Chapter 5 #2
It soon became clear that the best way to tackle the chaos was to organize everything into boxes, one for each holiday. For about five minutes, we worked in silence, the only sounds being the rustle of tinsel and the occasional squeak from a rogue rubber bat.
After shoving a gang of Thanksgiving turkeys into a box, Topher straightened up, wiping dust off his hands like he’d just finished a major corporate deal.
“You know, you’re probably way better at organizing this stuff than I am.
Plus, I’ve got some work to catch up on.
Maybe you should take charge here. I need to head over to my place in the Garden District. It’s got a better setup for work.”
I shot him a look that could have melted the Santa still half-inflated in the corner.
My hands were full of tangled Christmas lights, and I could feel the frustration bubbling up.
Of course, Captain Corporate would decide that this wasn’t the best use of his precious time.
Heaven forbid he waste a minute not buried in his work.
“No way are you leaving me alone in here!” I snapped, glaring at him as he glanced longingly at his phone. “Those inflatables might decide to stage another attack, and I’m not about to face them solo.”
Inwardly, I fumed. Topher was already plotting his escape to his mansion. Must be nice to have a ‘better setup.’ He probably thought he could just delegate everything to me and swoop back in when it was all neatly sorted and boxed up. But there was no way I was letting him off that easily.
Topher let out a small, annoyed sigh but quickly gave in, his shoulders slumping a bit. “Fine,” he muttered. “Guess my work can wait. But so that you know, I’ll probably need to spend most nights at my mansion until my mom gets out of the hospital. The setup there helps me stay on top of things.”
Good, I thought, resisting the urge to fist-pump. If he camped out at his mansion every night, I wouldn’t have to worry about sharing a room with him. His unhealthy obsession with work was finally doing something worthwhile. For me, at least.
Before long, we made enough progress to reveal what the room must have looked like when Topher was a kid.
Posters of the periodic table and math equations adorned the walls, along with gleaming medals and scores of trophies.
I could almost picture a younger Topher, lost in his world of numbers and science.
A stack of books screamed “child prodigy,” with titles like “Advanced Calculus for Beginners” and “Quantum Physics Made Simple.”
“Wow,” I said. “I didn’t realize I’d stumbled into the headquarters of a future Nobel Prize winner.”
Topher glanced around. “Yeah, well, I guess I was a bit of a nerd.”
I pointed to a model of the solar system hanging from the ceiling. “You’ve got the entire universe up there, literally.”
“I was really into astronomy for a while. Thought I might be an astronaut until I realized I couldn’t handle the idea of being stuck in a small capsule with other people for months.”
“So, instead of exploring the stars, you decided to conquer Wall Street?”
He shrugged. “Something like that. But I am looking into buying a spaceship.”
I stared at him, half expecting him to be joking, but the look on his face was completely serious. “Wait, you’re actually trying to buy a spaceship?”
“Yep. Space tourism is going to be the next big thing.”
Right. The sheer disparity between our lives would be laughable if it weren’t so unsettling. There he was, casually discussing the purchase of a spaceship while I was skimping on groceries to keep the lights on.
Before I could dwell too long on the absurdity of it all, Topher said, “I think we’ve got the room in good enough shape. Let’s move these boxes out so you can bring your stuff in here.”
I blinked, shaking off the lingering haze of disbelief, and nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
I started unpacking my things. It didn’t take long. There wasn’t much to begin with. A couple of small suitcases filled with clothes and mementos, a handful of books, and a small box of papers I’d been avoiding.
“This is all you brought?” Topher sounded astonished.
“Yeah, well, I’m a woman of simple tastes.” I tried to sound breezy, even though the reality was far from simple.
His eyes lingered on the box of papers, and before I could stop him, he reached out. “Here, let me—”
“Don’t touch those!” The words flew out of my mouth like a reflex.
He jerked back, startled, sending a few papers fluttering to the floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine,” I snapped, quickly gathering the papers and shoving them back into the bottom of my suitcase. My hands were shaking, and I hoped he didn’t notice. “I just... haven’t had time to deal with them yet. I need to go through them at some point.”
The truth was, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready to go through those papers. Every time I even thought about sorting them, I felt that sinking feeling in my gut, like I was about to uncover something else about my parents that would disappoint me even more than I already was.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on that right now. We had bigger fish to fry. Or, more accurately, a house to transform. Mrs. Brodie was going to be discharged soon, and this place needed to be more of a “recovery haven” and less of a “quaint disaster zone.”
