restaurant down at Fisherman’s Wharf and I’d love to—”

“Rain check? I promised the girls I would make pasta tonight. Maybe we can—”

“I like pasta.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll bring the leftovers to work tomorrow. Do you want me to pack parmesan cheese with—”

“I can’t come over and have dinner with you and your family?”

“Um...”

“Um?” I narrowed my eyes at her. “What type of answer is that?”

“You want to meet my daughters?”

“Do they know I exist?”

She nodded.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Nothing...” She looked surprised. “Dinner is at seven.”

––––––––

I pulled up to her house ten minutes early. I’d bought three custom bouquets of spring roses—one for Claire, one for Ashley and Caroline, and a large bottle of sparkling apple cider to share over dinner.

I walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell, smiling at the memory of the first time I’d done that in January.

Within seconds, one of her daughters opened the door. She tilted her head to the side, causing her wavy red hair to fall with her, and she blinked several times. She was the spitting image of Claire, only she had more dominant freckles on her cheeks and her eyes were a much paler green.

“Mom! It’s that guy you told us about!” She called behind her shoulder. Then she stared at me.

“Are you going to let me in, Ashley?” I smiled.

“Whoa. How do you know my name already?”

“Your mom told me a while ago, but you’re still wearing your name tag from work.”

“Oh yeah...” She stepped back and let me in.

Her other daughter—Caroline, came down the steps and stood next to Ashley. Then they both stared at me, blinking in unison.

They were dressed in the same work uniform—white collared shirts with khakis, and all their freckles were in the exact same places. I wasn’t sure how anyone could ever tell them apart.

I handed them the rose bouquets, hoping they would lead me to Claire, but they simply said “Awwww” at the flowers and continued staring at me.

“I guess he’s hot after all. Mom did a really good job.” Ashley nodded. “I like his tie.”

“I like his shoes.” Caroline tapped her lip. “Do you think he dresses like this every day or he’s dressing like this to impress her?”

“Probably just to impress her. He can’t afford to dress like that every day...I bet he got these flowers at the discount stand down the street.”

“Or maybe he works at the discount stand down the street.”

“Yeah...He’s probably a salesman—a hot salesman though.”

Do they not realize that I can HEAR them?

“What’s his name again?”

“Jonathan, ladies.” I smiled. “Where’s your mother?”

“Dining room,” they uttered in unison.

Okay...

I realized that they were never going to lead me in the right direction, so I walked around them. I saw Claire setting the table and handed her the last bouquet.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “I don’t think the hundred I receive in my office every morning are enough.”

“I’ll be sure to increase the amount. Do you need any help with dinner?”

“No, thank you. It’s already done.” She set down a stack of napkins. “Ashley! Caroline! Dinner’s ready!”

The next few minutes that unfolded were like a scene out of a fifties television sitcom: Ashley and Caroline rushed into the room and took their places at the table. They passed around the plates and bowls, laughing at nothing at all. Then Claire set down a huge bowl of pasta and the girls took turns spooning out huge helpings.

They talked excitedly about their day at school—a second successful bake sale with the cheerleading team, an A they both received in Physics class, and some “lame loser” who liked Ashley but couldn’t tell her apart from Caroline.

I’d only seen this type of behavior in movies or on TV. I didn’t know this actually happened in real life.

“So Jonathan—wait, we can call you Jonathan right?” Caroline passed me the breadstick basket.

“That’s perfectly fine.”

“Great! So, what’s it like being a flower salesman? Do you get good tips? Do you cut your own stems?”

I laughed. “I’m not a flower salesman.” I wondered why Claire hadn’t told them that. “I’m the CEO of Statham Industries.”

“What!” She gasped. “You’re the CEO of mom’s company?” She pulled out her phone and scrolled across the screen. She raised her eyebrow and hit Ashley on the shoulder. “Ashley, he has his own Wikipedia page...Wait, why isn’t his picture on here?”

“Maybe he has low self-esteem...” Ashley shrugged.

WHAT? “No, I just prefer to keep a low profile.”

“Weird...” Ashley tapped her phone’s screen and looked at me. “So...you’re a billionaire? You’re like filthy rich?”

I smiled. “You could say that.”

“You didn’t tell us he was rich, mom! You should’ve said that first! In that case...Caroline and I are trying to get my mom to make a certain decision for us and we need your rich opinion.”

Oh god...

“What is it?” I noticed Claire glaring at her from across the table.

“We think we each deserve to have our own car. We do everything right in school, we work part-time at the airport, and we hardly get in any trouble. If you had a twin brother, would you want to share everything? We just got our own rooms a few years ago, and we think it’s way past time for a car. What do you think?”

I wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this. I didn’t have any experience with teenage angst.

“Um...” I cleared my throat. “Are either of you trying to buy your own car?”

“Is he serious?” “Did he really just say that?” “Ask him again. Maybe we heard that wrong...”

“We didn’t.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “If you’ll excuse us—mother, Jonathan...We have some work to finish...”

