Page 4 of Where We Fall

I glance down at my watch. I have ten minutes to get to work on time. I throw my unused mug in the sink.

I guess I'll just get some coffee at the office.

I have a morning meeting with my siblings, so I drive a little more aggressively through traffic and pull into the parking lot with one minute to spare.

I'll drop my things off in the meeting room and tell them I need to grab a cup of coffee first. They'll just have to deal with it. I refuse to sit through that meeting without some caffeine pumping through me.

I walk through the impressive wooden doors of our office. Sometimes I still can't believe we made it this far. My siblings and I started a wine distribution company six years ago, and today, it's a multimillion-dollar business that keeps growing by the day.

If someone told me this would be my life ten years ago, I would've laughed in their face. Things don't always work out the way you think they will. I thought I'd be a professional athlete until I tore my rotator cuff, and my dreams of being a pitcher in the MLB were over.

I turn the corner and head into the meeting room where my siblings are seated along with our IT Director. I wasn't aware that she would be a part of this meeting. The four of us rarely need to meet with her together, it isn't an efficient use of our time. That's basically our entire company, aside from Savannah.

The room is quiet as I enter.

What the hell is going on?

"Hi, guys. Sorry, I'm a bit late. My coffee machine went haywire this morning. I finally had to give up and go without."

"Not a problem. If you want to take a seat, we have something we need to discuss," Gabe, my eldest brother says with a grim.

I sit in the chair across from him, my sister Mia next to me, Luke on the right of Gabe, and Lexi on the left of him. All of a sudden, the idea of asking to get a cup of coffee first seems like a bad idea.

"What's going on?" I question. "Is everything alright?"

I see my siblings exchange a look, one that doesn't bode well for me.

"We have a situation," Mia starts. Whenever they want to soften the blow of bad news, they make Mia do it. I adjust myself in my seat as I prepare myself for her words. "William Hansley is considering not renewing his contract with us at the end of the year."

Now that gets my attention. Mr. Hansley is our largest client. He makes up nearly ten percent of our annual revenue. Losing him would be a huge loss to the company.

"Are you serious? Why would he be considering not renewing? We bend over backwards to make sure he gets everything he wants."

"You," Luke replies.

"What about me?"

"He is considering not renewing because of you."

"Me! What the hell did I do?"

Mia sighs. "Apparently on one of your trips to Chicago, you slept with his daughter's best friend. I think he said her name was Maggie." She shakes her head as if it's beside the point. "Either way, you never called her back even though you promised you would. He said he doesn't like to do business with people who don't share the same values as he does. He thinks your…lifestyle can tarnish his reputation if anyone finds out he does business with someone like you.

My body releases fire into my veins. Who does this man think he is? Thinking he has me figured out by a one-chance encounter with his daughter's friend.

"Is he for real? It's 2023; we do business with all kinds of people with different views and opinions. Why does my sex life matter to him? And for the record, Inevertold her I would call her. I don't make promises I don't intend on keeping."

"You know how some of these men are. Their values are old school and they worry about their image," Gabe says.

"Whatever. It's not an excuse to act like I'm some scumbag he can't fathom doing business with."

"I agree. He's being a bit ridiculous," Gabe continues. "But you do also tend to get into trouble on your business trips. I've had to warn you plenty of times to keep it in your pants on your many trips to Italy."

I don't understand what the big deal is. I'm thirty and single. So, I have some occasional fun on business trips. They're acting like it's all the time, like I'm some man whore, and I'm absolutely not.

"You're exaggerating, and it's kind of pissing me off. I've taken like fifty trips to Italy, and I've slept with two women when I was there."

"Well, then I guess it's your choice of women because those two women were clients' daughters. You're lucky they know how to keep their mouths shut."

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