Rodney (Members From Money Season 2, #161)

Chapter 1

She was tired. Mentally, emotionally, physically.

The urge to weep was so strong, she had to keep biting her lip, letting the pain shock her back.

She couldn't afford to have a meltdown. In a few minutes, she was going to say good night to her son who was staying at her grandmother's.

David was eight years old and a smart one at that.

He would pick up on her emotional state.

A watery smile touched her lips. It was times like these that she wished he wasn't so aware and so sensitive. But it was only the two of them and her boy had planted himself as her protector.

He knew that his father had hightailed it when he found out she was pregnant and that she worked two jobs just to make ends meet.

She didn't regret him, she thought fiercely. She loved him to pieces. He was the light in a very dark world. Her beautiful baby boy, so smart and sensitive, quite unlike the man who had helped to make him.

Her mouth tightened as her thought flickered to the past. Something she had managed to put behind her and should never allow to surface. But it was a struggle.

Being a single parent was difficult. Making ends meet for her and her baby was becoming harder, and she was going to have to think about college soon.

She had started saving, putting a little away, here and there, but the blasted transmission on her crappy vehicle had her dipping into her son's college funds.

She was determined that David was going to have a better life than hers.

Leaning her head back, she took several deep cleansing breaths.

She had taken up yoga and a form of meditation to try and get through her anxiety.

But tonight, it wasn't working, not much.

Her boss, the soulless bitch she worked for, had stuck her with more responsibilities, keeping her chained to the desk when it was past time for her to leave.

"You should quit." Her best friend Carrie was always telling her. "In fact, just walk out and tell her to go screw herself."

"I have a mouth to feed."

"You could get another job. You're good at what you do. Or come work for me."

"The only thing I know about hair is when mine needs shampooing." She reminded her friend dryly.

"You could learn. You're the smartest person I know."

"I always say your circle is very limited." Melanie pointed out wryly. "If I was that smart, I would have found a way out of this hole I'm in."

"What we both need are two wealthy guys to shower us with gifts and money, so we don't have to work. We could spend our days going on cruises and traveling the world. I always dream of going to Paris and Rome."

"Scotland and Spain." Melanie murmured, joining in the pipe dream. It was a game they always played, something to take their minds off their problems. "He has to be young and attractive. Not some old lecher on his last breath."

"I think I'd love an old guy, one who has no kids, about to expire within six months and will everything to me. I fancy myself being a fabulously wealthy widow without the added problems of a man demanding my attention."

"I want love, not just the money."

"Girl, you're too romantic." Carrie chided. "Look where it got you."

"David was worth every bit of what I went through with that worthless father of his."

"Of course. That boy's a gem."

Now she had allowed herself to be persuaded to go to a club. Her friend had insisted that she needed the break.

"Besides, it's Friday. Let's go out, have some fun, allow ourselves to be picked up by strange men who want to buy us drinks."

"And run the risk of being roofied? No thanks. I'll buy my own drinks."

"You're right. We'll dance the night away. David can spend the night with grams."

"I'll have to ask her. She's been having some pains lately and I hate to bother her."

"Why don't you go and live with her? That cottage of yours is a pile of crap."

"We both love our independence. And besides, grams lives in a one-bedroom house and it would be cramped. Where we are, David has his own room and a yard to play in. That's important to me, to both of us."

And it was, she decided firmly. The cottage was a rental and needed some upgrading, but her landlord pinched every penny, preferring to squeeze until nothing was left.

She made do. She had dipped into her own money to put fresh paint on the exterior, a warm mulberry yellow with bright blue trim and had planted a garden.

Her herbs were coming along and her roses were blooming. It made her relax to putter in the dirt and did her heart great to see her son running up and down and dribbling the ball over the uneven ground. She had put up a hoop on the garage and often played with him.

They lived near a park, which was an added bonus. And it took her ten minutes to get to work. Rubbing her hands over her temple to get rid of the headache blooming there, she decided it was a good thing she did not have her second job this weekend.

She would go out tonight with Carrie, forget the problems plaguing her.

She would sleep in tomorrow, get up and do the laundry she had been putting off, have a pity party and then go pick up her son.

She would make them pizza for supper and go to the park for ice cream.

Summer was rapidly slipping away and soon he was going to be going back to school.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened and pushed the door open, an easy smile on her face.

*****

He was bored. Rodney Paul Lancashire was having a rather difficult time following the conversation around him.

A banker's banquet, he wanted to snicker at the way it sounded.

What it really was defied description, and he was getting cross-eyed at the number of speeches and dry attempts at jokes from the men seated at his table.

He was required to be here and was going to have some strong words for his mother who had insisted that the company should be represented.

"Darling, Lancashire Enterprises is steeped in history.

Most of those bankers are part or have been part of the company for several hundred years.

It would be an awful slight if we're not represented and since you're now CEO of the company, it falls on you.

I would be present if I didn't have this charity dinner to attend. "

Gloria Halstead-Lancashire was known for her very persuasive arguments. So, here he was at the behest of his mother. He loved her to death, but right now, he wasn't pleased.

He wanted to be anywhere else. A bar surrounded by hoodlums. A basketball game where he had season tickets. In bed with a willing woman. Right now, he was flying solo because the last relationship had tanked.

His mind flickered to the cause of it. Goddamn Ingrid Hall, smart and beautiful and very creative in bed. He had harbored thoughts of making things permanent between them, when he discovered she was into him for his clout and influence.

Her dream was to build her own research clinic and have the Lancashire name behind it. That wouldn't have been such an issue, if she had been honest from the bloody get-go, but she had pretended otherwise.

Tamping out the last heated meeting and the tears that had followed, he tried to concentrate on the man to his right and mentally patted himself on the shoulder when he recalled the name. Benjamin Goulbourne, esteemed banker for fifty years and very proud of his position at Goulbourne Bank & Trust.

"I tell you, Lancashire," he gulped the expensive whiskey like water and paused to lick his lips, bulging watery blue eyes gleaming as he got ready to launch into another spiel about politics and the banking world.

"Interest rates and dividends. We live in a world where people are not interested in putting their money up for safekeeping.

The damn politicians are making things more difficult for us bankers.

" He gulped more whiskey before resuming.

"We've been in business for several hundred years.

Your daddy and granddaddy made enormous contributions to our business.

We lend money on good faith and it's natural for us to want to make a profit.

I know you agree that what we do, we do for the good of the people who bank with us.

Not just corporate companies like the one you run, but the widows and the little people who trust us with their hard-earned money. "

Rodney wanted to point out the fact that the high interest rates, the added fees to keeping one's money in the bank was something that made the so-called little people disinterested and disillusioned, but why encourage the man?

He thought wearily. Discreetly glancing at his watch, he heaved a sigh of relief and realized that the two hours he had given the function was at an end.

He had done his due diligence and was able to walk out of the crowded ballroom of a hotel owned by his family.

Making his apologies, he pushed his chair back and managed to escape quickly before he was cornered by another friendly banker. He had had enough.

His coat was quickly and efficiently fetched by the attendant.

Making his way out of the lobby, he automatically glanced around the area to make a note of how it was kept.

His family also prided themselves on quality.

Staying at any Lancashire establishment guaranteed the very best service.

It was a standard that was the byword of the company and as the CEO, he was determined to follow that trend.

A flicker of annoyance covered his face when the manager came hurrying towards him.

"Mr. Lancashire." Pierre beamed a smile, trying to hide the anxiety behind the cheer.

He had been on his staff to make sure things were running smoothly.

As soon as he heard Rodney Lancashire was going to be attending the function, he had been on high alert.

"I hope everything was to your satisfaction. "