Alpha Billionaire Series

CHRISTOPHER

Four years later...

“Valerie!” I didn't need to yell; I felt like whining and wanted her to know my frustration. The intercom was such an emotionless device.

My phone buzzed. I hit the intercom button.

“Yes, Christopher?”

“I can’t complain at you over the intercom, come in here.”

A moment later she walked in my door. Well, more like waddled. She was round with pregnancy. It wasn't her first in the past four years, but this time when she left, she wasn't coming back. I was taking it like a cranky toddler. At least that's what she told me when I go into a mood.

The truth was I was going to miss her. Not only was she competent, but she had also been patient during the painful months as I wrestled control away from the board and my mother and took control of Hayes Imaging Solutions. We had become a partnership these past four years.

“You're leaving me." I complained as soon as I saw her.

She laughed. “You're being so dramatic”

I cleared my throat and straightened in my chair. I quickly ditched the playful whining and returned to the humorless boss mode.

“Mother is coming in with a good portion of the board to review this past quarter. I need—"

“I pulled the reports you would need last night. Everything is already in binders and in the conference room. I sent out an email collecting lunch requests and ordered the same things from the last time for the members who didn't answer. Your meeting is scheduled to start at fifteen after. I have an alarm already set to pull you out of the meeting by one thirty if the meeting lasts that long!

“You are invaluable. Are you sure you really want to quit and move across the country with your husband?”

She laughed at me again. I had tried everything, including bribing her with a ridiculous raise, to get her to stay. She admittec that I almost had her with the money. But it wasn't about the money, she had gone on about family and quality of life, and better opportunities. I hadn't wanted to listen because she was upending my life.

“Don’t worry, you'll find someone soon who is just as good, if not better than me.”

“No one is better than you."

She laughed; she was always laughing. I guess I was exceptionally funny. “That's what my husband says."

“Lucky man."

“That's what he said."

It was my turn to laugh. I was going to miss her and her easy sense of humor.

I reviewed the graphs she had generated from the spreadsheets documenting our growth and increase in sales. I liked the data; the board loved the graphs. Valerie made sure we were all happy with the reports she compiled.

My intercom buzzed again. “Yes?”

“I just got the call from the receptionist. Your mother is on her way up. She's alone.”

I felt Valerie's apprehension. My mother was never alone. She moved through her day like some kind of an ageing rock star. She didn't speak to the people who did the work. She had her own person Metatron. She told them what she wanted, and they passed along her orders and expectations. And when her needs were met or delivered, everything was filtered back through that person. For the past couple of years, this assistant was a woman named Carla. I witness Carla go from a vibrant woman full of personality to a dreary mimic of my mother's voice. I didn't expect her to last much longer.

Personally, I found it exhausting and blatantly ignored the power dynamic.

“Was Carla with her?” I asked. The answer to that question was vitally important. If Carla was in tow, it simply meant Mother was early and the entire board was still to be expected. If Mother was sans Carla, well, that was ominous indeed.

“They said alone”

“Shit.”

“On it” Valerie hung up. I could see her through the partial glass wall of my office as she hurried to the conference room. There would be no lunch presentation. But I was still going to need that presentation folder to hand over. And the lunch sandwiches needed to be wrapped up. My sandwich and Mother's salad needed to be in my office, the rest of the lunch that was now no longer needed would be put in the break room for anyone who wanted it.

Jane, one of the admins on the floor knocked and then stepped in with a tray of the lunch items. “Valerie said I should just know and come in. I'm sorry, I hope that's all right”

“No, no, that's fine. We had a sudden change in plans but can't make it look like we got caught unexpectedly.” I crossed my office and took the tray from her.

“I'll be right back with the drinks." She left and I set up lunch for me and Mother on the low glass table in the center of my office.

It was times like this that I appreciated Valerie and would miss her the most. My mother liked to change the rules on me, an she seemed to strive to catch me off guard and then berate me for not having met her standards. But Valerie made sure I was always just a step or two ahead.

Now, instead of preparing for a boxed lunch for eight board members while I went over figures and gave a presentation, I was expected to have a little one-on-one with Mother.

