I take the cup from his hand and sip it. I can almost feel my teeth decay as I swallow.
“How was your weekend, dad?”
He scrolls through the messages on his phone. It’s his usual morning routine. He doesn’t look at his phone until he’s in the office, instead devoting the earliest moments of his day to his wife.
“We had dinner with some friends.” He tips his head to the side. “Diane’s friends. It was good.”
He still makes the distinction, even though they’ve been married for years. They brought two lives together, complete with kids and homes. It’s taken time for them both to adjust to their new normal of building a life together.
“I spoke to your sister yesterday.” A smile blooms on his lips.
I did too. Bethy called me just as I was leaving the diner after saying goodbye to Roland. I saw no reason to mention him to her. I know my sister. She would have told me to turn back around and reconsider the relationship.
“I wish she’d come home,” I say quietly. “I miss her.”
It’s not a lie. We may have fought with everything we had while we were growing up, but the last few years, we’ve become closer than ever. When she was offered a temporary position with a pharmaceutical company in Australia, she took it immediately.
My sister’s passion is travel, so being handed the opportunity to spend a year on another continent was too good for her to pass up.
“I miss her too,” he chimes in. “She’ll be back when the time is right.”
That may be never. She hopes to land a position in New Zealand once her current job wraps up.
I could use my saved vacation days and visit her, but that would give Mitchell an advantage. I need to keep my feet firmly planted in Manhattan until my dad makes a decision about the next CEO of Faye & Sons.
“What’s on your agenda today?” I ask before I take another sip of the sugary sweet lukewarm coffee.
“Mitchell and I are meeting with a potential new client.” He doesn’t look up from his phone. “It’s one of the major players in footwear.”
My mouth drops. I’ve been waiting for that call for months, and I’ve somehow been left out of the introductory meeting.
I’m the one who stalked the owner to pitch our ideas for their upcoming winter boot campaign.
“I’ll clear my schedule so I can be there,” I offer with a smile.
He finally looks up, his eyes bright. “No need, sweetheart. Your brother and I can handle it.”
My stomach knots the way it always does when he refers to Mitchell that way. I don’t consider him my brother.
He’s a guy who is gunning for the same promotion as me, and it sounds like he’s taking things to a new level.
“I want you to sit down with Trent and Jeremy and go over their campaign.” He picks up his coffee cup before he darts to his feet. “Why don’t you call Rizon and set up a meeting for later today? I’d like an update by tomorrow morning on where things stand with that account.”
I’d like an update on wher
e his head is at regarding the CEO position.
I studied marketing because I expected to take over the family business one day. I never imagined that the only child of his second wife would swoop in and threaten that.
“I’ll take care of it.” I paste on a smile. “If you need anything for your meeting let me know.”
Translation: I can be in the conference room in thirty seconds flat. Ten if I kick off my heels and sprint.
He leaves my office without so much as another word.
I pick up my phone and text a message to Trent.
Linny: Are you available for lunch? Let’s meet and go over the campaign.