SERENDIPITY

Chapter 3

JASON

Excuse me, Mr. Ripley? Thomas, my assistant, called out to me. ‘Sir, the CEO asked that you should check your phone, she has been trying to call you.’ Supposedly, my mum, who is also the CEO, had left a lot of messages for me on my mobile phone. ‘Alright, thank you, Thomas’, I said. I reached into my suit jacket for my phone, dialed my mum’s number, she picked up the first ring.

‘There’s a reason why it’s called a mobile phone, Jason’, my mum said.

‘Good day mum’ I said, picturing the scowl on her face in my head. Thomas said you had been trying to reach me, and I got numerous texts from you earlier. Are you still in the hospital? Do you need me to pick you up?

Stop! Do not bombard me with questions, young man, she shouted on the phone. I had to put the phone away from my ear due to the shout. ‘And yes, I just finished with my check-ups, leaving the hospital’.

‘You haven’t said why you called, mum.’ I said.

‘Come by the house tonight, let’s have dinner together’ she said.

‘Hmm, mum, is it just dinner?’ I said.

‘I need to discuss some business matters with you alongside some other stuff’ she said.

Alright, see you tonight. I said as I hung up the call.

I had just ended the call when Thomas came into my office, ‘I have just got off the call with her, Thomas, do not bug me.’ I said, not looking up from my phone. ‘I just came to inform you about the meeting you had after lunch with Harris & Gary LLP.’ Thomas said.

‘Meeting?’ I asked with bewilderment written all over my face. ‘I wasn’t aware of any meeting’

‘The CEO asked that you attend in her stead’, he said.

‘But I just got off the phone with her, and she didn’t say anything,’ I said with a grunt at the back of my throat. ‘Send a brief of the meeting to my email, now, so I can go through it before I head there’

‘Yes sir’ he said as he turned to leave.

The thought of calling my mother flashed through my mind, but I chose to ignore it as I did not want to hear her rant. Right there I heard my stomach churn. I decided to head out to grab lunch outside the office. The restaurant was a twenty-five-minute drive, so I should be able to make it back in time for the meeting, I thought.

I got into my car, a black 2023 Audi R8 GT Spyder, and drove to the new Italian restaurant which Drew, my best friend, had been rambling about all week. It was a new restaurant which had just opened two weeks back. There was a bit of traffic on the road, but I got there on time. I made my way into the restaurant and a waiter led the way to my table, which I had already called earlier to make a reservation for. I was given the menu, flipped through it and finally settled on the Tagliatelle Bolognese. I couldn’t drink because I had a meeting in a few days, so ‘a cup of mineral would suffice’ I thought. A few people trooped into the restaurant while I was waiting for my food, some looked like tourists while some looked like they just had to leave their office to grab lunch like I did. I tried to call Drew repeatedly, but to no avail, he didn’t pick up. I had thought of asking him if he wanted to have drinks later in the day. While still trying to call him, I saw two women walk in, giggling. They tried to stifle their giggle at one point when they headed their way. The blonde woman had a green suit on, while the other had beige pants with a white sweatshirt on. She had black hair.

‘Here's your order sir,’ the waiter said, setting down the food on the table. ‘Enjoy your food’

‘Thank you’, I said, picking up the cutlery.

I had already gone through the brief Thomas sent earlier to my mail in the car. I would have headed straight to the law firm where I had the meeting from the restaurant, but I had to pick up Thomas from the office. Fortunately, we made it in time for the meeting. I arrived at the entrance of the law firm and was led to the boardroom where the meeting was supposed to be held. I was welcomed by the CEO himself.

‘Good afternoon, I am Gary Anderson’ said the CEO. ‘Welcome to Harris & Gary, LLP’. He was dressed in a navy blue suit just like I was.

Good afternoon, I am Jason Ripley from Melissa & Co Industries’, I said.

Yes, your mother and I come from way back. She told me you will be representing her today’, he said.

‘Ohhh really?’ I said, confused, ‘shall we get right into it?’

I sat down on one of the chairs which was near the CEO. The meeting went on for close to two hours. I was already getting antsy because I had been sitting for so long. The meeting finally came to an end. We exchanged another round of pleasantries. Afterward, Thomas and I took our leave.

I got to my parents’ estate at about quarter to eight. Jeffrey the butler came out front to greet me. The estate which I grew up on was built by my father consists of the main house, which had eight rooms, staff quarters, the ranch, the banquet hall, a game room where we hosted our family game night, although it's been a while since we did that.

