Chapter 1
Silas
“Janine, I’m going to need you to cancel my three o’clock and reschedule it for four. I have a feeling the Maxwell meeting is going to run over and I don’t want to have to rush them out the door.” I released the intercom button and sat back in my chair.
“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on that. Your mother called while you were at lunch. Would you like me to get her back on the line for you?”
Dammit. I knew why my mom was calling. She called every year this time asking me the same thing. You would think after eight years of getting the same answer, she would just stop asking.
Might as well get this shit over. “Yes. Please remind me of my schedule in five minutes.”
“But sir, if I put your mother on the phone, won’t I be inter—”
“Yes, Janine, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.” I would be on the phone for an hour if my mother had her way.
I spun around, faced the huge window behind me, and looked down on all of the people scurrying around below. From the twenty-third floor, it was amazing the things you could watch.
The homeless man on the corner who begged from one to six pm. A man in a well-pressed suit, who like clockwork, every day walked across the street and got in a taxi. Three attractive women who walked to the coffee cart and then down around the corner every morning at eight thirty.
“Your mother is on line three,” Janine beeped in.
I slowly spun back around to my desk and stared at the phone. Janine was far too efficient. I needed at least five more minutes before I had this conversation. I loved my mother, but she didn’t understand my life. To her, hopping on a plane and visiting for a couple of days wasn’t a big deal. When in reality, it took a week of planning and rescheduling a shit ton of meetings. Not to mention, heading back to Mills Grove ranked right up there with a root canal. Not fun at all.
I picked up the phone and took a deep breath. “Hello, Mother.”
“Si, I really wish you would call me mom. You sound so stuffy when you call me mother.”
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the window. “And I wish that you would call me Silas. After all, you are the one who gave me the name, Mother.”
She sighed heavily. “I really don’t know where you got this stuffy attitude from. Your dad and I are so laid back while you’re a complete stick in the mud.”
“I’m not a stick in the mud.”
It was as if I could hear my mother roll her eyes. “The only people who say that are the people who are sticks in the mud.”
I leaned back in my chair and scrubbed my hand down my face. “Is this what you called me for, Mother?”
“As if, Si. You know damn well what I called for. It’s December seventeenth. I want to know what day you’ll be here.”
“And you know damn well what my answer is going to be. I can’t get off work.”
“Silas Franklin Warlack, you own the damn company. You should have a pile of minions doing all of your bidding for you. I see no reason why you think you need to be the only one in that big ol’ tower over the holidays.” I heard the crinkling of a wrapper on her end. “Your dad and I haven’t seen you since May. It’s time you come home,” she said with her mouthful.
“And we had such a good visit in May. I think you and Dad should come here for Christmas.” If they flew in the twenty-fourth and were gone by the twenty-fifth, I wouldn’t miss much work and could do most things from home.
“I can’t believe you even suggested that. You live in a place where it’s sunny and warm all year long. I don’t even know how people get in the holiday spirit while wearing tank tops and flip flops. It’s downright ridiculous to see a Santa Claus walking around in a Bermuda shirt while carrying a surfboard.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mother, I don’t even know what you are talking about. I’ve been in L.A. for almost nine years, and have never seen that.”
“That’s because you get to the office before the sun rises and leave well after it sets. All you see are the four walls of your office or your apartment.”
“I don’t know what else to tell you, Mother. You either come here, or we won’t see each other for Christmas.”
She sighed heavily, and I felt the mood change over the phone. “You need to come home, Silas. There are things going on, and I don’t want to discuss them over the phone.”
I sat up straight. “What? What do you mean? Is it money? You know all you need to do is ask and I’ll have the money to you in minutes.”
“Silas, this isn’t something you can throw your money at. Be here by the twenty-third, or you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life.”
“Mother?” I called. The dial tone greeted my ear, and I held the phone out to look at it.
What in the hell was that? My mother had just hung up on me. Never in my life had I heard her sound more demanding, and quite honestly, it scared me.
“Sir, would you like to go over your schedule?” Janine beeped in.
I spun around to my desk and hung up the phone. “Come in here, Janine. We have to rework my schedule for next week. It appears I’ll be going home for Christmas this year.”
*