16. Liz
Chapter Sixteen
LIZ
I should’ve known there was a risk of the press in this whole thing. Kate certainly got some attention when she began dating Drew, and they were only dating! If the press gets the news that the last elusive Bonnaire is engaged, I’m sure it’ll be everywhere. Which means I’ll be everywhere.
If Kent and I were truly engaged, then I wouldn’t mind.
The press would be free publicity for SOLIDS.
Not to mention the look on my ex’s face when he read I was engaged to a hot billionaire.
But we’re not getting married, which means if this makes headlines, it will go down in history that I’ve had two failed engagements in a single year.
Double the failure. Double the humiliation.
I take a deep breath as I ride in the back of Kent’s town car. It’ll be okay. All of these risks are a means to an end—and a big payoff. But, damn am I earning every bit of it. I lean my head back and close my eyes.
Then, my phone sings in my purse.
“Oh, weird. It’s my mom.” I get a sinking feeling in my gut. Ugh, I have to tell her that I won’t be home for Christmas this year. Not that she hasn’t fed me that line on many occasions. But I know her. She’ll lay a massive guilt trip on me, making me out to be the bad guy.
“Take it,” Kent says.
“No, that’s okay.” I set the phone back in my purse. Then I remember it’s still the middle of the night in Arizona, where she currently lives. Why would she be calling now? “Yeah, maybe I should answer it,” I say and pick it up.
“Hey, Mom, everything okay?” I answer, darting a quick glance at Kent who seems just as interested in my conversation.
“Yeah, of course. How are you?” She sounds like her regular, I-love-life chipper self. So this isn’t an emergency. I breathe a sigh of relief. Is she stoned?
“I’m fine. Just in and out of meetings.” I signal to Kent that I’ll make this quick.
“Are you having a good time in England?” my mom asks.
“I’m here for work not for vacation,” I say, now staring out the window.
“Well, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun while you’re there. You work so hard. You deserve a nice break,” she says. She’s made many comments about me being a cog in capitalist society. But she doesn’t complain about capitalism when she asks me for money.
“Mom, why are you calling me so early?” I resist the urge to ask if she’s in jail in front of Kent. Our families are so different already. I don’t want to highlight it even more.
“Well, it’s not really early where I am,” she says.
“And where are you, exactly?” My stomach tightens. Oh, no. Is she here in London? No, I doubt she would show up here unannounced to surprise me.
“So that’s why I’m calling. Sage and I are in India.
We’re heading to this amazing ashram in Tiruvannamalai.
” Tiru-what? “He just felt really called to go.” Sage is my mom’s boyfriend of five years.
They met in South America during a peyote ceremony of all places.
It’s crazy how she follows all these spiritually enlightened paths, and for some reason, none of them lead her to be a present mother to my brother and me.
Deep down, I love her, but for the life of me, I’ll never understand her following every silly whim.
“You’re in India?” I blurt, and Kent shoots me a look.
“Yes, it’s beautiful but I don’t think I’ll be back in time for Christmas.”
Why am I not surprised?
I know I should be relieved that I’m not the one responsible for canceling Christmas, but that only means she’s ditching us again for the fourth year in a row. And it stings a little. “Don’t worry about it, Mom.” Which is what I always say.
“I’m sorry, Liz.”
“Does Leo know?” I ask.
“He will when he wakes up. I just left him a message,” she says, and I wonder what he’s going to think when he finds out we’re both ditching him for Christmas. Poor Leo. “Anyway, sweetie, I have to get going. Love you!”
“Love you too.” I end the call.
“Your mum’s in India?” Kent asks.
“Apparently,” I say, dropping my phone back into my purse and letting out a big sigh. “But at least I’m off the hook for Christmas.”
“That’s good, right?” he asks, unsure.
“It is and it isn’t. I’m not sure what my brother’s going to think.”
“You can always invite him here. We can lie to our brothers together,” Kent says, and I think he’s mostly joking.
“Definitely not.” Just as we’re pulling up to Bonnaire Tower, my phone rings again. This time, it’s Leo. “Speak of the devil.”
“You may want to get that,” Kent says.
“Yeah, I’ll meet you inside,” I say, clutching my phone.
“I’ll be waiting,” Kent says with a wink as he opens the door.
“What did I say about that?” I call after him.
“I told you. It’s compulsive.” He leaves me with a big, handsome grin and closes the car door, giving me some privacy. Aside from the driver who seems to make himself invisible. I stare at Kent’s behind in those tailored pants as he walks inside and answer my buzzing phone.
“Hey, you’re awake,” I answer.
“I just got a message from Mom. She’s in India and won’t be back for Christmas,” he sounds pissed.
“I know. I just talked to her.”
“Why does she always do this?” he asks, rhetorically. Because she only ever thinks about herself and her own needs. “So I guess it’s just the two of us again.”
“Yeah, about that . . .” I say, feeling a knot form in my gut. “It looks like I need to stay in London until New Year’s.”
“Really?” He may have seen our mom’s holiday cancelation coming but he didn’t see mine. “Why? What’s going on?”
I’m fake engaged to the head honcho’s son so SOLIDS can make bank. But I don’t say this. I can’t. As much as I would love to tell Leo the truth, he won’t get it. Plus, he’ll probably talk me out of it. And my brother can be very convincing when he wants to be.
“The VC wants to ramp up the deal. They’re seeing a lot more value,” I say, which is essentially true. Even though part of that value is me playing soon-to-be-wifey.
“And you’re sure this isn’t another scandal waiting to happen?” He’s only asking because he’s looking out for me after what happened with Edge Equity earlier this year. Big brothers are like that. But I can’t tell him that it’s already a scandal.
“No, this isn’t like the last time.” Also true.
“Well, then, congratulations,” he relents, but I can’t bring myself to accept the congratulations yet. Not until the money is secured. “So since Mom’s not coming, why don’t I come to London for Christmas?”
Uh-oh. “You want to come here? But it’s so far.”
“So what? I could use a break from L.A. It never snows here.” Leo has the same fond memories of Christmas as I do.
Under any other circumstances, I would say absolutely.
I’d love to be with my brother for Christmas.
But this year’s a big exception. I have no idea what he’d say if he saw me wearing this big rock on my left ring finger.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. With all of this movement, I’ve got so much work to do. I wouldn’t have any free time.”
“Why are you such a workaholic?”
“I’m not!” I say, getting sick of being accused of being addicted to work. It’s a lot of work running a business like mine. And I happen to enjoy doing it too.
“Whatever you say, Sis,” he teases.
“Look, I know the timing is terrible but why don’t I come see you on my way home in a couple of weeks?”
“Yeah, all right.” He lets out a disappointed sigh, the same kind we usually share due to our mom’s absence. “You sure you don’t want some company for the holidays?”
“I do, but I need to focus while I’m here.” I shut my eyes, silently praying that he’ll let it go and that Kent and I can make it through the month without anyone being the wiser.
“Okay, then. Good luck in London.”
“Thanks, Leo. Now go back to sleep.”