Chapter 5 : Don't Fall In Love

Lucas’ POV

“Phone for you, sir.” Ethan said, entering my home office holding a cellphone.

“Who is it?” I asked, deep into an article I was reading about energy resources in Peru.

“Your father, sir.” He said, making an annoyed face at me.

“Thank you, Ethan.” I said, taking the phone from him and waving him out of the room.

“Father, how are you?” I said, raising the phone to my ear.

“I’ve got a deal in San Francisco that I need you on.” He said, ignoring my question.

“What’s it for?” I sighed, not wanting to be bothered.

“Don’t worry about that. Just be ready to leave today.” He said coldly.

“Today? I can’t just stop and fly to San Francisco.” I said, annoyed. “I’ve got meetings and work to do!”

“One more thing.” My father said, ignoring me again. “I’ll be joining you. I’ll brief you once we’re together.”

“I’m sorry, father.” I said, putting my foot down. “You’ll have to go without me. I’m staying in New York.”

“Too late.” My father said, chuckling. “I’m in the jet now. We’ll be landing in the next twenty minutes. Pack your bags and be at the landing in an hour.”

He hung up the phone. I rubbed my eyes in frustration.

“Damn it!” I said, throwing the phone at the wall.

The air was cold when I got on the plane with my father. We said our formal hellos and didn’t speak a word more. I had no intentions of changing that either.

After about an hour of silence together, my father received a phone call.

“Excuse me.” He said, standing and going to the back of the jet to take the call.

I used this opportunity to call Luna. She picked up after two rings.

“Hello.” She said, sounding confused.

“Hi.” I said, instantly smiling. “How are you?”

“Mr. Bradford?” She asked, still puzzled. “How’d you get my phone number?”

“Whoops.” I said, realizing I’d done a creepy guy thing. “My assistant Ethan retrieved it from the institute. I hope that’s okay.”

“I guess.” She said, sweetly. “You’re not going to start stalking me, are you?”

I laughed and shook my head.

“God no.” I teased. “I haven’t got the time for stalking.”

“Thank goodness you’re busy.” She laughed. “I guess I got lucky.”

I chuckled. Hearing her voice made my skin dance.

“How are you?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

“Doing well.” She said, “I’m headed to work now for my first class.”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” I said, nervously. “I’m not going to be able to make our next couple of classes.”

“Oh.” She said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “It’s just this project my father needs me on. Nothing important, I should be back after the weekend.”

“Okay.” She said, “Let me know if anything changes.”

“Will do.” I said, hanging up.

“Was that your flavor of the week?” My father asked, returning to his seat across from me.

He sipped on Brandy and thumbed through a folder of notes. I rolled my eyes and chose not to answer, placing my phone inside my inner jacket pocket. Responding would only egg him on.

“What’s that I heard you say about a class?” My father said, taking another sip as he eyed me.

“Spanish.” I said, hesitating to tell him.

“What the hell for?” He mocked.

“For some business I have coming up in Peru.”

My father snickered but said nothing. That was almost worse than a response. Why did he have to doubt everything I was doing?

“I know you don’t want to hear it,” He finally spoke after a few seconds of silence. “But you’re making a mistake chasing down this renewable energy fad.”

“Father, please. Not now.” I groaned.

He was right. It was the last thing I wanted to hear. He shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of a nearly empty glass.

“I don’t say these things to piss you off.” He said, without making eye contact. “I just want you to be careful. When this company is yours, you’ll need to be smart. Not everyone is your friend.”

That was probably one of the most genuine things he had ever said to me. I thought it over for a second and nodded.

“I know that.” I said, kindly. “I just want you to trust me more.”

“We’ll see.” He grunted. I rolled my eyes.

“How’s mum?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, she’s fine.” My father said, crossing one leg over the other. “She worries about you.”

“There’s no need for her to worry.” I said, shifting in my seat. “I’m a grown man.”

“Right.” My father said sarcastically. He chuckled to himself.

I shook my head frustrated. It didn’t seem like he was ever going to get it.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to call her more.” He said, still advocating for my mother.

“Has she said something?” I asked, now concerned about her.

“She doesn’t have to.” He said.

I felt guilty instantly. I had no idea when was the last time I called my mother. I nodded in obedience.

“So,” I said, changing the subject. “What’s this meeting in San Francisco about?”

“A potential merger.” My father said, somewhat cryptically.

“Merger?” I said with raised curiosity. “With who?”

“That information is privileged, for now.” He said, snapping his fingers at a close by server and raising his glass to signal a refill. A server came over immediately and retrieved his glass. Within seconds he was back with a full glass of brandy. He set it in front of my father on a tray and swiftly walked away.

“Father, what’s going on?” I asked with even more suspicion. “You fly to the states on a whim and force me to accompany you on this secret meeting, but I can’t even know who the company is?”

