Page 100 of Her Billionaire Boss
“And I’ll tell her as soon as it is.I didn’t want to tell her my big idea and have her think it was all talk.I had no idea how quickly this could be accomplished.I’d imagined years and years of these kinds of meetings, real estate hassles, clearances—”
“It will be at least one year before everything is running,” Catherine interjected.“Don’t get too far ahead of yourself.I know how impatient you are.”
“Thanks, your approval means a lot,” I muttered.“For what it’s worth, Scott has changed you, too.”
“Oh, I’m aware.”She didn’t sound thrilled about it.“I’ve learned what limited closet space is.What it’s like to eat at restaurants that have prices on the menu.”
“You’re truly impoverished.”I rolled my eyes at her.
“I’m not going to be baited into a discussion about poverty and financial hardship,” she said firmly.“Obviously, I’m aware of my immense privilege, even if it doesn’t come with a yacht.But I’m glad you see me as a changed person.”
“Not entirely changed,” I amended.
She ignored me again.“What you’re doing here is amazing.I want you to know that I mean that, despite how my face generally presents itself and how my tone sounds.I would have never imagined that you’d want to do something like this.”
“You’ve been involved in charity stuff for years,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t say I couldn’t imagine anyone else wanting to do it.Unfortunately, those who have the means to create a project of this scale often won’t, and those who don’t have the means are the ones who most want to do it.I never thoughtyou’ddo it.And if I had, I would have assumed your cause would be something superficially about climate change.”
“Hey, I put my money where my mouth is on that one,” I argued.
She shook her head.“You tell yourself that you do.But do you think not having a private jet is enough to keep the polar ice caps from melting?If they haven’t already.”
“They’re close.”
She tapped one of the many manilla folders on the desk.“But this is real.This is actual change.And you’re doing it without selling seats at a dinner for ten thousand a head when the person buying the plate is worth twenty billion.I’m trying to say that I admire you, Matthew.”
If anything could stun me into silence, it would be my sister expressing anything other than abject hatred for me.
“What happened to us, Catherine?”I mused.
With the change of subject came a change in Catherine.Her spine stiffened, her chin lifted, and there was none of the faint warmth that she’d displayed seconds ago.
“We didn’t have a falling out,” I went on.“We used to like each other.We would play and—”
“Exactly.When we were children, we would play.It was when we started maturing that things went wrong.”She walked to the window and pushed aside one heavy drape; her office was like a first-class suite on the Titanic, with all the dark wood and antique sensibility.She gazed out at the serene East Side street as she spoke.“It was the disparate expectations that made me loathe you.”
“Can you be more specific?”I knew she’d thought that our parents had expected less from her due to her gender, but I failed to understand why that would bother her.I’d been constantly prepped to take over the family business one day, while she’d largely escaped that pressure.
“When we were children, we got praised for the same things.‘You’re such a good rider.’‘You do so well in school.’‘Your backswing is exceptional.’When we became teenagers, though, it all changed for me.It became, ‘ladies don’t smell like the stables,’ and ‘no one likes a know-it-all,’ and ‘be sure your husband never knows you’re better than him.’All of the accomplishments I thought I was supposed to achieve, things I had been working to perfect, suddenly those were all bad things I should have never learned.Mother even thought I should stop riding because it might affect my hymen and no one in society wanted a girl who wasn’t a virgin.”
I made a face of utter disgust.“That woman thinks some of the weirdest—”
“It’s not just her.It’s how everyone in my social circle was treated.Meanwhile, you...”She turned back to me and gestured up and down my body as if displaying a prize on a game show.“You didn’t smell like the stable.You worked up a healthy sweat.You weren’t a know-it-all, you were confident.And you certainly never had to worry about safeguarding your precious virginity.”
“If anything, the pressure was on to be rid of it.”I’d known, not to the full extent, that Catherine had always had a problem being the “girl” of the family.I’d never thought about how insufferable the position could be.“I’m sorry that happened.And I’m sorry I didn’t notice it happening.None of that was right or fair.”
“I suppose it wasn’t right or fair for me to blame you.You weren’t making anyone treat me that way.You certainly didn’t have the power to stop them.”
“I didn’t have the understanding, anyway.”I could cop to that.The other stuff might not have been my fault, but not noticing or thinking about the pain my sister was in and assuming she was a huge bitch for no reason?That was inexcusable.
“I wish things could have been different.”I meant that, deeply.“So that we didn’t have to grow apart the way we did.”
“Me too.”She cleared her throat.I’d already seen her cry once recently.She wasn’t going to let it happen a second time.We may have been in the process of making up, but Catherine would always be Catherine, and some of her quirks and boundaries would stay the same.
“So,” she began again with a fresh start.“Let’s get the notary in here and get all this paperwork squared away.Starting with the closing documents.”
* * * *
