Grumpy Boss

Chapter Nine Kent

I sighed as I headed out of the office for the day. I’d spent the last three hours listening to women and men sing that couldn’t match the voice that Gail’s friend had, no way! The problem was, I couldn’t hire her. She was too innocent, she’d cried and run out of my office like a child when I told her to go. The truth was, she’d been crying before she even started to sing and, bastard that I was, the only thing that was on my mind was pulling off the white strings that she had wrapped around her body and giving her a vision of my love on my desk.

Then it occurred to me that that I didn’t have to work with her. I just needed to make sure she got to the venue and sang. That put a smile on my face until I got to the limo.

I didn’t expect to get in the limo to go home and find my sister sitting in the back seat. That erased the smile.

When did she get here?

Why is she here?

Then, again I knew the reason to the latter question which annoyed me even more.

“Brother…,” she purred as I sat down, and Steven slammed the door shut. He was a new driver. The one that filled in for Dot, whenever she had a night off or had an issue with her family, which wasn’t very often. Either way, he’d been working for me for only two weeks and already he was getting on my nerves. Dot would have sent me a message, saying that Caroline was in the limo. Not him. Every time he did something wrong, he would say ‘I didn’t think.’ Which was even more reason to get rid of him.

Why did I have a driver who didn’t think?

“I hate it when you call me that. I have a name.” I scowled and looked out of my window. I refused to even look at her, she annoyed me so much.

“Sure, but everyone calls you that and remember you’re still my little brother even if you want to be a big man wearing big shoes.”

I sighed thinking about the fact that I didn’t want a reminder of my past.

“What are you doing here Caroline?” I was bored and annoyed that I seemed to be changing drivers a little too much these days and that she was trying to make small talk with me.

One thing she knew for sure, was that I hated small talk.

She leaned against me and kissed me on the cheek. She smelled of a mixture of alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat. Not the right combination on anyone, especially my big sister. She looked perfect with her dark eyes sparkling and matching dark hair tied back. She always had a way to keep everything in ideal form even at the worst of times. She practiced the one lesson that dad had instilled into us from the day we could both walk, “Appearance is everything. Never show and never let anyone know what you’re thinking.”

Yes, our dad was cold as ice. Even the day that he told us that he was suffering from cancer, he didn’t shed a tear and we dared not to do the same, in case he would scold us.

“Are you listening to me?” Caroline asked, intruding into my thoughts about Dad. I wondered if I should give Mom a call. It’d been weeks since I last saw or spoke to her. I’d been busy with work, with this deal, because it was easier to handle than getting in contact with her.

“Yeah,” I whispered as Steven headed towards home. Not my penthouse, I noted, but, my parents as if this day couldn’t get any worse. I wanted it to come to a close. I was done. For some reason I was feeling tired, something that I rarely felt but listening to Emma sing earlier, had drained every piece of energy out of me.

“We need to go and see Mom together.”

“Caroline, I’ll see mom when I want and when I’m ready. We’re not f*****g ten anymore. You can’t bully and tell me what to do. f**k off. I’ve had a s**t day.”

I was letting my emotions get the better of me, it was insensitive. I knew why she smelled bad and looked good, she didn’t want anyone to know what was really going on inside of her and I wasn’t f*****g ready to deal with it.

And she wasn’t going to make me.

“I'm not ready to deal with the family drama,” I blurted out once I calmed down and took a deep breath. I had to keep my emotions in check.

She laughed, “When have you ever dealt with family drama? Sweeping it under the carpet. Pretending it isn’t happening is your style. God, you really do take after him. f**k, when we were younger, I used to think that you were pretending so you could live up to him. We buried him two years ago and you’re still the same. Acting like the asshole he was, acting like….”

She was getting on my last nerve, “So, if I’m such a d**k…”

“Asshole!”

She corrected me, and I hated it when she disrespected me like this on a good day, today it just pissed me off even more.

“Steven turn the damn limo around and take me home. To the f*****g penthouse. Not the family home, or wherever the f**k she told you to go.”

Not her f*****g home. She used to have her own place, but she ran out of money too often and had gone back home. Her trust fund money wasn’t given to her in one chunk, but on a monthly basis as if it was a wage, and she’d run through it like it was water. Unlike Caroline, as soon as I finished school at the university, I moved into the penthouse and didn’t go to the family home unless there was a celebration or a summons. Which Dad had liked to do once in a while. Mom knew better than to ask me to come to the house, which was good because I avoided it like the plague, especially after Dad died.

We were a dysfunctional family and going to the university was a f*****g blessing; it meant that I could leave and not have to go back.

“Kent why are you such an asshole? What happened to my little brother? The one that used to follow me around and act like my best friend? Not my f*****g enemy.”

She didn’t give me a chance to respond as she barked into the intercom, “Steven stop. I need to get out.”

I was about to stop her, but before I knew it, Steven stopped the limo, and she blurted out as she opened the door, “I want my little brother back. Not this jerk that walks around in big shoes.”

Sure, she knew my secret. I should have tried harder to stop her, but I knew if I did that, then we’d both go back to the family house, and it was the last place that I wanted to be. Caroline was a little too emotional, which meant that there was big drama waiting for me.

Which led me to do the one thing that she said I was good at doing, sweeping it under the carpet.