Christmas Box Set

by Nella Tyler

  “Oh, you know how this office is, Mr. Myer. Good news travels fast,” the older woman grinned easily and broadly, “Personally, I am so happy it was you that closed the deal.”

  “Well, thank you! I appreciate that,” I replied, once again, trying not to show that there was a part of me that genuinely meant it, probably more than I should. “Hey, do you know where my father is today? He isn’t in his office?” I asked, attempting to be casual as I leaned in close to her, grinning in a friendly manner.

  “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do. Your father and Mr. Lawson went to the driving range with some clients this morning. They won’t be back for a while. You know how your father likes to…ahem…entertain his clients when they're out on the golf course.”

  Her knowing leer expressed that she knew far more about this company than she would ever admit and in some strange way, I felt honored that she was interested in discussing these thoughts with me. Genuine feelings were so hard to come by in this company. It was certainly a thing to be cherished.

  However, her honesty did nothing to assuage my disappoint, so instead of staying and charming more information out of her like I should have done, I simply ended the conversation as quickly as possible.

  When I walked away, I was sure that I would have to wait, probably a whole day, to inform him of something the bastard probably already knew.

  Well, fuck you too, I thought as I dropped into my office chair, shaking my head and hoping that somehow, things would get better for me. I shook my head and tried to concentrate on work, but my brain was fueled by rage instead of any kind of motivation.

  All I wanted to do was leave.

  I knew, somewhere in the dark crevices of my mind, that wasn’t the right way to handle my feelings, especially the day after such a major win, but I didn’t feel appreciated.

  As nice as it was that the secretary was happy for me, it still didn’t garner much confidence.

  This was the biggest deal of my career. I had completely rocked it, and my father didn’t even have the decency to tell me I did a good job.

  The fact that he found out before I had a chance to tell him was only frustrating because he didn’t tell me himself that he knew.

  I was well aware that Mr. Myers was constantly putting his ear to the wall when it came to the company. He had eyes and ears everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was surveilling the entire company without their knowledge. Knowing that, it was silly to think he wouldn’t find out, but the way he handled the situation irked me unmercifully.

  After sitting in my office and stewing, I found myself going down a dark path. I remembered what Mr. Wilson’s partner had said to me, and I wondered if he was serious.

  I thought about how it felt not to be the one getting bitch slapped and spoken down to, trying to decide if that was because I was a guest that they wanted to work with or if that would be the norm.

  While considering an offer, especially one that was double what I was being paid already, which was quite a good sum, wasn’t exactly the devil’s handiwork, it was unfortunate for me to consider. After all, I was the owner’s son. If I were to jump ship, my father’s empire would likely crumble. His life’s work would be destroyed.

  I grinned at the thought but knew that I couldn’t go through with it.

  Besides still holding out hope that I would eventually be given the respect I deserved from my father one day, without underhandedly destroying his livelihood, I didn’t want to leave. Despite all the crap I put up with from my father, the company that he built was not a reflection of the dick that he so often was. This company was strong and solid. It had exponential potential and was almost completely self-sufficient. The people who had worked here forever knew their jobs and, as far as I knew, enjoyed them.

  Therefore, if I were to pull the rug out from underneath my shit-head of a father, the good people who worked hard every day to keep my father’s company running smoothly would be collateral damage. I didn’t want that.

  So, instead of continuing to plot my betrayal, I decided that it would be more productive to focus on something more positive.

  Looking around to make sure that weasel, Brock, wasn’t lurking around, I typed in the information to research Bernville for the date I hoped to have with Mazie the following evening. I hadn’t squared the plans away with her yet, but once I retrieved the information I sought, I texted the necessary information to Mazie, and she responded almost immediately.

  Reading her text, I felt warm and aroused but also intensely safe. I was excited to see her again. I could hardly wait, but once the plans were set, I knew I’d look desperate if I varied from them.

  So, instead of trying to finagle a date tonight, around the plans I already had, I decided it would be best to simply chalk today up as being crappy and start again tomorrow. At least if I did that, I would be sure that no matter what happened during the day, I would get to end the night with Mazie.

  Unfortunately for me and my self-assured bachelor lifestyle, spending time with Mazie seemed to be all that I wanted.

  I pretended to work for the rest of the day, caught up on some emails, simply so that I would look busy and left as soon as the clock struck five so I could go to the gym with Garett.

  While my intentions for going to the gym hadn’t changed, I was pleased to get out of that office and away from all those peering eyes.

  “Well, all hail the conquering hero!” Garrett teased as I walked into the gym, causing everyone to look up until they realized who had spoken and who he was talking to.

  Although I didn’t mind his jeering remark, I was pleased that the comment didn’t garner any attention from the rest of the gym.

  “Yeah, something like that,” I replied, rolling my eyes, “If you knew my father, you wouldn’t know it though.”

  “Aww, your old man could suck the fun out of everything,” he answered, his tone now slightly more understanding.

  “Don’t I know it,” I lamented as I started my workout routine and Garrett returned to his.

