Page 29 of Her Billionaire Boss
She was holding her phone flat in one hand; all I could see of her was from the nose up.
“You have to angle the...”I gave up.“Hi, Dad.”
“Hey, Sport!”He gave a two fingered wave off the top of the steering wheel.Somehow, Mom could manage to get a whole person in the frame, as long as that person was not herself.
“We wanted to check up on you at your new job.I called your office, but I kept getting some man.”
“That’s my assistant, Marshall.You can leave messages with him.Or speak, even.”
Mom made a noise of frustration.“I was thrown.I panicked and hung up.I was having a moment.”
“You were having an elderly moment,” I joked.
She ignored me.“Are you all settled in, then?You’re staying with Matt?”
“I’m staying with Matt,” I confirmed.“Awesome apartment, awesome job, everything is awesome.”
“You know you don’t have to stay in New York if you don’t want to be there,” Dad said.He had a habit of trying to support me by encouraging me not to try.At least, that’s what my therapist said.I was seeing her twice a week.
“Thanks.But I’m happy.And I’m in love.I think Matt is the one.”
“I can’t believe you never told us.”Mom had said this several times over our calls, and she didn’t seem likely to let it go soon.“You were dating him that whole time, and you never told us.”
“You know now.”I desperately wished I had worked out some kind of signal to Marshall, so he could interrupt me when a phone conversation got uncomfortable.At the same time, I missed my parents so much that I didn’t want the call to end.I wanted to talk about something else.
“What are you doing for fun in the city?”Dad asked.“Seeing all the sights?”
“I’m always with actual New Yorkers and they don’t really see the sights.”Maybe that was something I could force Matt to do.We could go out and see things in the city neither of us had experienced before.Then, when my parents inevitably came to visit, I could show them around.
There was the homesickness again.But not for the guest house, or California in general.I wanted to see my parents in person.
“Don’t miss the museums.”Dad shook a finger at the screen.“You’re living on an island stacked with rich cultural treasures.It would be a shame to miss out on them because your friends are too cool.”
Mom flipped the camera back to herself but addressed him.“Honey, I’m sure her friends aren’t that cool.Matt is friends with Scott, for god’s sake.”
“Wow.”I rubbed my temples.“Look, I’m gonna go, but...think about coming out here.”
What?What the fuck was I saying?
“Oh?”Mom’s eyebrows rose above the rims of her sunglasses.“For a visit?”
“Sure.I bet Scott would like to see you.He can come up from Boston.And we can go to those museums together, Dad.”Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking right now!“You could stay with us.We have the room.”
Stay with us?Stay in Matt’s apartment with us?When we’ve had sex in practically every room.
“Or we could put you all up in a nice hotel.We have the money.”I laughed loudly and nervously.“And the hotels.”
“What a great idea.”Mom’s intonation was a judge’s gavel falling.I’d sentenced myself.“We’ll see what we can do.You think of some good dates for a visit, and we can coordinate with Scott.This will be fun!”
“We haven’t taken a family vacation since…” Dad’s voice went tight.“The cruise.”
“Ha ha, yeah.The cruise.”The less we reminisced about sexcapades at sea, the better.“Well, I have to go.Busy day and all.”
“We won’t keep you,” Mom said, blowing me a little kiss.“And I’ll call you on your cell phone next time.So I don’t bother your assistant.”
“That’s literally what he’s there for,” I said, but it was too late.Mom had already begun conferring with Dad as to how to end the call, and they blooped off my screen.
Fuuuuuuuck.What had I done?
