Page 41 of Business or Pleasure

Over bacon and eggs, Brigh convinced me to take in a few sights with her, places she said she didn’t feel comfortable going alone. I didn’t really mind, but at lunch, I saw that my parents had called three times already that morning. Brigh wanted to go shopping, but I told her that I needed to call my parents before it was too late back home. I managed to avoid talking to them since I left Scotland, but it needed to be done.

Now, I sat at the desk in my room and steeled myself for a conversation I wouldn’t enjoy.

I dialed my father’s number and tried not to make any assumptions about why they were trying to reach me so many times today. If it was a true emergency, they would have left me a message.

“Baylen, I was beginning to wonder if you’d call before it was too late here. The time difference and all.”

I could hear the reprimand.

“My first time in Seattle,” I said evenly. “There’s a lot to see.”

“You’ve been there for two weeks.” Mum didn’t bother with a greeting. “Surely there isn’t that much to see there.”

One of the things I learned when it came to keeping things from my family was to offer as much truth as possible, changing only what was absolutely necessary. Which, in this instance, meant that they knew I came to Seattle to see my friend from university and to forget Angie. They didn’t know why I chose to visit Alec at this point in time or that Brigh had come with me.

They didn’t approve of the McCraes having left Scotland for America or that Alec had moved the MIRI headquarters to Seattle, but at least they were in the right social circles. And anything that took me away from Angie was good.

Now, I'm worried they learned that Brigh was with me. They would either conclude that I was here for business reasons, or they would think that I was dating my assistant. The latter would earn me a lecture about inappropriateness and discretion. The former would be worse since they would know that I wasn’t following their orders of dropping the brassiere business.

“I’ve never been to America before,” I reminded her. “There’s more to see than just the city of Seattle.”

Mum made an inelegant sound that encompassed everything she thought about the US, none of it good.

“Have you been to see your friend’s company?” Da asked. “Perhaps you could learn something about business.”

I clenched my teeth and swallowed a sigh. I supposed I should have anticipated that comment. “Alec showed me around MIRI. He’s doing great work here.”

“His father must be proud,” Da said.

I tried to ignore the implication of his statement, that the reverse was true for how he felt about me.

The pressure I had been able to set aside this trip immediately returned, feeling heavier and more suffocating than it ever had. All the enjoyment I experienced while spending time with Harlee and with Alec disappeared.

“When did you say you were comin’ home?” Mum asked.

“I didn’t,” I said.

“Is this really the responsible thing to do?” Da’s tone said exactly what his answer to the question would be. “Especially after what happened with Angie?”

I closed my eyes and counted to five. “I’m handling my business, Da.”

“You need to consider the optics for the family,” Mum said. “Especially with the embarrassment of Angie running off with that other man.”

I wanted to snap that I was sorry her cheating on me and dumping me had embarrassed the family, but I pushed back the words.

“Being the face of a cause means you have a responsibility to more than just our family name,” Da reminded me.

As if I needed to be reminded. As if it wasn’t drilled into my head from childhood that whatever causes we championed would reflect on our family as much as anything else.

Maybe I could extend my trip a little if I looked into expanding one of the family causes using MIRI. I let my mind drift toward the idea of what I could do with some additional time here. Specifically, what I could do with extra time with Harlee. Even once MIRI was finished with my account I would have a reason to stay.

In the back of my head, I knew that was foolish thinking. Once I had a new marketing plan in place, the wise thing to do would be to return home to implement it, ensuring that everything else was working as planned. Staying here indefinitely was not the responsible thing to do.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about Harlee.

She was still on my mind when my parents released me from the call. Before I could convince myself that I should just walk away, I placed another call.

“Baylen?”

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