Peyton

I woke up Monday not wanting to get out of bed, but doing so to at least let Cooper out and feed him. Since I’d already arranged to take this week off for vacation, I decided to stay home. George had told me Simon would handle the interrogation of Jeff and they’d update me once he was terminated. Probably for the best. I doubted my presence would bring about a confession from the guy.

After my sister dropped the girls off for school, she came over with coffee and bagels to find me on my couch watching a Law & Order marathon. Funny how watching murder investigations seemed to numb me for a while.

I confided everything, including the part about Simon working on behalf of his company to buy mine and his attempt to build a relationship despite his work habits. I waited for her blunt words. Instead, she engulfed me in a hug; the type of comforting embrace only a loved one could give.

“I’m sorry, Peyton.”

I sniffled, voicing the question I’d never before asked my sister. “Could you do it? What Mom did? Be with someone who might bail on dinners, miss weekends, birthdays, and holidays?”

“No. I couldn’t. But I’m not you, and you’re not her. Hell, Simon isn’t Dad. Everyone has their own boundaries or limits for what they would and wouldn’t put up with in a relationship. Their own deal breakers. I know it’s hard to hear this, but Mom loved Dad despite his work habits and the fact he was so often absent. She chose that life. Sure, we saw how disappointed she would be when he’d have to leave for work, but I don’t remember her ever asking him not to. She accepted it without complaint, to be honest, and he simply went on putting his job first a lot of the time.”

“And it got her killed.” Resentment washed up from the fourteen-year old girl who’d been so upset her mother had died because she’d just had to join my father on a work trip in order to celebrate their anniversary.

Jen shook her head sadly. “No, the plane crash killed them both. The truth of the matter was whether it had been a business trip or not, the same thing could’ve happened to them. She was happy, you know. Maybe it wasn’t ideal through our eyes. Frankly, it sucked to have a father who no-showed to our birthday parties, but you can’t put that on someone else. You can only be open and honest that those are the important things to you. Hell, Kevin was late the other night for Sara’s dance recital because he had to close for someone who went home sick. He felt guilty as hell and took her out for ice cream afterwards. Shit happens. It’s not always perfect, but we do the best we can balancing life, love, and work. It’s quality over quantity.”

She was right. “We never had either with Dad.”

“No, we didn’t. But he did love us. In his own way.”

“I was falling in love with Simon. Even though I recognized this was fast and maybe a bit crazy, I couldn’t help feeling that way.”

“I’m sorry, sis. I know this doesn’t make it any easier, but he did look sincerely upset about having to leave on Friday, and any man who brings Peppa the Pig for the girls at least made an effort.”

Had I been too hard on him? Should we have waited until this deal was done before we talked about the future? Had I been unfair in projecting my past onto him? I was struck by the realization I’d acted out of emotion and, if possible, should give him a better chance to prove himself. I should be more flexible and understanding.

I cursed, suddenly anxious to speak with him. After my sister left, giving one last hug, I got dressed. He was probably still at the office. Although I hated to talk to him there, I didn’t want to wait a moment longer.

Once at the building, I headed straight up to the eighth floor, steeling myself in case Tom was here. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with that asshole. The only person around was Emma, putting documents into boxes.

“Hi, there.”

“Hi, Peyton. How are you?”

I glanced around and didn’t see any sign of Simon. Maybe he wasn’t done dealing with the Jeff situation.

“I’m okay. Um, did Simon already meet with Jeff and Courtney?”

“Yep. This morning. According to him, Courtney was the one who spilled her guts. Jeff was outraged and indignant. Both were walked out and terminated by ten o’clock. All system access revoked. The deal closed shortly after. I’m packing up everything to get it mailed back to headquarters.”

I wondered if the company would press charges. If it were up to me, I would, but it was hard to tell what the new owner would wish to do. “That’s good. Is he around?”

She stopped packing and studied me. “Actually, he and Tom are both on a plane back to New York.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I appeared to be too late. He was already on the way home.

“He’s there for a couple days before his next assignment in London, I take it?” I tried to keep my voice steady with my question.

 She was hesitant but then decided to share what was on her mind. “Because I care about him, I’m going to say this even at the risk of Simon killing me for it. And I adore you, especially after yesterday when you put Tom in his place. God, I wanted to give you a standing ovation. Anyhow, I digress. I like the idea of you and Simon together. He wants so badly to make this work with you, Peyton. I hope you realize how gutted he was to leave on Friday night. He wanted to tell you why, and I hope there is no doubt in your mind he left because Tom was an arse who was accusing you of stealing. But Simon didn’t believe it for a moment. Once he arrived, the first thing he did was squash that notion.”

“I do believe it. I think I was upset at the circumstance of George being the one to call me in, then finding out about the stealing accusation, and finally learning Simon was going to London.”

“This thing in London came out of the blue. And Simon was upset when Phillip brought it up. He wanted a holiday with you. He’d already booked the hotel in Austin. But Phillip isn’t used to hearing the word no, and frankly, Simon has never taken any time off. His mother’s funeral was the only exception, and even then, he only took off two days. He’s trying, but this is the week of every assignment where we’re typically consumed with work. He may need some more time to figure out the balance. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate that until now.” I wanted to make it work, too, but it took two people with that same idea. I couldn’t simply wait on him to do everything. I needed to have more realistic expectations. To think he could change things so drastically in such a short amount of time had been unfair. “Is he already on the plane?”

She glanced at her watch. “Afraid so. He has a meeting with Phillip in the morning.”

“About what?

“He’s talking to him about London and the future. Like I said, he’s trying.”

Hadn’t he said he wanted to show me?

“What will Phillip say?” If he was a man not used to hearing no, how would it go?

“To be honest, I have no clue. Simon is the most decisive guy I know, though, and I believe Phillip respects him. But if Simon gets pushed, I don’t see him backing down.”

“I need to talk to him.” I wanted to tell him we could work on this together. He was trying to be more flexible, which meant I needed to meet him halfway. I couldn’t put the misgivings caused by my father on a man who’d only had a few days to try to rearrange the one thing in his life he’d always made a priority. The man I loved was doing something to prove he could put me first. I needed to do the same.

“You could try calling him in a few hours, although face to face would be better. But I’m afraid a drive to New York is out of the question this time around. It wouldn’t get you there fast enough.”

No, it wouldn’t. And there was suddenly so much I needed to say. The fact he was willing to show a grand gesture meant one thing. I needed to do the same.

“I have a plan. If you’re up for it, I could use your help.”