Chapter 20 – Grant
TWENTY
GRANT
He was convinced no one ever truly enjoyed the holidays.
I put the phone down on my desk and scowled at it, like it had offended me.
That was a bizarre conversation with my sister.
She had that I know something you don’t know tone in her voice the whole time we were talking. My sister, one of the few people left on planet Earth I adored, was shit at keeping secrets. Always had been.
But I couldn’t imagine what she was hiding up her sleeve.
Truth was, I was expecting her and my parents to be irritated with me because I’d chosen not to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Florida this year.
Several years ago, I’d bought my parents their ideal dream retirement home in Naples, and because Rebecca liked to be close to them, I’d bought her a home there as well. She’d balked at first, claiming she didn’t need my money, my help, my interference in her life, etc.
Hell, I didn’t need my money. I simply had it, so there was no point in not using it.
I knew my parents had been disappointed when I told them I wasn’t coming. I’d used all the standard excuses of being too busy at work, and I’d promised them I would spend Christmas in Florida with them, but still they sensed something was off with me.
The first year after I’d lost Allison, I’d eschewed the holidays completely.
The second year, I’d grudgingly visited them over Thanksgiving but had put my foot down about Christmas.
However, last year, I’d spent both holidays with them to the point where maybe they had thought I’d turned some kind of grief corner.
I hadn’t.
They probably thought I was backsliding.
Except, Rebecca hadn’t been irritated at all. She’d said she understood and was glad that at least I was working hard again. Again.
Maybe a sign that I was, what? Healing?
Healing would mean I had somehow forgiven myself for causing the death of my soulmate.
I hadn’t. I couldn’t. It would be disrespectful to Allison.
“Hey, E.G., are we getting out early today?”
Distracted from my thoughts, I turned away from the window and faced Anna.
She was in her usual business attire, but today she’d worn her hair loose down around her shoulders instead of in a clip.
I wondered if there was a reason for that.
Was she planning on going out after work?
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was often a big bar night out.
It would make sense for her to want to go out.
I hadn’t asked her anything about her social life since the club incident. In fact, I’d locked down all aberrant thoughts I might have had about her.
The glass I’d broken by having…thoughts…about her, was now glued back together and it could hold water just fine. As long as I maintained ruthless control over myself.
“I’m sorry, what?”
She stepped further into my office. “Are we closing early?”
“Why would we do that?”
“It’s a thing. Almost all the other offices in the building are closing early to get a head start on the holiday.”
“You need to get a head start on the holiday?”
She rolled her eyes. Something she hadn’t done in a while.
“No, I guess not. I just like the thought of it, you know? You come into work and you think you’re going to be here until six or seven, but then suddenly you say, hey, we’re closing early for the holidays and I get three hours of my life back I otherwise wouldn’t have. ”
Fascinating. “What would you do with those three hours of life?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe go see a movie?”
“You’re saying I should pay you to skip out and go see a movie?”
She beamed. “I know. That’s the best part. It’s just free time you’re still paying me for. Hey, I didn’t make this up. It’s a thing. Claire is getting out at noon today.”
Whats-her-face. I knew their relationship had survived the incident at the club because they’d had lunch a few times since.
Apparently, Claire had been extremely sorry for putting Anna in that situation.
I also knew Flowers was still a little wary of their friendship going beyond lunch.
It was because she had a good head on her shoulders and Claire was a flake.
“Here I thought you liked your job,” I said, feeling a hint of petulance.
“Stop it,” she said. “You know I love my job. This isn’t just about me, either. You would get time off, too.”
“Time to do what?” I asked her.
“Excellent point,” she said. “What would you do with a free afternoon?”
I had absolutely no response to that.
“E.G., you’re a freaking billionaire. You’re supposed to say things like you would jet off to one of your properties.”
“Feels like a lot of effort.”
“Go buy a ridiculously expensive car.”
I had all the cars I needed and most of them I didn’t drive.
“Don’t you have any hobbies outside of work?” she pushed.
“I…uh…I do. Of course, I do.”
“You know you helped me to make friends with Claire. Do you want me to help you get a buddy, too?”
I glowered at her. “Can we change the subject?”
“Or go back to the original topic. Are we getting out early for Thanksgiving?”
“No.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Scrooge.”
“That was Christmas,” I pointed out.
“Whatever.”
It wasn’t my business what she was doing for Thanksgiving, but I couldn’t help think about it. She had no family.
She had me.
That was her world right now. Unless it wasn’t. Unless there was some other universe she’d created for herself in the past few weeks when I’d forced myself to look away.
“Out of curiosity, what are you doing tomorrow?”
