“So, this is the ordering system,” Dad tells me with a smile. “I know that you’ve used this from the other end, but now it’s time to get to grips with it from this side. Even if you have a team of buyers, you have to know how to work it too. There might be times when you have to do it or oversee it.”

“I want to learn how everything works,” I reply eagerly. “Show me everything, the more I know, the more I understand the business. I’m like a sponge trying to soak up every scrap of everything.”

Dad gives me a proud look, he really is happy to have me working with him now. He’s done it right, actually. By waiting and sending me on that amazing journey now I’m mature enough to cope with it all. If I’d come here when I got kicked out of college, or even when I’d finished if I made it that long, then I wouldn’t have been able to hack it. I would have made a mess of thing and destroyed my own inheritance.

We go through the system and I learn it all step by step. Thankfully, because I have dealt with this software on the other side it doesn’t take me long to understand it all. It’s logical, and I like that. Maybe if my business studies course had shown me a more practical way of dealing with things, then I would have taken to it better. Or maybe not. I was a goof back then, more concerned with having fun than anything else, so maybe nothing would have changed. Mind you, I can’t find a way to regret any of it. It all brought me here.

“Right, I think you have that,” Dad says with a smile. “And since it’s Friday and I don’t think there’s anything else that you need to do, you might as well leave early. You’ve done well this week.”

I could leave, but I actually don’t want to quite yet. “Actually, Dad, after lunch, do you mind if I take a walk about and introduce myself to everyone. I know that you’ve already done that but I want to make sure they all know that they can talk to me. I’d also like to know what people do on a day to day basis.”

Dad clamps his hand down on my shoulder and he smiles proudly. “Oh, of course you can. Whatever you need to do, if that helps you to feel at home here then so be it. I’m glad for you to be here.”

I grab my lunchbox and make my way into the canteen, tugging my cell phone out of my pocket as I go. I fire off a text to Lucie at the first opportunity I get, needing to communicate with her since she’s been at the back of my mind all day. She doesn’t reply to my messages much which I know is because she’s busy with Logan, but I still like to let her know that I’m thinking about her all the damn time.

‘Hey, Lucie, hard at work today! How’s your morning going? When are you going to cave and let me take you out again? All this playing hard to get is just teasing and you know it. Xxx’

I smile to myself, loving how playful I get to be with her. Because we know one another so well, she’ll know exactly what I mean by that. I’m not trying to be a dick, I just want to have fun. Then, because my cell phone is already in my hand I log onto the Internet and I do the one thing I didn’t think I ever would. I go online and check out my social media account. On the outside, I’m trying to be cool about the mystery surrounding Lucie’s son, but on the inside, it keeps eating me up. I don’t understand how I can just not know who it is. I’m sure she’ll tell me eventually, but I’m impatient and I need to know now. I’m scared this person will come back into her life and steal her from me. It’s a shame that she got pregnant some time after I left because I don’t know who she hung around with then. It might have even been someone who simply lived nearby the college, or even someone from here. I don’t know why it matters but it does.

“Rhiannon Tilley, three mutual friends,” I mutter to myself as I see her profile. I didn’t know much about the girls who Lucie hung about with them, but I’m sure that one of them was called Rhiannon. I hit the ‘add friend’ button before I can think better of it. Then I search through her friends until I see another name that leaps out at me, Cindy Hopper. She looks mildly familiar from her photograph so I add her too. I know that it’s wrong of me to snoop around behind Lucie’s back but if one of them know then maybe they can help.

Then, just to make myself feel even worse about my behavior, I check the profiles of all the people I used to hang around with and what I find surprises me. Jack and Amber are together and they have three children, Tia is a high flying executive of an advertising company – a far cry from the needy girl who used to want my attention way back when, and Hector is also in a long term relationship with a girl I don’t know. They all have something going on… but I suppose now that I’ve ripped the band aid off, it isn’t so bad. I have my own things going on too, it’s not like I’m a total loser or anything. I just regret the way I left them all behind.

I only stop searching when my phone bleeps and I get an unexpected message back from Lucie.

