victoria

 

 

Victoria’s hands clenched the steering wheel as she pulled up to her parents’ imposing home. It was the home she’d grown up in, so she was normally filled with warm and fuzzy feelings at each visit, but this time was different.

She knew that her boss, Richard Laskey, and her father were good friends, and hoped that Richard hadn’t mentioned anything to her father about her recent flakiness. She knew she wouldn’t hear the end of it from her father.

Her father was fair, but was also a strict man, and she was sure that he wouldn’t be happy to hear that she spent her board meetings off in Lalaland when she should be paying attention. He was worried about her career, and certainly must have been a bit concerned about how her performance and work ethic reflected on him.

She put her car in park and got out. Her mom pulled aside the curtain of the front bay window to confirm that it was she who had arrived, and her lips widened into a big smile upon seeing Victoria. The front door swung open before Victoria could reach it, and she fell into her mother’s waiting arms.

She wasn’t a tall woman, but her presence always commanded everyone’s attention. She had a steadfast but warm manner about her, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, yet she managed to do it in a manner much more tactful than Victoria’s father.

Her mother ushered her inside, and the scent of the home instantly made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

“Vicky!” Julia rushed to greet her and enveloped her in a great big bear hug. “How are you? I haven’t seen you in so long!”

Victoria smiled, feeling bad that she didn’t see her own sister more often. She stepped out of her arms and looked Julia up and down.

“You look great, as usual. How do you manage to always look so perfect with your schedule?”

“Oh, stop it, Vicky. You’re the one who looks great. Let me look at you. You have this great glow about you. Are you seeing anyone?” she laughed and nudged Victoria.

“No, why would you think that? You know I’d tell you if I did.”

“Uh-oh, mom! The lady doth protest too much. Don’t worry, I’ll get the full story out of her sooner or later,” Julia said to their mom.

“Ok, enough of that! Now let’s get inside. Where’s dad?” Victoria asked.

“He’s in his study, dear. He’ll be down in a moment. Why don’t you come inside and have some tea? Or would you like a glass of wine?”

“Wine would be great, thanks.”

She followed her mom to the living room and gratefully accepted the glass of wine she handed her.

“So, how’s work going?” Victoria asked Julia. She didn’t really like hearing about Julia’s work, because she found the whole subject too depressing, but it would be rude not to ask.

“Same as usual. Right now, I’m treating a little girl who’s a real trooper. She’s gone through so much treatment already, but she never gives up. I think her prognosis is great. She’s got a really sweet mom, and a much older brother who’s just the best. He visits her so often, and you should see her face when he shows up!” She looked around to make sure their mom was out of earshot. “And he’s really hot, too,” she hissed. “I wish you could meet him.”

“Not now. I don’t want to meet anyone, to be honest.”

Julia cocked her head to one side, and her eyes filled with concern. “Why? What’s going on? Anything I should know about? Have you met some real jerks recently?”

“Why is it so hard to believe that I’m perfectly happy being single? Does every woman need to be attached to a man at the hip? I’m happy you found your happily ever after, but not everyone does. And not everyone wants to.” She had to admit that her voice was a bit sharper than it should have been, but she was annoyed as hell at her sister’s pity and constant questioning.

“Touché. Well, here comes mom. Let’s not stress her out with this kind of talk,” she said, before turning to smile at their mom.

“Hi girls, your dad is just on his way down. I’m bringing some appetizers out, ok?”

As if on cue, their father entered the room, and his face lit up in a smile as soon as he saw the girls.

“Hey, Victoria, Julia – how are you? I’ve missed you both.” He gave them each a hug and took a seat in the large armchair, motioning to them to take a seat as well.

He was a man with an intimidating presence – easily the tallest most places he went, with piercing blue eyes and salt and pepper hair. He tried to soften this effect with a warm smile whenever he could, but it wasn’t easy, because he was usually deep in thought about something or other.

They both responded with the usual – they were fine. His gaze lingered for a bit longer on Victoria after her answer, and her heart quickened. Does he know anything? She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She hoped that he wouldn’t question her in front of her perfect and goody-two-shoes sister.

He didn’t press her further and she breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was for Richard to have complained about her performance to her father. The dinner flew by in a flash, with regular conversation about their lives and hot topics of the day.

When Julia and their mom excused themselves from the table, their father fixed Victoria with a concerned look and said, “Victoria, please come with me. I want to show you something in my study that you might find interesting.” She looked at him and her heart sank.

As soon as his study door was closed, he turned to Victoria.

“What’s going on, Victoria?”

“What do you mean dad? What’s wrong?”

“You tell me,” he said, a little too coldly for her liking. “What’s happening at work? Richard called me last week.” He walked over to his desk and sat down.

Victoria averted her eyes, and she felt her palms starting to sweat.

“Oh, really? What did he say?”

“Well, he told me a few things that concerned me. Firstly, and most importantly, he said that you seem a little distracted these days.” He studied her face for a reaction. She looked guilty as charged.

Victoria sighed. “Maybe I lost track of a conversation at the last board meeting, but I’ve been doing a great job otherwise. My billable hours are really strong, my clients are happy, and I brought in two new clients last week,” she said, defending herself, although she knew this wasn’t going to sway her father.

He kept his eyes fixed on her in silence, and then sighed. “Victoria, honey, I know you’re a great lawyer. You’ve got the brains and the work ethic. But you can’t get ahead if you lose focus. I assume you like what you’re doing and that you want to succeed, correct? In that case, whatever personal matters you have need to be left at the office door. At work, your mind should be on one thing: work. Ok?”

Victoria blushed red. She hated that she felt like a little child with her father rather than the capable adult that she was, and she hated even more that she had disappointed him.

“I’m sorry, dad. You’re right. I’ll try better from now on.”

“Ok, good.” He shuffled some papers on his desk and stood up, signalling that their little talk was over. “Now, let’s go and join the others. I hear there’s dessert coming.” He smiled and patted her back as they left the room. She breathed a sigh of relief and tried to put a smile on her face so that no one would know that anything was amiss.