‘Welcome, Mr. Ripley, Said Jeffery.

‘Mr. Ripley is my father. That makes me feel old. I said ‘Where’s my mum?’

‘She’s setting up the table all by herself’ he said.

‘Oh! That woman’, I said while shaking my head and walking to the front door.

I saw my mum putting down the casserole dish as I entered the living room. She hadn’t seen me coming and the thought of giving her a jump scare came to mind, but I didn’t want trouble as I had no idea as to why she wanted to see me in the first place. Everyone is scared of my mum, even me. Drew says my mum’s meant to be in the army, he can’t look her in the eye and get a sentence straight, but underneath that hard cocoon she created for herself, lies a soft, sweet woman. I guess I took that part from her.

‘Good evening mum’ I said as I walked towards the dining table.

‘Hello young man’ she said, throwing me a long stare as I pulled out the chair for her and she sat.

‘Why the look, mum?’ I said as I was about to pull a chair for myself, just as my butt was about to hit the chair, this woman hit me with ‘no sugar for your mama’, pointing towards her cheek with her index finger. I chuckled as I stood up straight to go to her side and plant a kiss on her cheek. ‘Now that’s better’, she said, grinning from ear to ear like a child who had just been given candy.

After dinner, we moved to the living room. Mum told me earlier dad hadn’t come back from his trip to Germany. So, what was it you wanted to discuss with me, mum? I said I wanted her to let the cat out of the bag without wasting any more time.

‘I would like to know how the meeting with Harris & Gary LLP went today’, she said.

‘It went smoothly, we are going to be suing the other company for copyright infringement’ I said. ‘ The infringer will be required to cease the unauthorized use of the copyrighted work.

‘Yes, it’s important to respect copyright laws and get credit where it’s due.’ Mum said.

‘Since legal action has been taken, we will be receiving some fines and damages as permission from the copyright owner.’ I said. ‘It’s important to respect intellectual property rights and obtain proper permission to avoid these consequences.’

‘That’s good to hear.’ Mum said.

‘Alright mum, I need to meet Drew, I'll be leaving now.’ I had not finished speaking before she cut me off.

‘Wait, there’s one more thing, I am sure you met Gary today?’ mum said.

‘Yes, I did, he seemed like a pleasant man’, I said. ‘What about him?’

‘This isn’t about him, it’s about his daughter, Ivy’, she said, now looking at me to see my reaction.

‘I don’t understand’ I said, looking at her confused.

‘You will be going on a date with her this weekend, and there’s no debate about it, she said.

‘No, mum’ I said with a firm tone. ‘I cannot have you planning dates for me without my consent.’

‘How old are you?’ She asked. ‘ Jason Ripley, you are going to be thirty in less than a month, and you are without a girlfriend, much less of a wife. ‘Your younger sister, Riley, is married with two kids, and you are out here gallivanting like your life has no purpose’. She said angrily

‘Relationship doesn’t define one as a person’, I said, trying to push my anger down.

‘Not only will you go on that date, you will also bring your girlfriend to your birthday party’ she said with an authoritative tone. If you decide to go against me, I would not be transferring you the shares that will make you CEO.

‘Mum!!’ I shouted.

‘Gentleman, that’s final.’ She said as she stood up to go into her room.

I called Drew to meet me at the bar as said earlier. Drew had already gotten there before me. ‘Hey man’, he said to me. ‘Why do you look like you were hit by a car?’ he said, laughing and reaching out for a handshake. I slapped his hand away, What the hell man, are you ‘brovulating’ or something? He said, making air quotes with his two index fingers.

I explained all that transpired between my mum and I to Drew. He burst out laughing and called me a mummy’s boy. ’Why didn’t you outrightly refuse?’ he asked.

"Weren't you paying attention to all I have been saying?", I said, frustrated. ‘Probably you go over to the house and tell my mum what’s on your mind.

‘I am sorry, Jase, you know I am scared of your mum,’ he said, regaining composure. ‘How will you go about it?

‘I will probably go on the so-called date’, I said with so much bitterness. ‘I will figure something out in regard to the girlfriend issue’.

We ordered our drinks and talked about work, but I couldn’t drink that much because I had to drive myself home. My driver, Bailey, is on leave, and he won’t be back until the weekend.

After much thought, Drew and I decided to hit the road.