That meant Topher and I would have to, heaven help us, work together.
I cleared my throat. “You know, if we’re going to pull this off, we need to get to know each other better. There’s no way your mom will believe we’ve been dating for six months if we can’t even answer basic questions about each other.”
He looked up from the box he was sorting, clearly not thrilled with the idea. “Okay, fine,” he said with a sigh, “ask me a question.”
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope, only child.”
“Same here.” Great, two only children. We’re probably both used to getting our own way. This should be interesting. “What do you do for fun?”
“I like to go all out on my rowing machine, pushing myself to the limit until my muscles burn.”
Even his idea of fun sounded like torture. “And here I thought fun was supposed to be, you know, fun.”
He straightened up, his tone defensive. “It is fun. There’s a real rush in pushing your body to the limit and breaking your personal records.” He eyed me, challenging. “So, what do you consider fun?”
I tried to ease the tension. “Well, think less actual marathon, more movie marathon. Where did you go to college?”
“Brown. You?”
Brown, huh? I could picture him and his crew team buddies rowing down the river, discussing their self-designed majors and shouting quotes from Diderot and Foucault at each other between strokes.
They probably organized protests for environmental justice in between putting on an experimental theater production and debating existentialism, the ethics of modern economics, and whether ‘Inception’ really deserves its cult status.
“I went to Duke for a while, but didn’t finish. What’s your favorite food?”
“I have a chef who handles all my meals to make sure I get balanced macros, vitamins, the whole thing. Though sometimes I’m just too busy to eat.”
Too busy to eat? What kind of person gets too busy to eat? “You said you haven’t visited your mom in a while. Why not?”
His whole demeanor shifted, and he stiffened like I’d hit a nerve. “Next question.”
Clearly a touchy subject. “Okay, fine, what’s it like being a billionaire?”
Topher leaned against the doorway. “Honestly? If I acted like a billionaire, I wouldn’t be one. Every penny spent is a penny that could’ve earned more pennies. There’s no room for indulgence if you want to stay on top.”
“You do have a private jet, though, right?”
“Of course, time is money. Why waste it waiting around for commercial flights at airports?”
“And how many houses do you own? I mean, I know about the one here in the Garden District, but you spend most of your time in New York, right?”
“Well, there are a few more than just my house in New Orleans and my penthouse in Manhattan, but each property I own is a solid investment. Take my castle in England: it’s appreciated three-hundred percent since I bought it. And my yacht has risen four-hundred percent in value.”
I nearly choked on my drink. “So, just the one yacht, or are we talking a fleet?”
“Just the one. A single yacht is more than enough for personal relaxation and hosting important business meetings.”
Just the one. As if one yacht is perfectly normal. He really did live in a different world. “You know, I sometimes fantasize about what I’d do if I won the lottery. I’d give a lot of it away, and help out people who need it.”
Topher scoffed, his tone edged with disdain. “Lottery tickets are a fool’s investment. People who buy them might as well be burning their money.”
I bristled slightly, defending my daydream. “It’s just a bit of fun, not a financial strategy. Besides, dreaming big doesn’t cost anything. You have so much… Do you give to any charities?"
He hesitated, and his jaw tightened slightly. “Look, I believe in investments, not handouts. It’s better to invest in something that can grow and create more opportunities. Handouts don’t solve the root problems; they just create dependency.”
His words hit me harder than I expected. So, not only is he a workaholic, but he doesn’t even believe in helping people who are struggling. A knot formed in my stomach. This is who I’m supposed to pretend I’m in love with?
I forced a smile. “Interesting perspective. You’re all about the bottom line, huh?”
“Someone has to be,” he replied, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Well, I believe that life’s about more than just work and money.” I tried to keep my tone light but firm. “Like taking a day off just because you feel like it or giving away something to make someone else’s day better.”
Topher’s expression shifted to one of disbelief. “You don’t see the value in working hard, do you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “And you don’t see the value in slowing down every once in a while, do you?”
He gave me a pointed look. “I don’t get people who don’t take work seriously.”
“And I don’t get people who can’t switch off.”
We stared at each other for a moment, the tension thickening between us. It was like we were from entirely different worlds, each struggling to understand how the other could live the way they did.
This was going to be four long weeks.