Two Years Later...A knock on the door sounded, and I looked up from the documents on top of my desk to the office door.“Come in,” I called.Mrs. Cove, a woman in her mid-forties with her brunette hair pulled back in a severe bun and dressed in a skirt suit, walked in. She was currently acting as my secretary at the company.“Sir, your meeting with the department heads is in half an hour. Should I go and make preparations now?”“What room are we meeting in?”“The third conference room on this floor, sir.”I nodded slowly. “Thank you, Mrs. Cove. And yes, please start the preparations, I’ll be done before the meeting.”“Of course, sir,” she said.With a short, bowing nod, she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her. I frowned down at the documents in front of me, wondering if I could finish this before the meeting, or if I could postpone it until afterward.I glanced at my phone beside my computer keyboard and picked it up. I unlocked the screen and paused for a second, b

It was the weekend. Since I’d petty much given up my previous, carefree life, I sometimes worked on Saturdays for half the day and took Sunday off. I didn’t go into the office when there wasn’t work for me to do there, but it was a big company that was still growing, so there was still plenty of research I did during my free time into the company’s future.On one such weekend, I was sitting in my home office, working on my computer, when I got a call from Dad. I only hesitated a little before answering it. If this was before, I might have even thought of ignoring the call, but those days were over.I couldn’t say Dad and I were closer than before, but at least, we didn’t go through moments of pretending the other didn’t exist.“Hello, Dad?”“Jake,” he said, voice deep and calm. “Do you have any plans this weekend?”I stared at my computer screen. I had my browser opened and was looking through a few pages. I was only in the research stage so far, so there wasn’t any hurry.“I’m free,

Two days flew by quickly. I’d taken Dad’s advice to heart and gone around sightseeing my first two days in New York, but the talk day arrived quickly.Dad wanted me to be with him when he went to the school. I found myself wondering if it was for moral support or something. I’d always stayed in Cali, or when I strayed, at least stuck close, even when it came to school. I didn’t see much reason in me showing up at the school when I wasn’t an alumnus, but maybe it was hard for him going there? Especially since we’d all been there for my brother’s graduation, and Dad even gave a speech on that day.As far as I knew, it was the last time he’d been by.I figured I’d feel out of place, but under the impression that it would help Dad bear it easier, I decided I wouldn’t fight him on this.Ever since I lost my brother, I’d become more understanding toward my parents. Thinking of things from their point of view instead of staying a selfish brat that wouldn’t even listen to his parents’ words.

I meant it when I told Klara I couldn’t wait. All those times I wanted to see her, now that she was in front of me, all I could think about was the night we spent together and how much I wanted to have her again.When we walked into the bar, I’d taken a glance around the place, an old habit that I hadn't been able to kill from my wild partying days. After paying for our meal and drinks, no one so much as blinked at us as I rose with Klara’s hand in mine, and tugged her toward the back of the bar.There was a discreet door, half-hidden behind a corner. Some signs pointed the bathrooms were in that direction. Instead of going through that hallway, I pushed the door, and it opened. We found ourselves in an alley, and I closed the door behind us, feeling satisfied.We went down a little in the alley, just in case, someone came out of the bar. We’d spent more time in the bar than I thought, and it was already dark outside. Little light got into the alley, but that worked more to my advanta

Meeting Klara had been a pleasant surprise, and I wasn’t ready for it to be over so quickly. After we spent the night at my hotel, she had to go back home. But, this time I had more information about her, and more importantly, I had her phone number.Klara and I spent a lot of time together. She still had classes at the school, so I had to be patient at times, but when I wasn’t in the hotel room, I was out somewhere waiting for her to be done so we could meet up.I wasn’t sure if Dad knew something was up, but on the day we were supposed to go home, I woke to a text, asking me to meet up in the hotel’s café.Thankfully, Klara wasn’t with me when it happened. I showered quickly and got dressed, then went down to meet Dad.We sat together silently, only speaking up to order the food. Up until our breakfast arrived, neither of us spoke. Dad was the first to break the silence in the middle of the meal.“I’ll be heading back this afternoon,” he said. “You didn’t let me know about your plan