Chapter Seven
Mark
Thursday
I couldn’t get used to Tokyo time; I felt all out of whack. I hadn’t been here for long enough to adjust to the new time zone, and I knew I wouldn’t be either. It felt a little exhausted, but I tried my hardest to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. I had a lot that I needed to get done today. My brain scanned over it all as I watched the fascinating Tokyo skyline spread out before me. I did love it when traveling came into my work; it took me to all sorts of wonderful places. If only I could get used to time zones, everything would be okay.
Buzz… all of a sudden, I was distracted by a strange buzzing sound. Buzz, buzz…
It took me a couple of moments, but I soon realized that it was the video calling option on my cell phone. It was far too early in Japanese time for it to be someone from here, so it had to be someone in New York. Justine, of course. As soon as I saw her name on the screen, I knew that I was in for it. At least I had the distance on my side though. If she was about to yell at me, it was through the small screen on my phone, not in real life.
“Hello?” I answered the moment I swiped the accept option. “Justine? Are you okay?”
“No,” she shot back sulkily. “I hated today; it was the worst day of my whole life.”
Well, we both knew that wasn’t true, but I decided not to push that fact too hard. “What happened?”
“I had a horrible time with that man you forced me to meet.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I hate him. I don’t ever want to go to that stupid meeting again. I want you to make it stop.”
It took me a couple of minutes in my sleep addled brain to realize what was going on. Of course, the therapist. How had the jet lag made me forget that? “It’s for the best though, darling. I wouldn’t do it if not.”
“Urgh, Dad, you never listen to me.” She threw her hands in the air in frustration. “I hate that.”
“No, I’m not ignoring you, I do understand, it’s just hard for me to deal with when I’m so far away.”
“But, you’re always so far away. What difference does that make?”
I parted my lips a couple of times, trying to think of something to say. In a way, I knew that she was right, but what could I do to make her see it from my perspective? How could I make her understand that I couldn’t do anything to help her? That at work, I was powerful, but at home, I was useless. There was just no way.
“Okay, well whatever, Dad.” She rolled her eyes dramatically at me. “Thank you for that.”
She cut me off, the screen immediately going black. Usually, I would ignore that. I would let my mother deal with the aftermath of one of her moods, but today I couldn’t. For one, my mother wasn’t around, and for two, Justine’s behavior was getting so crazy I couldn’t ignore it anymore. She had been so sweet and quiet at the funeral, asking me the sweetest questions as she tried to process things, but now she was back to being cold and acting out even more so than before. She was always a little bad-tempered, but this was too much.
No, this time, I needed to call back. I instantly hit redial, and I waited for her to pick up. She didn’t answer the first time or the second, but on the third time, a picture started to form on my screen.
“Oh…” I was shocked. Instead of Justine’s surly face, it was Olivia. Her bright blue eyes pierced the screen. “Sorry, I was trying to get through to Justine again; she was in a temper and she hung up the phone…”
“Oh, no, I know. I was in the room listening. I only answered to let you know that she’s locked herself in her room and she won’t come out.” She glanced away from the screen, towards Justine’s room. “I don’t know what to do.” She paused and sighed, looking a little sad. For a moment, I wondered if she couldn’t handle it. Maybe I was going to have to get back on the nanny search again after all. “I can see where she’s coming from though.”
I wasn’t sure why, but those words instantly got my back up. I had a horrible feeling it was something to do with me. “What do you mean?” I snapped back. “Which part was she right about?”
Olivia didn’t seem bothered by my temper. Maybe because it was through the screen. I knew better than anyone how much that could dull the effect of any moods. “I mean about the therapist. He was a real jerk.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “You saw the therapist as well? You went with her?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Of course, I did. I wasn’t about to leave her by herself.”
“Right.” Wow. Maybe she was good after all. I needed to continue to give her a chance. “I see. And erm, what happened? How do you know that he was a jerk? He’s supposed to have a very good reputation.”
I’d done my research. I didn’t go into this without thinking it through first. I did an online look into who did the best work, and this man came out on top. What else was I supposed to do? I tried my damn hardest.
“Yeah, that might be so, but he doesn’t seem to know much about…” She paused and chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. I sucked in and held a breath while I waited for her to finally reveal all. “Grief.”
Grief… shit. I hadn’t exactly been open and honest with Olivia as to why I needed her. I hadn’t mentioned anything to do with Michelle or my mom. Maybe that was wrong of me; it meant she wasn’t exactly prepared. I sent her into the lion’s den without giving her any ammo to deal with. Shit, I was an asshole.
