Chapter 5: Max
Of course I knew Abby Grant worked for the marketing firm that was trying to get Energy Enhanced’s account. I knew everything about Abby Grant within an hour of her being stolen from me by the bitterness of Veronica’s jilted ego. I couldn’t even remember the last time I bothered to put in a personal appearance at a company we didn’t own outright. Energy Enhanced was just another startup that sounded like they were offering something different than the rest of the products on the market. Truthfully, once I found out she worked at a marketing firm, I knew there was a damn good chance her company would pitch something to one of mine eventually. Happenstance just delivered it to me earlier than I imagined. The fact she was in the room was just icing on the cake. I definitely didn’t expect her to have the only decent idea in the whole damn room.
That fucking kiss.
I’ve used a strong kiss to tame more than one woman trying to show disinterest. It wasn’t a new trick, but it was effective. I didn’t get a fair shot at her, so there was no reason to play fair after the fact. I wanted her. There was no way around that. Her kiss started with fear, hesitation, and then it was as passionate as my own. She might not want to make a mistake, but she was damn sure going to do it anyway. I might not have gotten her at the club, but with the door once again open, I was going to charge into it like the bull I was. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed a familiar number. They answered quickly.
“Hello, this Max Martin. I’d like to arrange a flower delivery.” I waited for the young lady on the other end of the phone to pull up my account. “Yes, a dozen roses. I’d like to have them delivered to Abby Grant at West End Marketing. Make it happen today.”
I hung up the phone before I gave them a chance to confirm. I knew they would do what I said. My name had too much prestige for them not to bow down to it. A few hours later, I was sitting in my office, staring out at the city, when I got a text message confirming they were delivered.
I had a lot of work to do but it was getting late. I thought about picking up the phone and making arrangements so I could go out to another club, but I just didn’t have the energy. My laser focus had locked in on Abby Grant and until that itch was scratched, it was going to be hard to find satisfaction elsewhere. That was the problem with my ego—it had to be stroked once I got it worked up.
***
“DADDY!” I HEARD A voice cry out as I stepped into my house. Tiny feet ran down the hallway towards me.
“Hi, Benjamin!” I scooped up my five-year-old son as he lunged at me.
“Guess what Ms. Ruth taught me today?” He grinned from ear to ear.
“What’s that?” I saw the older lady walking down the hallway, holding her back as she took each step.
“I learned how to divide every number by ten! You just take off a zero!” He seemed overly enthused, like he had just discovered magic.
“Yes, that works with a lot of numbers.” I sat him down and looked over at Ms. Ruth. “Everything go okay today?”
“It wasn’t bad.” Her voice was gentle. “We did have a bit of a dispute over how many cookies he’s allowed to have.”
“I said one.” I looked down at Benjamin.
“I multiplied that by five!” He held up five fingers.
“It doesn’t work that way, son.” I shook my head and laughed.
Benjamin was my heart and soul. He represented everything good about me and didn’t get cursed with any of my awful personality traits. His mother was the only woman I had ever loved but she decided she loved pills and tanned Brazilians more than the life we started to build together. By the time I found out she was pregnant with Benjamin, I wasn’t even sure he would be mine. The marriage was over, held together only by my stubbornness at that point. We signed the divorce papers a few days after he was born, despite the offer I made for us to get counseling and try to work things out. She cashed herself out of my life and for another zero, she signed over all of her parental rights to Benjamin.
“Alright, son. Let’s go make dinner.” I took him by the hand.
“Bye, Ms. Ruth!” Benjamin waved goodbye to his teacher.
“Goodbye, Benjamin. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She returned his wave and walked towards the door.
Ms. Ruth had been a godsend. I was a bit nervous about homeschooling Benjamin because I wanted him to socialize with other children, but he was slightly autistic. If he was with people he knew and trusted, he was okay, but if he was put in a room with strangers he would shut down and become almost non-verbal.
I took him to the kitchen and made him a ham sandwich with a side of broccoli. He loved ham sandwiches and he hated broccoli. Thankfully, he was willing to endure the curse of vegetables for a ham sandwich. After dinner was over, I bathed him and tucked him into bed. He wanted a bedtime story, so I read him a story about knights and castles. That was the flavor of the week after he found out dinosaurs were extinct.