“Okay, I’ll tell him that you’re coming,” I said as we got in the elevator.
“Long day?” Lucah asked as the doors closed.
“Long day,” I repeated.
~*~*~
Dad was chatting with someone when we walked into his room. Hal. Mom was nowhere to be found, so it was just Dad and Hal in the room.
“Oh,” I said, not sure what to do.
“It’s okay, Rory. Come in,” Dad said, gesturing. Hal’s face went a little red and he looked at the linoleum like it had a fascinating pattern all of a sudden.
“I didn’t know you had a visitor,” I said, looking at Hal, who refused to look up at me.
“Yes. We’ve just been… talking,” Dad said and Hal finally looked up.
“I’m so sorry for what I did. I thought it was for the best of the company, you have to understand.” He sounded desperate and he didn’t look that good. His face was a little grey and there were bags under his eyes. As if he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep for a while.
I didn’t really want to accept his apology, but I needed to do it for Dad, so I was going to have to suck it up.
“I understand,” I said, nodding stiffly and moving to Dad’s side. As if I was going to protect him from the man who had stabbed him the back without a second thought.
“Good, that’s good. I’ve really been struggling for a while and I’m just so sorry.” His voice broke and I swore I saw a few tears in his eyes. It made me feel a little better that he was clearly upset. Not totally better, but a bit.
“Hal, it’s done. Your concerns were warranted,” Dad said, gesturing to the hospital room. “It’s water under the bridge and we need to move forward.” Apparently I was the one who was going to keep holding the grudge for both of us. Lucah put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, probably trying to stop me from saying something I might regret later.
“I wish I could go back and redo everything,” Hal said, looking at Dad.
“I know.” Hal got up and shook Dad’s hand. They shared a look and I had to avert my eyes to give them their private moment. On his way out, Hal looked like he wanted to say something else to me, but then changed his mind. We nodded at each other and then he was gone.
Mom bustled in a moment later with two Styrofoam cups of coffee.
“I went down to the cafeteria. Oh, Rory, nice to see you. How was work?” Dad’s eyes flicked back to me, as if he had just remembered I was present.
I cleared my throat and gave Dad the update on everything. He asked me a bunch of questions about reports and financials and the stock price.
“I think we’ve got all the information under control, so I don’t foresee a huge dip in the stock price. I’ve also got a few interviews this week with the press, so I’ll be able to reiterate that everything is fine.” They’d wanted to interview Dad, but I’d put the kibosh on that. He wasn’t going to be pestered by a bunch of scandal-hungry reporters after he’d just had a heart attack. No way. My job now was to keep things going and make sure he had as little to worry about as possible.
“Sounds like you’ve got everything well in hand,” he said, smiling at me. There were tears in his eyes again. He reached one hand out and I took it.
“I’m so proud of you,” he said. “So proud.” I leaned down and gave him a hug.
“Thanks.” It had only been one day, but so far, so good. Time would tell if I would be able to handle everything going forward. I brushed at my eyes, feeling a little emotional myself.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done, Rory Girl.” I hugged him again and then Mrs. Andrews arrived to say hello.
Lucah and I both said we’d stop by the next day with another update, then picked up some food before heading back to the apartment.
“You know when you work out, and your muscles ache afterward? That’s how my brain feels right now. Like it’s had an extreme workout,” I said when I crashed down on the couch and Lucah pulled out the food. All I wanted was glass of wine, so he fetched me one and even put it in my hand for me.
“You worked hard today. You’re doing the job of two people. If you need, I can help you. All you have to do is ask.” He stroked my arm up and down. It was nice to just be with him and not have to think about anything else other than eating and then going to bed. I sipped my wine and sighed in relief.
“Thank you for this.” I turned my head and puckered my lips at him. He closed the distance between our mouths and gave me a kiss. Stroking my cheek, he gave me a lazy smile and I knew what was on his mind.
“Not tonight, dear, I have a headache,” I said. It was a lie, but I didn’t want to get in the middle of things and then fall asleep on him. That would be absolutely mortifying and I refused to become “that” couple. We hadn’t even gotten married yet. The romance wasn’t going to die now. We’d just put it on hold until things at work calmed down and then we’d be back to banging each other’s brains out in no time.
“I thought you might want some sexual healing. A few orgasms to relax you, free your mind?” He wiggled his eyebrows. Man, he was really making his case.