Jane ran into my office carrying another tray with a pitcher of iced tea and two tall glasses. She placed the items and ran back out. I shrugged into my suit coat and pressed the lapels down. I patted the sides of my hair, ensuring it was still slicked into place before running my hands over my beard, taming any last-minute stray curls back in.

“Christopher,” Mother announced as she swept into my office. Behind her, the doors closed, and Valerie took care of everything out of sight. “You already have lunch waiting. Oh perfect”

I felt my eye twitch into a questioning squint. Nothing was ever perfect for my Mother.NôvelDrama.Org owns all content.

“I just love this strawberry and feta salad. How did you know?”

I didn’t but Valerie did. Damn, I was going to miss her skills when it came to managing Mother.

“sit down, don't just stand there gawking at me.”

I unbuttoned the suit coat and tossed the sides back as I sat in the chair across from Mother.

“I expected a full complement of the board,” I admitted.

“Yes, well, they don't really need to be here for this” She waved her hand around dismissively. did not trust that gesture when it came from her.

“I decided that we needed to have a little mother-son time, a family chat”

I cocked my head to the side. She never wanted a family chat. Her vibrant, red-painted lips slid over the fork as she crooned around a bite of food. She really was enjoying her salad.

“Stop staring at me and eat” Her command was a little more in character.

“I'm going to Italy,” she announced.

I nodded as I had shoved a rather large portion of the sandwich into my mouth for a bite. She had gone to Europe before, that wasn't anything unexpected from her.

“I feel that I can leave the continued operations of Hayes Imaging Solutions in your capable hands. They have proven capable; I expect you to continue doing so."

“Are you sick or something?” I finally managed to ask. She was speaking as if she was leaving never to return. I knew the language clues, after all Valerie was leaving me too.

“Don’t be silly Christopher. I'm simply taking a vacation. A prolonged one since I no longer have to worry about the business, Right? I don’t have to worry about you or the business?”

“Of course not, I have everything well under control.” I glanced over at the binder that had spreadsheets and graphs illustrating exactly how well I had things in hand.

Mother wasn't interested in those. Her gaze followed my own, but instead of demanding to see one of the binders, she lifted her brows and returned her expression of amusement to the finished salad in front of her.

“When you say prolonged, how long are we talking?”

“At this point, I have travel plans for four months, with the understanding that I can extend my trip.”

“Not a cruise then?”

“I might fit a cruise in. I have time. But I'm not here to talk about my trip, other than my expectations when I return.”

My brows shot up. Mother never came for some friendly chit-chat.

“How old are you, Christopher?”

“Forty.”

“Precisely, and I am not yet a grandmother,” she announced.

I chuckled. “Well, that would require me to be married, or at least have a committed girlfriend.”

“Don’t be crass, of course, you would have to be married. And you currently are not and have not yet been.”

“I haven't exactly had much time for dating lately. What are you getting at?”

“I've signed you up for some dating apps. Swipe right Christopher. Do you understand me?”

I'shook my head. I wasn't exactly sure who this crazy woman was having lunch with me, and what had she done with my mother.

“Ym telling you that I expect you to find a wife who will have your children.”

Oh, there she was. I let out a heavy breath. “You want me to start dating more?”

“I want you to date with the intention of finding a wife.”

I started to laugh, but Mother's expression shut me down.

“Ym serious Christopher. I'll be gone for a while; you should be able to find someone within that time frame.”

I stared at her.

A knock on my door pulled my attention away from the insanity my mother was talking about.

Valerie waddled in with an armful of file folders. “Sorry to interrupt, I've got the resumes of the candidates. HR wanted you t review these and get back to them this afternoon.”

Valerie wasn't sorry to interrupt at all. She knew what she was doing. I stood and took the files from her. I thanked her with nod.

“I have a busy afternoon Mother. Have a wonderful trip in Italy”

Getting her out of my office was not quite as simple as telling her I had work, time to leave. But it helped.

She stopped at my office door and turned to look at me one last time. “A wife Christopher, I expect a wife.”