  “So, you got the deal locked and loaded, though?”

  “How did you know I got the deal?” I asked, now seriously wondering if someone was blatantly spreading my good news in an effort to steal my thunder.

  “The fact that you showed up and, as far as I can tell, you’re not hammered, tells me that. Jesus Christ, Dex, I’m your best friend! I should know you, at least a little by now,” He rolled his eyes, giving me the feeling that he was slightly annoyed. However, he got over it quickly, his expression changing to a more serious and understanding tone as he spoke, “So, how did your father take the news? He was either stoic or pissed, I would imagine,” he insisted.

  I grinned, trying to hide the fact that I knew he was probably right and hated it.

  “I don’t know yet, believe it or not,” I told him as we continued with our workout reps.

  “You haven’t told him?”

  “It’s sure as hell not for a lack of trying. I went right to his office this morning, but the bastard had decided to go golfing,” I shook my head as Garrett mirrored my show of aggravation, “According to his secretary, he already knows.”

  “Who told him?” he seemed agitated that I wasn’t able to share the news. Garrett knew how much I wanted to please my father and his concern was appreciated, but it didn’t help much. For whatever reason, his approval was not something I cared to achieve.

  Mazie on the other hand… I thought but had the idea to stop thinking about it. However, that didn’t work all that well, considering the very next thing out of my mouth was about Mazie.

  “So, I’m thinking about taking Mazie to Bernville.” I knew I probably shouldn’t have said it the second I spoke, but since it was on my mind, it flowed out before I could stop myself.

  Instead of even attempting to give me a good reaction, he burst out laughing loudly.

  I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “What?”

  “You just won the biggest deal of your life,
and you’re worried about taking some chick to Bernville?” he shook his head, “She musta fucked you silly.”

  I scoffed at his judgment, trying not to be as insulted as I felt.

  “I enjoy Bernville…I always have, and Mazie said she has never been.”

  “You’re going soft for this girl, Dex,” he informed in no uncertain terms, rolling his eyes again.

  “Dude, I’m happy. I like her. What the hell is so wrong with that?”

  “I’ll tell you what the hell is wrong with that: you have a good life. You’re a confirmed bachelor, and you don’t have to answer to anyone. Why would you want to fuck that up?”

  “I’m not going to propose to her. I’m just taking her to Bernville,” I replied, trying not to be too hostile, considering I was sure part of his indignant attitude was due to Garett being jealous that he didn’t have anyone.

  After all, he was ever the ladies’ man that the ladies couldn’t stand.

  He might have the looks but his attitude eventually, inevitably, gave every woman who dated him pause.

  I was certain that he didn’t want to continue down the bachelor lifestyle alone, but it was my life, and I wasn’t about to squander it to save Garrett’s feelings.

  “Yeah, sure dude: that’s how it starts,” he retorted, and I almost said something back to him but decided it wasn’t worth the argument. After all, I wasn’t going to win anyway, and at the moment, I needed all the friends I could get.

  Mazie

  I woke up early, after not sleeping all that much. I was too excited.

  I hadn’t had this feeling since I was a kid and regardless of who it was I was going out with, it was hard for me to imagine a guy would give me such a giddy feeling.

  All night, I was impatiently counting the seconds until it was an appropriate time to get up so that I could do something to distract myself.

  When the clock finally struck seven in the morning, I was up and heading toward the shower before Mittens even had time to realize I was out of bed.

  While taking a shower, I deliberated about what I should do and concluded that I should visit my parents.

  Not only would it be nice because I hadn’t seen them in a few days, but I would have to find something else to think about while I was with them because I couldn’t tell them about Dex. It would be perfect!

  Or, so I hoped.

  When I pulled up to my parents’ house, I was eager to start my day. I had already finished my coffee, but I was certain that my sense of being extremely awake and alert had more to do with excitement than caffeine.

  Part of me hoped my parents wouldn’t notice my overly-excited good mood, but part of me hoped they did. After all, I knew they worried about me and as supportive as they were, they wanted me to be happy, and with their lifestyle being so drastically different, I knew that they were never sure. I was always so different from them with my talents and dreams that I was sure they didn’t understand half of why I did what I did, even though they were supportive.

  Therefore, when I was particularly happy, that helped them to relax a little bit. It gave them the assurance that I was truly doing what I wanted and succeeding at it.

  After all, as different as my parents and I were, we had always been close, and therefore, they had always been able to gauge how I was truly feeling.

  In fact, my father told me once that he knew I wasn’t going to end up taking over the company before I did. He told me that he knew I was different, special, and that I would make my mark on the world my own way. Therefore, when I started to pull away from the path he hoped for me, he expected it and was excited to see where I would take the path I forged for myself.

  “Good morning, sweetie!” my mom exclaimed as I walked in at about eight-fifteen.

  My father was sitting at the kitchen table eating his breakfast and switching between the newspaper and the iPad, ensuring that he didn’t miss something important from either news source.

  My mother was finishing up her breakfast.

  The smell of coffee filled the house and reminded me of growing up there, waking to the scent every morning.

