25
L awrence glanced at his phone screen, debating whether or not to answer it. He didn’t have a reason not to. His past several conversations with his father had been fine. The only thing stopping him from picking up was that he hadn’t spoken to his dad about what his mom said. He’d wanted to avoid the conversation for a while, and it had been easy so far with his dad only texting him a couple of times to check in since then.
He feared he might blurt it out on the phone, which was the last thing he wanted. His father was a hypocrite, but Lawrence didn’t think it was a conversation meant to be had over the phone when it was eventually brought up.
“Hey, Dad,” Lawrence greeted, turning his attention back to his computer screen.
“Hey, son. How was your Thanksgiving?”
“It was good. I got together with Remy and some friends. How was yours?”
“Well, your aunt Gloria brought that dressing she makes with four pounds of sugar and olives and wondered why no one touched it,” Dennis responded.
Lawrence snorted. His aunt Gloria, as sweet as she was, was the world’s worst cook, and he wouldn’t be persuaded otherwise. Everything she made always consisted of unnecessary, obscure ingredients—sugar and olives in dressing, grapes and water chestnuts in potato salad, lemon wedges in greens.
They’d long ago tried to delegate her as the designated drink and plasticware person for any family gatherings. Still, she always brought something inedible. Lawrence knew she was aware of how atrocious her cooking was. One: he’d never seen her eat anything she brought, claiming it was for the family, and she left herself extra at home. Two: because he’d listen to his mother tell her as much when his parents were still married.
“Other than that, the festivities were nice,” Dennis stated.
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I wanted to see if you had plans next weekend.”
Lawrence paused briefly to key in the terms he and a new client agreed on. “Not that I know of.”
“It’s my birthday weekend, and I wanted to see if you’d be willing to come and share the milestone birthday with your old man. You could bring Remy.”
Lawrence paused in his input and thought about it. Since his mom and Remy’s parents were coming to them for Christmas, it meant if they went to celebrate with his dad, they’d only travel once in December, and he’d given them a week and a half notice.
With the information he now had about his dad, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was extending the invitation to Remy because Lawrence had been right in assuming that Dennis found his boyfriend attractive. He couldn’t blame him, he supposed. Remy was a fine, overly sexy specimen of a man, but the thought of his dad also thinking so was slightly disturbing.
“I’ll ask him. The end of the year may be busy for him with year-end reports, but I’ll be there,” Lawrence responded, resuming filling in the document on his screen.
“Great. Let me know the flight details, and I’ll pick you up Friday evening. I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Alright, Dad.”
They hung up, and Lawrence made a mental note to rent a car. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his dad picking them up or him up if Remy could not go. It was that he didn’t want to be stuck wherever with his father if Dennis decided to bring up his sexuality or upset him concerning it.
When he got off, he decided to call Remy and ask if he was up for going with him. He knew his boyfriend would be in meetings all day, and while he would text Lawrence back when he could or answer the phone if he called, he didn’t want to pull him away from getting things settled for the end of the year .
Lawrence finished inputting the information, sent the form to their legal department, and glanced at the clock. He had half an hour before he was to go to lunch with a couple of his co-workers. He’d spend that time looking for flights, rental cars, and booking a hotel room.
L awrence was folding the laundry he’d done over the weekend and left in the hamper when his phone rang. He glanced over at it before answering it.
“Hey, babe.”
“Hey, baby. You okay?” Remy asked.
He furrowed his brow, placing a folded shirt on the pile. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I haven’t heard from you all day.”
“You told me last night you would be in meetings all day.”
“So?” Remy countered.
“I didn’t want to disturb you when I knew you had a busy day.” Lawrence folded another shirt.
“I only told you that so you would know why it might have taken me longer to respond to your texts than I usually do. Not so you wouldn’t contact me.”
Lawrence hummed, deciding to shift the subject. “How were your meetings?”
“As expected,” Remy responded, and Lawrence heard him shift. “Did you agree on terms with your new client?”
“Yes, finally. It ended up being the same terms I proposed initially. I was mentally strangling her as we spoke because we went in a damn circle for almost a week. Her complicated ass knew she was going to choose the first set of terms and wanted to waste my time,” Lawrence huffed, and a second later Remy was chuckling.
“I don’t think strangling clients is good for business, baby.”
“You’re probably right, but it doesn’t mean I can’t imagine it.”
Other than that, the client had been fine to work with so far, but he felt she got a kick out of jerking him around for a week and wasn’t amused. Lawrence did not like his time wasted.
