Chapter 3
Mac
When my father calls back, I know there’s no escaping his call again without hearing about it later.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Oh good, Mackenzie.” The use of my full first name makes my entire body tighten.
“What can I do for you?” I answer.
“Well, I thought we should talk about my retirement.”
I fall onto my couch, pinching the bridge of my nose. As much as I’ve always wanted to take over my father’s real estate company that spans three continents and several countries, I know there’s going to be a huge list of stipulations and conditions in order for me to earn the position.
“I see,” is all I manage to say.
“As you know, I’m retiring at the end of June. I’d like to be able to appoint you as my replacement at my retirement party. In order to do that, I need to know you’re serious. I want to see you settling down. No more of this bachelor lifestyle.”
I shake my head even though he can’t see me.
How does he not realize that he’s the reason I live my life the way I do?
Seeing the way he was with mom is what made me decide to stay single.
They separated when I was still a teenager.
Mom left the city, and Father ended up shipping me off to boarding schools, too busy to handle me.
“And how am I supposed to do that in six months?” I ask.
“Show that you’re making an effort. Find a girlfriend, bring her to the party.”
He says the words as though it’s the easiest thing in the world to just find a girlfriend. I dated in my early twenties, but I never found someone who truly interested me. I wasn’t going to devote all that time to someone I didn’t see a future with so I eventually gave up.
“If you can’t give a woman the kind of attention that relationship requires, how can I believe you can show the company the proper attention?”
A chuckle rises out of me. “You’d think it would be the other way around, if I had a girlfriend, you’d be too worried I’d be spending more time with her than on work.”
“I had your mother and you while I was building this company. You find ways to manage your time and prioritize. You learn that both deserve your attention.”
I grunt. Look at how well that turned out for him; he’s been divorced for nearly two and half decades and his son spent his teen years hundreds of miles away for ten months a year.
“Mackenzie, you’re failing yourself if you don’t try. You can’t spend the rest of your life alone in your flat.”
I think that sounds perfect. I don’t have the patience or desire to deal with people, let alone someone who’s going to need so much from me.
“Six months isn’t exactly a lot of time to find someone, start a relationship, and know that it’s serious enough to bring her to your retirement party.”
“Those are the requirements, Mackenzie. Otherwise I’ll be forced to name Arthur as my successor.”
The last person I want to see become CEO is my cousin Arthur. He’s a pompous wanker who doesn’t deserve the position. I guarantee Father mentioned it just to motivate me to meet his conditions.
We end the phone call, and I stare at the ceiling, trying to figure out how the hell I’m going to meet this ridiculous condition.
As memories of my kiss with Eliza try to take over my brain, an idea comes to me.
I never imagined I’d actually have an opportunity to kiss Eliza, she’s ten years younger than me and I never thought I’d be someone she’d go for, but now I want nothing more than to experience that kiss again and again.
When I arrive at the rink on Tuesday, the idea that came to me after my phone call with my father is still worming its way through my mind.
I’m still debating if it would work when I round the corner outside our locker room.
There’s a group gathered in a circle outside the room, but my eyes catch on Eliza.
There’s times, like today, when she wears the most ridiculous things to the rink.
She’s wearing a tight black skirt that lands just above her knees, a blouse and blazer that don’t look warm enough, and tall heels.
My eyes slowly track the length of her body, and when I meet her eyes, a small blush stains her cheeks, barely noticeable.
She quickly averts her eyes to one of her friends, and I duck into the room and head straight for my usual spot in the corner.
It’s the perfect place to be able to see everything going on in the room.
It’s the same spot I’ve been sitting in locker rooms ever since I started playing ice hockey.
I methodically change into my gear, blocking out everything around me before I get on the ice to warm up.
I stop in the crease, scraping my skates across the ice to prep it before I drop to the ice and do a few stretches making sure to stretch my groin after I almost pulled it a few games ago.
I’m starting to feel my age after games, my body aching more than it did years ago.
Standing, I bend at the waist, dipping my head and working to get my mind in the right place before the puck drops.
As I let out a slow breath, I twist my neck slightly to the side and find Eliza with her friends.
They’re all sitting in their usual spot on the bleachers beside our bench.
She smiles at them, laughing with them, but her face changes slightly when she watches each of the women with their significant others.
She grabs Josh and Liv’s daughter from Liv and starts playing with her as though to change where her attention is directed.
She smiles brightly at the little girl, and I shake my head when I realize I’m staring at her.
I’ve never watched a woman as intently as I have Eliza over the last year.
There’s something interesting about her that I can’t put my finger on.
We’ve had minimal contact with each other, she’s always with her friends when I see her at games, and I’ve never been sure of what it is that has me so drawn to her.
I find my eyes wandering to her every whistle.
With my mask, it’s easy to hide the fact that I’m watching her.
She laughs, wrapping herself in her blazer, hugging it to her body.
I’m not sure why she’d show up to a cold rink in what she’s wearing, she must be freezing, but she doesn’t seem to let it impact how she’s interacting with her friends.
She still smiles warmly at them and gives them her undivided attention when they talk to her, and I wonder what that would feel like. To be her sole focus.
When the game’s over, I follow the guys off the ice and towards the locker room. I take my time collecting my sticks as I sneak one last glance at Eliza out of the corner of my eye before I find myself resolved in my decision from earlier and slip into the locker room to change.