They both stood up and narrowed their eyes at me before disappearing into another room.

What did I say?

“Thank you for telling them that.” Claire walked over and brushed her lips against mine. “We didn’t bore you too much tonight, did we?”

“No, not at all. It was just different.”

“What do you mean, different?”

“Having a family dinner. I’ve never had that before.”

“Your foster fam—”

“They always made me eat alone in my room.” I shook my head at the ugly memories. “The dinner table was for their real children.”

“Your biological parents never cooked dinner when you were little? Not once?”

“Not that I recall...Although there was this onetime when my mom promised to cook a Christmas dinner...She hyped it up all week, saying that we were finally going to have a real holiday meal together. She even made me and Hayley write out a list of everything we wanted her to make. She and my dad took the lists with them to the grocery store on Christmas Eve...”

“What happened?”

“They didn’t come back until New Year’s.”

“Oh,” she murmured. “I’m so sorry...”

“Jonathan?” Ashley—I think, peeked around the corner. “Do you have a steady hand?”

“I think so. Why?”

“Me and Caroline need someone to trace the blueprint of our model Boeing 707 while we go over the coding. My mom’s hands aren’t steady at all.”

I kissed Claire on her cheek. “Okay.”

I followed Ashley into a large room that was painted light blue with fluffy white clouds. There were model planes everywhere—hanging from the ceiling, sitting in glass cases, and standing on the wall.

“So, putting model planes together is your hobby?” I sat down and began tracing a blueprint in white chalk. “Is this what you two—”

“Our hobby?” Caroline scoffed. “You are sitting with two of our nation’s future top pilots. This is our career we’re talking about.”

“Yeah.” Ashley held up a chart of code. “There aren’t that many women in the skies, and me and my sister are going to change that.”

I looked over their charts, noticing that some of the equations were similar to the ones I’d used to build former programs; a lot of this stuff wasn’t taught until college.

Claire had told me that they were practically geniuses when it came to books, but I’d never met any teenagers who were this well-versed in Physics.

“Do you have your own plane, Jonathan?” Ashley etched a diagonal line alongside my paper.

“I do.”

“What model?” “What type of engine?” “What’s the passenger capacity?” “Is the nonstop range over two thousand miles?”

“I have no idea...”

“What!” Ashley traced around my wing. “How is that possible? You bought a plane and you didn’t ask any of these questions?”

“I guess I have people to do that for me...” I shrugged. “If your mom says it’s okay, I’ll take you on a trip one day. I have an excellent pilot. I’m sure he’d love to give you a tour and answer all your questions.”

They both screamed and squealed, and then they went silent all of sudden, focusing on the task at hand.

“Dessert?” Claire poked her head through the door. “I made crushed Oreo and Butterfinger sundaes.”

“Nobody move!” Ashley yelled. “I need him to hold the wing steady for one more minute. You can’t bring the sundaes in here, mom?”

“No, that’s okay...I don’t want to mess up the new carpet.” Claire flinched. “They’ll be in the kitchen whenever you’re ready. Okay?”

The twins murmured, “Okay” and kept their eyes glued to the charts. Once they finished checking my wing-tracing and writing down the measurements, they dismissed me with an “Okay mom’s boyfriend, you can go now. We’ll be out for dessert eventually.”

I went back into the kitchen but I didn’t see Claire. The sundaes she’d made were sitting on a small tray, slowly melting onto the table, so I placed them in the freezer.

I circled around the living room and her newly finished hallways, looking to see where she’d run off to. I started to walk upstairs, but I heard the creaking of a rocking bench coming from her porch.

“You okay, Claire?” I stepped outside.

“Yeah...I forgot tonight was going to be a starry night.” She pointed up at the twinkling sky. “I wanted to look at it before I cleaned.”

I sat down and pulled her close. “Thank you for dinner tonight. I loved it.”

“You’re welcome. Maybe next time you can come over earlier and cook for all of us instead.”

“You’re referring to our future now? You sure you’re okay?”

She laughed and snuggled against my chest. “Could you please tell me what you want for your birthday? It’s this weekend.”

“Nothing. I never celebrate it.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t.” I needed to stay off that subject. Forever. “Is there a reason why your daughters have iPhones and not sPhones?”

“Of course there is.” She smirked. “It’s because everyone knows that iPhones are better.”

“Are they really?”

“Yeah. iPhones are so sleek and modern. They do everything the sPhone does and more. As a matter of fact, the only reason I have a sPhone is because the CEO insists on making every employee have one. If it wasn’t for that, I would definitely have an iPhone. It even sounds better than sPhone.”

“Take it back right now or I’ll fire you.”

“I even think the commercials for the iPhones are better. I bet their marketing team would be a joy to work for. They make me want to trade in my phone every time I see them on TV.”

I pulled her into my lap and narrowed my eyes at her. “Take. It. Back.”

“Make. Me.”

I laughed and sealed my lips over hers. “I will.”