Beyond Eighteen(52)

“I am sorry your father did this to you,” she said, “But I know it will be for the best. Your family really needs you right now.” Her voice cracked as she spoke.

I took a couple of steps toward my mom. I knew where she was coming from, where she had been living the last couple of days. I understood that she’d just lost the love of her life. But I wasn’t going to give up on mine before I even had a chance to really create something. Something that could be beyond magical.

“Mom, I love and respect where you are coming from, and I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but Dad’s chicken-shit way of forcing me into something he’s always wanted for me, without even giving me a chance to create something with my own life? Well, I can’t think of anything more selfish than that. I’m sorry, Mom, but I was serious when I told Gary to find a way out. I am not your man. Not for this.” I felt my body seething as I told her what was on my mind.

“Hey!” she hollered. A bellowing voice I hadn’t heard in years filled the room. I noticed her body shaking from her head to her feet, her eyes bloodshot from crying and her hair flat against her cheeks, plastered there by her tears. She pointed her boney, tiny finger at me as she spoke. “Who do you think you are? How dare you speak of your father that way? He did nothing but provide for you kids. Anything you ever wished for, he gave you. You kids never wanted for anything…”

“You know, Mom, the only thing I ever wanted from him was to tell me he was proud of me. That’s all! Now he’s gone, and I’ll never get the chance to hear that.” I felt my body give up, I felt my legs give out from under me, and I crumpled on the stairs. My mom was down at the bottom of the stairs, Wilson frozen on the top step, and there I was, in the middle, losing it. For the first time in days, I felt that my father was really gone.

My mom rushed up the first couple of steps. She slipped her hands around my jaw and pulled my face up to look her in the eyes. “Your father loved you…I love you,” my mom said as tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She pushed her lips to my forehead before I closed my eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I said as I wrapped my arms up around her. She lowered to her knees and held me.

“Maxi, we are all hurting,” she whispered. “It’s going to take time. I hope someday you’ll see why your father did what he did.” I felt her pull away as she held my face in her delicately aged hands. Her eyes, clinging to mine, were damp with pain from the words I just spat at her carelessly, words meant for my father.

“I think you need to talk to Wilson; tell her what’s going on,” she whispered just above inaudibly as her eyes darted behind me.

I knew Wilson was there. I knew she’d heard every last word; and yet, part of me wished she hadn’t. Damn, I don’t want to rehash the details of what happened in the meeting with Gary. She should have just been there with me. Then at least I wouldn’t have to be the one to let her down. But she wasn’t with me; instead she was on the phone with Joanie. I needed her next to me as Gary cemented my future with GP. Instantly, I felt my head run hot and I started boiling on the inside. Son-of-a-bitch! I could feel myself starting to get upset with her, even though I knew she needed to talk to Joanie about leaving tomorrow. At least she’ll have her best friend with her when she goes back to California.

I watched my mom nod at Wilson before she kissed me and left us alone. I didn’t turn around to look at her; instead I dropped my face into my hands. I was done. In the next moment I felt her fingers drawing across my shoulders and down the front of my chest. Her body pressed firm against my back and her breath warmed my ear as she whispered, “Don’t worry, Max. Everything will be fine. We’ll just…do what we have to do.”

I could tell that she wasn’t entirely sure of what she was saying. A note of reluctance rose in her voice. But when her lips pressed against the side of my neck, and opportune warmth flooded across my flesh.

“Well it’s starting, Wilson. I can’t go back to the Bay Area with you tomorrow,” I growled back at her simple solution. I stood up, almost knocking Wilson back behind me. I suddenly realized, in the whirlwind of haste when Gary was reading the will, I forgot to call and hold a car and the company jet.

“Shit,” I spat.

“What?” she exclaimed.

“I completely forgot to call GP and get a plane,” I answered back as I unlocked my iPhone and started to dial my father’s company. The phone rang against my ear as I began get a taste of the collateral damage my father created with naming me CEO of his company.