“Oh right.” I coughed uncomfortably. “I see. So, he isn’t great with, erm…” I sipped my lovely Japanese ice coffee, needing to bide for time for a moment. “Grief? He didn’t do well with Justine then?”
Shit, I was relying on this more than I cared to admit. I needed someone to help with Justine so I didn’t have to deal with it head on myself. I preferred to throw money at the situation instead.
“Yep, he told her, quite firmly I might add, that grieving in silence isn’t helpful and that acting like a… a brat doesn’t help anyone. And he actually used the word ‘brat’ as well. So, that didn’t go down well.”
“He did what?” I felt outraged. I wanted to shove my fist through a wall. Grieving in silence was what we did. And okay, so Justine wasn’t the best-behaved child in the world, but brat was a bit harsh. If only I wasn’t halfway across the fucking world then I would stalk towards the office now and go berserk.
“Yeah. It wasn’t pleasant, I can tell you that much. I mean, I said my piece, but I don’t think I was quite as eloquent as Justine. She might not talk too much, but when she does, she says a lot.”
I smirked to myself, knowing just what Olivia meant. When Justine got going, she really did. For a seven-year-old kid, she was pretty good at expressing herself. But only on her terms. She played by her own rules.
“Wow, yeah, that does sound like Justine. So, I take it she isn’t being invited back?”
“Actually, I told him where to stick it. I let him know that we wouldn’t be going back. Instead, I’m going to find another therapist, one that specializes in grief. I assume that’s okay with you?”
I nodded, silently impressed by her really taking the initiative. “That’s great, thank you.”
“Erm, I also feel that…” She leaned in towards the camera screen, her cheeks tinging a bit with red. “Justine could benefit from you being around at the moment. She seems a little aimless to me.”
Urgh, I hated that. All the good feeling ebbed away from my body as Olivia really overstepped the mark. She had no right to get involved in how I lived my life; that wasn’t why I paid her. I squeezed my fists by my side and resisted yelling at her for saying the same damn thing that my mom always used to criticize me for. My time at work… as if I didn’t need to make a living, as if my business wasn’t important.
“I have to go,” I snapped back angrily. “I have stuff that I need to do. Tell Justine I’ll email her and then I’ll speak to you later on if you need something.” I wanted to make it obvious that I was only available for emergencies. “And if not, then I shall see you when I get back home.”
“But, I—” Olivia tried to interject, but I just didn’t want to hear it. I was angry enough.
“Goodbye.”
I hit the end button on the video call a little too hard while anger bubbled up in my system. Why couldn’t everyone just leave me alone? I was doing what I needed to do; who the hell cared? Why couldn’t they just focus on helping Justine since she was the one who clearly needed it? Not me; I was doing just fine, thank you very much. I didn’t need to be around more because I couldn’t help. I had to be here, making a living. I made enough money to have other people solve my problems for me; wasn’t that the damn point of being rich?
Knock, knock.
I rolled my eyes angrily, not getting a moment to myself. I just needed to stew for a moment, to get rid of all the bad feelings that Olivia gave me before it was on to the next part of this, but clearly not. I swung the door open to see Holden on the other side looking as bright as a damn button. He never seemed to get as affected by jet lag as me; it was something that left me endlessly frustrated.
“What?” I growled angrily, hunching my shoulders up in stress. His presence irritated me. “Time to go?”
“Woah,” Holden chuckled back, filled with mirth. “Someone got out of bed the wrong side this morning.”
“You have no idea.” Urgh, if only he understood my morning, maybe he’d go easy on me.
“Well, you better buck your ideas up. This is a very important investment meeting today, and I need you in top form. I want the best Mark that there is today because he can always win anyone around.”
See, this was why I loved work so much. I could do it with my fucking eyes closed; there was no demand that I couldn’t take charge of. All I had to do now was shake off this mood.
“Let’s go and eat first,” I shot back. “I’m probably just hungry.”
The food in Japan was the best part about coming here, and I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could. I felt certain that it would cheer me up somewhat. I just needed to get Olivia’s face and her words out of my mind before she drove me crazy.
“Okay, if it’s going to get you in form, I’ll feed you whatever the hell you want.” Holden narrowed his eyes at me. “Just don’t screw this up today, okay?”
Don’t screw it up… easier said than done.