“Can you blame me?” My father snapped. “Everything I do in this company, you criticize.”

“Me?!” I said, flabbergasted that he could even form his lips to say that. “You’re a complete hypocrite! All you ever do is criticize me.”

“Because you’re so stubborn!” My father said, getting more flustered. “You think your way is better just because it’s new.”

“Not because it’s new, but because it’s more efficient!” I argued. “You can’t accept that your energy sources are outdated and becoming less valuable every year.”

We stared at each other for a while, both seeping with righteous anger. Out of nowhere my father begins to chuckle. It started quiet and then turned into a loud and boisterous laugh. I laughed a little too. We were just like each other.

“If I don’t say it enough, I’m proud of you, son.” My father said, exposing a grin.

“Thank you.” I nodded. “Now can you please tell me what this meeting is all about? I promise not to criticize.”

“Alright, fine.” My father said, sitting up straight. “I’m doing a small merger with a company called Power Core in San Francisco. They specialize in solar energy.”

“Solar?” I said, surprised. “Father, you realize solar is technically renewable energy, right?”

“Don’t go rubbing my nose in this.” My father sneered. “I’m doing this for you.”

“Me?” I asked, confused.

“Well sure.” He said. “It’s a small company. But they’re making great strides. I figured they could serve as a department in the company, a very small department, but a department no less. It will be enough for you to continue your research, with the company’s supervision.”

“So it’s a way to keep tabs on me.” I said, disappointed.

“No, no!” My father assured me. “It’s a promotion. I want you to head the department. Officially.”

I couldn’t believe it. My father was essentially buying me a company to help with my hunt for renewable energy. Maybe he cared more than I realized.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” I said, still speechless.

“Don’t bother.” My father said, reaching for his brandy on the tray in front of him. “This will be a good thing for everyone.”

I nodded with gratitude.

“Thank you.” I said.

“You’re my son.” He said, never once returning to meet my eyes.

We landed in San Francisco around four-thirty in the afternoon. We were both exhausted. We shared a town car to our hotel. It was a luxury hotel about a mile from Power Core. We checked in and parted ways at the elevator.

I checked my phone and realized I had a missed call from Luna’s number. I quickly called her back, eager to know what she needed from me.

“Hi, Mr. Bradford. I’m so sorry to bother.” She said politely.

“You could never bother me.” I said, stepping into an elevator.

“I want to apologize in advance.” She said. “What I’m about to ask isn’t very appropriate, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Of course!” I said, “What’s the matter?”

“It’s my friend, Maria.” She said nervously. “She told me her insurance is going to drop her if she can’t prove that she wasn’t at fault for the accident the other day.”

“Oh, my god.” I said, feeling guilty. I had completely forgotten to ask Ethan to handle it.

“Would you mind calling them like you promised?” She asked humbly. “She needs her car, and if they drop her, I doubt another company will take her.”

“Of course.” I assured as I arrived to my floor. “I’ll make this right, I promise.”

“Thank you so much.” She said, relieved.

It felt good to be her hero. I wanted so badly to fix this problem for her.

“I’m happy to do it.” I said.

She laughed bashfully. I liked hearing her laugh.

“What do you have planned Monday night?” I asked boldly.

“Not much.” She said. “I’ll probably just go home after work.”

“Perhaps we can meet for an evening study session.” I said.

She was quiet for a spell. She was contemplating something and I wondered what it was.

“What time?” She said after a long silence.

“How’s seven o’clock?” I asked. “We can meet at my place.”

“Your place? Mr Bradford, I think that is a bit too personal for me.” She was absolutely right, and it threw me off guard.

“No, no, please don’t get me wrong. I am arriving a bit earlier than that and if I had to get home and prepare myself to leave it would be too late for us to meet. And I already missed too much time. My assistant will be there as well, it is not a romantic date, I promise.” I said the last part, already regretting it, but it was too soon to make it a romantic dinner.

“Alright.” She said, giving in. “My one rule is you have to promise not to fall madly in love with me.”

I laughed a little and my heart pulsed a little faster in my chest.

“I’ll do the best I can.” I joked.

“Good.” She said, hanging up.

I let myself into my hotel room. I immediately called the front desk and ordered four extra pillows. It was a ritual of mine that I’d been doing since I was a kid. I wanted to feel like I was sleeping in a cloud.

I plopped my suitcase onto the bed and pulled out my toothbrush. I went over to the restroom and ran it under the faucet with a spot of toothpaste and started brushing. Luna popped into my head.

My eyes danced across her body in my mind. I could imagine every part of her. She was magical. I couldn’t keep myself from thinking about her. Her eyes, her lips, her waist. I wanted to know it all. Every inch of her.