There, I said it. I asked the question I wasn’t supposed to ask, but I had to know the answer.
“Oh. I volunteered to work at the homeless shelter. They’re doing a Thanksgiving dinner buffet.”
“The shelter. The place where you stayed?”
She nodded. “Figured I could actually give back something this year. My own way of saying thank you.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
Probably it was something I should have done. Found a way to give back. Of course, I donated to charities. I had an entire organization dedicated to giving away my money, but it wasn’t the same thing as showing up.
My petulance had now been replaced with guilt.
“You could come with me if you want,” she said, and I could tell she was trying to read my mood.
I shook my head. “Can’t. Plans.”
Plans to brood alone in my house.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
No, I wasn’t. I was agitated, restless. Like all of a sudden, my skin didn’t fit. My assistant had plans for the holiday and I didn’t. My assistant knew what she would do with a free afternoon and I didn’t.
More importantly, she could do all those things on her own. Without me.
After I lost Allison, there was nothing I could do on my own.
Because you didn’t want to, or because you didn’t know how?
Fortunately, I was spared from having to answer her or my conscience as the bell to the front door of the office rang.
“That’s weird,” Flowers said. “We don’t have any appointments today. Unless you ordered something?”
I shook my head.
“It’s probably a package that needs a signature. I’ll handle it.”
She left and I turned back towards the window. It gave me a place to look, to think. What was the matter with me? Why did I have this feeling as if I was constantly being pushed off balance?
The sound of multiple voices registered first. Then one, specifically.
“Oh, you must be Anna! Oh my goodness, I didn’t expect you to be so young.”
No. It couldn’t be.
“How old are you?”
“Uh…”
I rushed out of my office into our small lobby and saw them all. My mom, dad and sister Rebecca, all of them pinning their eyes on Anna like she was some sort of lab specimen.
“What are you all doing here?” I asked them.
It was my sister who stepped forward.
“Surprise! You couldn’t come to us for Thanksgiving, so we brought Thanksgiving to you!”
This wasn’t happening.
“Surprise!” Anna added, then smiled at me.
“You knew about this?” I asked her.
“Uh huh,” she admitted. “I’ve talked to them all. We had to coordinate your schedule. That whole thing about getting out early today? A ruse. I knew they were coming.”
“You’ve spoken to them? To my family. Why? Why would you do that?”
My mother stepped forward to glare at me.
“Grant, honestly. Your tone.” She locked her arm through Anna’s and I thought my head was going to explode.
“Anna has been a doll. Of course, we’ve spoken.
The best way to guarantee you’ll answer your cell phone is if we plan for it ahead of time.
Then when we had this idea of surprising you, she did all the local research for us. ”
“Anyway, I should just head back to my office…” Flowers said, disengaging from my mother as she tried to get a gauge on my mood. “Mission accomplished. I’ll let you all catch up.”
“No!” Rebecca said and reached out to grab her hand. “We’ve finally got a face to match the name. You have to let us get to know you better.”
“Rebecca,” I growled. “Please release my associate from your grasp.”
Rebecca scowled at me and Flowers had the nerve to laugh.
“Your scowl is clearly genetic,” Flowers told me.
“You don’t say,” my father said, then scowled at Anna comically enough to make her laugh again.
Awesome. My family was being charming.
“We just want to chat with her,” Rebecca said, then checked her Apple watch on her wrist. “Look at that. It’s almost one. Anna’s already booked us a reservation. I’m sure we can add one more. Then we can have lunch together.”
“No!” I barked.
“No,” Anna said at the same time, only in a slightly more reasonable manner.
“I’ve still got some work to do. Rebecca, I sent you the directions to the place and the reservation is under the name Allen.
Sometimes, people will make a fuss when they know it’s E.G.
, but that just mostly means an extra appetizer or dessert. ”
“I don’t understand, dear. Isn’t Grant your employer?” his mother asked with a soft smile. “Surely, he could give you a break to allow us a chance to get to know his new co-worker. However, he’s mentioned you so much, we feel like we almost know you.”
Anna looked at me for an explanation. I held up two fingers. “Twice. I mentioned you twice.”
“There, it’s settled,” his father said, confidently. “Grant, Anna here has already taken care of everything for us. Young lady, you get your coat. You’re coming with us.”
Flower’s attempt at telepathy was genuine. Looking to me, to get a sense of my mood. I could hear her litany of silent questions.
Try harder to bail? Give in? Fake a dental emergency?
But I could see no escape for us, so I shrugged to communicate that we were simply resigned to our fate.
It felt like a bad cliché in some made for television holiday movie.
Guess who is coming to lunch?