“Anyway, are you free next weekend?”
“Yes. Was there something in particular you wanted to do? ”
“My dad’s birthday is coming up, and he invited us to celebrate it with him since it’s his sixtieth. We can book a room, get there Friday, and leave Sunday afternoon if you want to go.”
“Yeah, that's fine, baby just…” Remy trailed off. “Hold on a minute, my assistant is calling.”
Lawrence heard Remy’s end go silent. He placed the phone on speaker, sat it down, and continued folding his clothes.
“H ey, Chloe,” Remy greeted, switching the call over. He’d left his assistant an hour ago and hoped she hadn’t thought of something they forgot to do. It would have to be squeezed into tomorrow’s itinerary if so.
“Hey, Remy. I picked up Nolan from the sitter, and he has a fever, so I will need to take the day off tomorrow.”
“Of course. Take the rest of the week if you need it.”
“Thank you. I made an appointment with his pediatrician in the morning, but I might have to take him to urgent care tonight if it worsens.”
“Poor kid. I hope it’s nothing serious and he starts to feel better. Keep me updated, and let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
They said goodbye, and Chloe hung up while Remy clicked back over. “Are you still there, baby?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Lawrence responded.
“Like I was saying, let me know when you want to try to leave, and I’ll find a flight.”
Remy knew they could take the company's private plane, but the flight was barely two hours.
“I already found a flight. It leaves at four. Would that work for you?”
“Yeah, that works. Send me the link so I can buy the tickets, and if you have a preferred hotel, send that link too.”
“Remy,” Lawrence stated. He knew a protest would be the next thing to leave his boyfriend’s lips, and he silenced it before it could happen .
“That wasn’t a question, and unless you’re breaking up with me…” He trailed off.
Lawrence snorted. “You can be overdramatic at times. Because I can pay for myself and don’t mind doing so, it doesn’t mean I want to break up with you.”
“It kind of does, baby. Especially when we’ve established, more times than I would have liked, that you being mine means I get to spoil you the way I want to. If I don’t get to do that, then it must mean you want to be single.”
Remy was fucking with him. They both knew he was, but he couldn’t help how adorably annoyed Lawrence got when he reminded him that he liked doing things for him, buying things for him. It typically ended in him fucking him into submission regarding it. At least, that was how it ended when they’d gone Black Friday shopping, and Lawrence tried to protest every time he paid for the items he’d chosen.
“Fine,” Lawrence acquiesced. “I’ll text you the links.”
Remy allowed his voice to drop an octave. “Good boy,” he stated.
“Stop it right now,” Lawrence demanded, and Remy laughed.
“Stop what?”
“You know what. You do that shit on purpose,” Lawrence huffed, but Remy knew he wasn’t annoyed.
He also knew precisely what his boyfriend was talking about, and yes, he did it on purpose. He enjoyed the hitched breath Lawrence would take when he said it, the way his breathing changed, and if they were together when he uttered the words, the way the other man’s eyes darkened and his dick twitched. Remy's did as well in response to his thoughts. He adjusted himself, shifting in his seat.
He and Lawrence spoke for an hour before hanging up. When they did, Remy received three links. He turned on his laptop and let it start up. He grabbed a beer from the kitchen, emailed the links to himself, and ordered takeout.
Once he’d booked the flights, hotel, and rental car, he debated with himself before texting Alijah.
Remy: Chloe might be out for the rest of the week.
Alijah: Is everything okay ?
Remy: Nolan is sick.
Alijah: That poor baby. Forward her extension to my fifth line. I’ll help out until she gets back.
Remy: A lifesaver as always. Thank you.
Alijah: No need to thank me.
But Remy did need to. He knew he was putting more on her plate. It was a busy time for them with year-end reports, comparing revenue from the previous year, calculating projections for the following year, and planning the company Christmas party. She’d hired the event planner from her wedding but still finalized everything. Not to mention, the most significant job she was taking on was trying to keep Kieran from firing everyone in whatever departments had not met his expectations for the year.
He would have to get Lawrence to help him pick something nice for her for Christmas. His food arrived a few minutes later, and after eating, Remy decided to call it an early night.
After showering, he placed his phone on the charger and slipped into bed. He made a mental note to call his parents tomorrow to see which flight they’d decided on for Christmas. His parents could be very much like his boyfriend at times, and he often had to remind them that he was wealthy and was more than willing to take care of their expenses because they’d given him a good life.
Turning onto his side, Remy closed his eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.