  “Good morning!” I exclaimed, hugging my parents and sitting down across from my father.

  “What brings you here so early?” my mother asked. “Do you want breakfast?”

  “Sure!” I exclaimed, noticing at almost the same moment my mother asked that I had forgotten to eat breakfast and was, indeed, hungry. “I have plans this afternoon, but I wanted to stop by and say hi. It’s been a few days.”

  “You’re always welcome, dear,” my father offered, glancing up from his paper and grinning.

  “So, Dad,” I teased, “I thought you were taking over the cooking.”

  He stopped reading, smirked and raised his eyes from the paper once again.

  “It’s my routine, and besides, your mother makes the best breakfast,” he replied, glancing over at my mother in an affectionate manner.

  “Aww,” my mother replied, turning toward him slightly, “Such a nice way of saying it’s too early for him to be bothered.”

  I laughed knowing that both what my mother and what my father were saying was true. My father needed to have his routine and my mother making breakfast for him while he scoured the business section of the paper for useful information was part of it.

  Simply the fact that he was now using an iPad, at least as a secondary channel of information, was a big step for him.

  “Anything good?” I inquired, nodding toward his news sources.

  “Nothing noteworthy, unfortunately. Or fortunately, depending on how you look at it.”

  I grinned, knowing that my father probably hadn’t read anything he didn’t already have some knowledge of, via the paper, or iPad, in the last decade. When he started the company, he made it a personal mission to build his company on the foundation of tried and true business practices while also keeping up with the latest trends. I was proud of him for that, especially since he had stuck with it. After all, a lot of people in his field had given up genuinely seeking out new information, thus subjecting them to getting irrevocably stuck in their old ways. However, my father was certainly a man of a better caliber in that respect and was always willing to try something new.

  “So, how was your week?” I asked, trying to keep my mind off Dexter.

  “Oh, you know…same old, same old. I’ve had this business for too long for anything to be all that new,” my father joked.

  “Seriously?” my mother intercepted, glaring at her husband, “Tell her about the deal that you closed yesterday. That was impressive.”

  “Leo helped,” my father explained.

  “Not the way I heard you tell me last night,” my mother, ever the wonderful encourager, exclaimed with pride. “You told me that Leo was there more to play golf than close a deal. If it wasn’t for you, it would’ve been a really expensive day of leisure.”

  My mother was never all that fond of my father’s business partner, especially since he was always trying to take credit for my father’s hard work. Thus, she took every opportunity she could to show his true colors and knock him down a few pegs, at least where she knew it wouldn’t affect my father’s working relationship with him.

  “Well, yes,” my father finally admitted, “He seemed to be more interested in golf than closing the deal, which was odd for him. He’s usually the pushy one. Sometimes he tries to close too quickly, and it turns the clients away, but yesterday…” My father paused and shook his head, “Maybe there was something on his mind, but anyway, it doesn’t matter because I was able to close the deal before the back nine.” He laughed, “I’ve still got it!” he bragged as my mother set my breakfast down in front of me before going over to my father and kissing him.

  “Of course you do, my love,” she replied, and I averted my eyes. They weren’t being overly intimate, but I could tell they had certainly adjusted to an empty nest quite well.

  Still, the sight made me feel a little awkward, since growing up my
parents were far more reserved. I was distracted, and before I could stop myself, I voiced, “Your company was full of good news yesterday, huh?”

  “What do you mean?” my father asked as my mother returned to preparing her own meal.

  “Well, with Dexter locking down the deal down with that big company…” I added and instantly knew I shouldn’t have said anything.

  “That’s excellent!" he exclaimed, genuinely pleased, however with his excitement came a narrowing of his eyes as his confusion beckoned.

  Instantly, I was mortified. I couldn’t believe I had said something like that.

  After all, I had come over here to get my mind off Dexter!

  I felt my cheeks redden but hoped to God it didn’t show.

  “How did you find that out?” he asked, titling his head with an intrigued grin.

  Oh shit! I thought as my mind raced. I was never good with thinking quickly on my feet, but I knew that I needed to figure something out. So, I took a dive into the obscurity of lying, hoping it sounded natural.

  “I ran into him at the store yesterday,” I explained. “He was just getting back, and so we ended up talking about it…”

  “Huh…that’s strange that I didn’t hear about it first. I wonder if Leo knows…”

  I shrugged, now trying to act dumb, hoping to curb his suspicions.

  I knew it wouldn’t absolve me of my slip of the tongue, but it would have to do for now.

  “Oh well,” he finally admitted, “That’s wonderful! I was rooting for him to close this deal. His father was pretty hard on him about it, and I thought it would be a nice win for him. Something he definitely deserved after everything he’s done for his father…and the company.”

  I nodded, refusing to say anything more on the subject for fear that I would end up saying too much again.

  For the rest of the day, I was able to keep the conversation away from Dexter, but I still wasn’t overly convinced that my father didn’t have more questions.

  Although, that could have simply been explained by my own paranoia, but then again, my parents knew me pretty well.