Page 6 of One Bossy Date

“My work is still in Chile, and I need to get back to it.”

With a sigh, my mom rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yes, yes. You’ve made that abundantly clear. You sound like a broken record. Honestly, son, I’m starting to wonder if you’re any different to Daxton right now.”

“What on earth do you mean by that?” I tried to keep the irritation out of my voice.

She took a sip of the coffee Caroline had brought her, after stirring in one cube of sugar. “Well, he’s never been able to stay in one place. His loyalty to the family company has been questionable, to say the least.”

“I was here with Dad from the day I finished college until the day I decided to start my own company in South America. That’s hardly the same as Dax. He’s started a new job practically every year, sometimes two or three in one year alone.” It wasn’t my intention to throw Dax under the bus. Mom knew the facts, she knew her younger son, and I was tired of being in the middle of it.

“Oh, honey, he’s just finding himself.” Avoiding my direct gaze now, my mom made her usual excuse for Dax. He was her baby boy after all. “Don’t be so hard on him. At least he’s not the one leaving.”

“Well, he’s been finding himself for what, ten years now? He’s twenty-eight. It’s time. I can’t be expected to run this company alone, especially if it’s from a different country. And since ‘he’s not the one leaving,’ I think you need to have a serious talk with him about his future.”

“I’ll do that. But right now, I’m having a talk withyou.”

My chest heaved with a frustrated sigh. “Yes. And you’re not going to change my mind. My heart belongs back there. It’s where my work means something, where I feel like I can make a difference.”

“You make differences here in the cityevery day.” Her shoulders lifted to emphasize her words.

“I’m certainly trying to. That’s why I need this meeting with Humphries.”

“I still don’t think they’ll go for your idea, though. There’s a reason why no one invests in ‘green construction.’” There was a challenge in her voice. She hooked her fingers while she said the last words—as if the concept was completely fabricated.

“Well, it’s a good thing I’ve never been a mainstream kinda guy, Mom. I pride myself in being the first to implement changes in the industry.”

“Like you did in Chile?”

“Yes.” When I’d spotted my opportunity five years ago, I’d started my own construction firm in Chile and implemented all the ecological methods I possibly could. It had started as a trial run, a research opportunity, but had morphed into a successful company.

“Yet no one here has heard a thing about these new construction methods.”

“Different places, different cultures, different governments. It’ll take a different approach to get them implemented here in New York.”

She sighed with a defeated, sidelong glance. “When is the meeting, anyway?”

“Mid-December.”

“What? Mid-December? That’s in overtwomonths. Come now, Anders…this seems a sure sign that he’s not all that interested.”

The CEO of Humphries Properties was the husband of one of my mother’s friends, Helen Humphries. They weren’t that close, but my mom had met them on numerous occasions and had befriended Helen when her husband had been busy shaking important hands.

I suspected that Henry was an open-minded man, due to his thriving company, and I had a lot more faith in his business intelligence than my mother clearly had.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing…” Mom trailed off, shaking her head. “Over two months?” She phrased it as a question, but it was more of a dramatic, repeated statement of fact. “Just before Christmas?”

“It’s not unusual. He’s the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company, and either way, it would be difficult to get a meeting with him. Also, it’s not like Windham Construction would be a top priority for him. Dad didn’t leave the company with the best reputation.” She waved my statement away with one dismissive hand. “At least I got a foot in the door, and it gives me enough time to prepare the presentation.”

She took another sip of her coffee. “He won’t be happy that you’re leaving at the end of the year.”

Trying to hold back the tension boiling within, I spoke slowly and calmly. “Mother, stop reflecting your opinions onto him. If he likes the idea, he won’t care who’s in charge over here.”

While not entirely happy with my conclusive tone, my mother nonetheless accepted the conversation as done.

She kissed my cheek before heading to her own office.

Iran my hands over my face, trying to clear my mind of family feuds before getting back into the long list of untouched emails in my inbox.

My life in Chile had been good, even if not as luxurious as here in Manhattan. While there, I was a free man, making all my own decisions without being second-guessed and questioned by anybody. I enjoyed how hands-on the work was—even though I was the CEO—it wasn’t frowned upon for me to get involved in the actual construction process of each building. I liked to walk the sites and see stones grow, stage by stage, into hospitals and schools for the smaller communities.

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