Page 5 of Sin Wagon
I gotin late last night and since today is Sunday, I’ve spent the day unpacking and getting ready to be back in the office tomorrow. I work from home, so it’s not like I have to go far, but I still always have to play catch-up after my trips to Vegas. Someday, maybe I’ll have a regional manager to oversee the Vegas clubs, but I just haven’t found someone to trust with that much responsibility yet.
My clubs here in Chicago are where I spend the majority of my time and energy. I only expanded to Las Vegas last year with two clubs, but if I open a third club out there, one weekend a month won’t cut it. I’m also looking at opening clubs in Florida and Texas; my developer and business manager are checking the market in each area to see which would be the better first move.
I sit at my desk, focused on the stack of paperwork in front of me. My fingers tap rhythmically on the keyboard as I review the latest financial reports for my clubs and bars.
The buzz interrupts my thoughts, pulling my attention away from the numbers and spreadsheets sprawled across my desk. I glance at the screen, startled, and see a notification.
I get excited thinking it’s Opal, but when I look at it, disappointment fills me. It was just my calendar, alerting me that family dinner is in thirty minutes. I drop the papers I’m holding on to my desk and walk to the front door to slide my shoes on. The drive to my parents’ is only ten minutes, give ortake, depending on traffic. If I’m late, my mom will have my ass, so I always try to arrive early if I can. On my way, I use Bluetooth to shoot another text to Opal.
Getting to my parents, I knock twice before pushing the door open. Stepping inside, I call out. “I’m here!”
“In the kitchen, baby!” my mom hollers from the back of the house. I smile, knowing she’s there cooking her little heart out for tonight. That’s one thing I’ve always adored about my mom. No matter how much money we had after she married Roy, she insisted she make all the meals. Three meals a day, even during the school year, she packed lunches for Jonas and me.
“Hi, Mom,” I greet as I wrap my arms around her from behind and kiss her cheek. She’s at the stove stirring what looks like a homemade spaghetti sauce.
“How was your trip?”
“Uneventful, thankfully. Everything is running as it should, so it was an easy in and out. I’m glad to be home. Vegas is fun for a short trip, but I enjoy the quieter big city life here.” I snag a noodle from the pot over her shoulder and slurp it into my mouth as she bats at me with her wooden spoon.
“Good. Now get out of my kitchen ‘til I call you. Your dad and brother are in the den watching the game.”
“Love you, Mom,” I call over my shoulder as I head in that direction.
“Okay,so tell me how your date went. Or I should say, the first step in your corporate merger.” I stab a meatball on my plate as I sit at the dinner table with my family.
“It was rough at first, but she remembers how good we used to be, so she agreed to a make up date,” Jonas tells me.
“What do you mean, how good you used to be? And why do you need a makeup?”
“Well, she was at the restaurant waiting for me already, since I was running a bit late.”
“Oh, that’s a great first impression Jonas, Christ,” I interrupt him.
“Okay, not my best look. So I get there and head to the table she’s sitting at and when she sees me she stands up, totally shocked when I tell her I’m her date. We dated a little when I was in my early twenties. She wanted more than me at the time and I broke it off. She moved to Vermont after and I haven’t seen her since. Anyway, I get there and she slaps me. Hard, Wells. Mom put concealer on me to cover some of the fingerprints.”
I chuckle because he deserves a lot more than a slap. I can’t believe that’s all she gave him. How do you go on a ‘blind date’ with someone you dumped years ago and expect it to go well?
“Then she stormed from the table, straight out to the street, but I followed her, begging her to hear me out and gave her the gift I bought. I knew I was meeting her, so I came prepared with a pair of three carat diamond earrings. She loved them, of course. So I asked her to let me take her out the right way and she agreed. I’m taking her to the theater tomorrow night after work.” Jonas looks proud as a peacock that this is looking good so far for him.
“And do you really want to try with her, Jonas, or is this just a business deal?” I ask. “She’s a human with feelings. So if this is just you and Dad wanting to merge companies, we’ll find another way.” I swear, if he tells me it’s purely business, I’ll call this woman right now myself and tell her the whole fucking thing.
“It’s both, and she knows that. She’s not going into this totally blind. When we dated before, we were amazing together until she wasn’t. She was and still is a smoke show, but she’s so uptight and condescending sometimes. I didn’t think I could do that for the rest of my life, but we’re older and I’ve thought of her from time to time. Maybe she’s the one who got away.” He takes a sip from his wineglass and I can tell by his tone and the slight glimmer in his eyes he’s being honest.
“Okay, but a woman scorned like that doesn’t forget or forgive easily. So tread lightly,” I warn him, dabbing my mouth with a napkin.
We eat the rest of our meal, just making small talk and discussing the next family vacation we plan to take in the spring. My mother, as usual, turns the conversation to her favorite topic—when she’ll get grandbabies.
“Mom, in order to give you a grandbaby, I have to find a woman worth settling down with.” I roll my eyes at her and she leans over, smacking me with her napkin.
“Wells Covington, there are plenty of good women out there. You just have these unreachable standards you think your girl should meet. Roy, I’m sure knows a nice girl your age he could introduce you to.”
“Absolutely not. I’m focusing on business. We just expanded to Nevada and we’re debating between Texas and Florida. Now is not the time for a long-term relationship or a child,” I tell them forcefully.
Little do they know, I think I met her back in Las Vegas and she is indeed a girl. About half my age and won’t return any of my texts. I’ve given up on trying already. I’ve moved on to more drastic plans; I’m going to see if she’s at Hidden Gems next month when I visit, and if she is, we’ll call it fate.
Chapter 4
DELILAH