‘Ha ha, very funny. Did you ever think that I might not want to go out with you? So arrogant! Xx’

I laugh to myself, enjoying the way that her teasing makes me feel. She really does make me laugh a lot.

‘I’ll make you cave. Somehow or another, I’ll get your attention again. Xxx’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right. You always do find a way to do that… xxx’

As I stuff my phone away, I decide to take matters into my own hands. I can’t keep waiting for Lucie to make up her mind when I already know that she wants me, so when I’m done here I’m going to go to her house and see if she’ll come out on a surprise date with me. She might not be able to, but that’s okay. I have to at least try. Mainly, I just want to see her face again and if I turn up then I will get that.

With a smirk, I finish up my food and I start my journey, working my way around the head office while I get to know everyone there. Dad might think that I’m trying to do this to impress him, but actually this is for me. I want to show myself off as a real boss, and from what I’ve learned from my travels is that people work better for a boss that they can communicate with and connect with, so that’s who I want to be.

People respond well to me actually, I’m surprised to have such an effect already. I can see how it must look to the people here. They’ve been working for this company forever and I walk in as the boss’s son ready to control it all. I shouldn’t have their respect really, but I do and I’m so thankful for that. It feels great. That actually makes me feel more proud of myself than anything else. To be accepted and liked is a great start.

I spend time in the IT department, I talk to the accountants, I see the creative team, the marketing group, the lawyers, the admin staff, I even spend a while talking to human resources. It’s awesome. The more that I learn about the company, the easier I’ll be able to run it when I’m in charge.

I just can’t wait until I’ve been here for long enough to start suggesting the ideas that I’ve come up with while travelling. I’m sure that my fresh new opinions will benefit… but I have to wait until the moment is right. Dad is just about beginning to trust me and I cannot spoil it. Patience is becoming all of me right now.

“Right,” I say to him once I’ve spent time with everyone and I’ve achieved what I came here to do. “I’m going now but I’ll be back bright and early on Monday morning. Ready to do whatever you need me to do.”

I need to get going now, to get myself ready to see Lucie and my God I’m excited about it. There’s a deep thrill racing up and down my spine at the mere idea of getting to see that wonderful smile of hers.

“You’ve done a really good thing today, son.” Dad pats me on the back. “I’m very happy with you.”

I leave the building and climb into my car, checking my phone just once before I go. I don’t have anything from Lucie but I do have an acceptance of a friend request from Rhiannon. That’s interesting, I don’t quite know what to do with that. I scan her profile, not seeing any kind of connection to Lucie anymore, but then I’m sure she grew distant, just like I did. I open a message, wondering what I should say. I don’t know how I’m going to go about this but I do want to open a line of communication, just in case.

In the end, I’m ashamed to say that I go with the very simple, very cowardly hi. Maybe I don’t know if I want her to respond yet, which is why I haven’t made much effort. If she doesn’t, it’s a little bit of a get out clause. Then I don’t have a choice. I’ll have to simply wait until Lucie wants to tell me.

I pause for a couple of seconds, but I don’t get any response back. Maybe she’ll just think that I’m weird and she’ll delete me from her friend’s list right away. If so, that’s something I’ll simply have to accept.

I don’t know why this is driving me so nuts, I’m not quite sure why it’s bugging me so much, but it is. There’s just something there, bugging me in the back of my mind. It’s almost as if my brain knows something, but it’s keeping the information locked away, just out of reach where I can’t access it.

Still, I’m going to have to push my frustration to one side to make sure that ne and Lucie have a good night tonight. However, annoying this mystery is, it doesn’t compare to how much I love Lucie. I can get through anything for her. By this point, I honestly don’t think there’s any answer that she could give me that would put me off her. Five years of love cannot be switched off that easily. It simply is not possible.

I stop the car outside my house and check my phone again. This time I have a reply from Rhiannon which I don’t quite know how to feel about. Even after everything that I’ve just thought, I can’t resist checking it.

‘Hi, Kade, long time no see! We went to the same college, right? If I remember rightly, you were friends with Lucie Smith? How is life treating you these days? Rhiannon.’

I don’t respond right away, I need some time to think about what I want to say. I put my phone away, forgetting about it for the time being while I focus on date number two instead…