RUINED FOR LIFE

Chapter 2 - Tom

Have you ever had a feeling of content? I have. Almost every week I find myself content with every new piece I finish. It’s magical to me. Capturing the essence of life and happiness into a lens, forever burned and engrained, to look on over and over again. Click, click. I flashed my camera once more at the sight before me. An old couple on a bench chatting, wiling away time in each other’s presence. You could quite literally see the hearts shooting from their eyes. It was beautiful.

Moving further around the park, I took more shots of kids playing around, dogs fetching balls, and even a toddler sleeping soundly in his stroller. This park holds a lot of my childhood memories; playing soccer with my classmates, riding my bike with Harry, hell even just sitting on the swings was a good memory for me. It’s been 15 years since I've been here, and it’s refreshing to know nothing has changed. People change almost every day but trust Golden Gate Park to forever remain the same. Paint still peeling off from the swings, the dent on the slide from where Harry ran into it with his bike. It was good to be home.

I took more pictures to look back on and reminisce. I wish I had pictures from when Harry, I, and Lori were here. My heart ached when I said her name. She hardly comes to my mind these days, but I guess being home would do that. I hadn’t thought of her in over 10 years and just me being back in California opened a can of emotions I was not nearly ready to deal with. I made a move to leave the park before anything else could remind me of her. I didn’t get far before my phone dinged with a text. Where are you?! Releasing an exasperated breath, I responded, Be there in 5 minutes. This was going to be a long day.

…

Sarah hadn’t changed much in the villa. It was still as cold and quiet as I remember. One huge family photo stood hung over the fireplace in the family room. Everyone in the picture looked happy, everyone except Sarah. I’ve never seen that woman c***k a smile and, even now, I still think the woman is incapable of looking happy. Sarah lives her life ruled by a lot of things, and showcasing joy is not one of them. To her, that is a sign of weakness. She raised her children with that notion, but no one else lived farther away from that rule than Lori. She was the entire opposite of Sarah and maybe that’s where things started falling apart.

“Took you long enough”. That subtle yet commanding voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Grandmother”, I said, turning away from the picture to look at her.

“You know I hate that name.”

“Right. I’m sorry. It’s nice to see you, Sarah”

“Have a seat. The others will be down any second”. We both moved to sit on the couches. The couches were like a dining room set, with one sitter by the head and two three sitters on both sides. She took the one sitter and I took the three sitter on her left.

“How was your flight?” She was filling the silence with small talk. Sarah never does that.

“It was fine. It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled that long, and still feeling a little jetlagged. The last time I was on a plane for that long was when I first moved to London. The chatter from the stairs filled the silence, and before you know it, two lean figures entered the room. Lily and Jack. Without so much as acknowledging my presence, they go to sit on the three sitters by Sarah’s right.

“Great we’re all here so we can begin.” We’re not all here, but I don’t correct her.

“As you all know, I called you here for a very important announcement. Tom has traveled a long distance, so I won’t take much of your time.”

“This is a family meeting, I suppose grandmother; why did you have to call him?” Lily says, sending daggers my way.

“Lily’s right. Only the family should be here right now, Grandmother”, Jack agrees. I don’t even bother getting a word in, I’ve learned now that silence is the best way to deal with Jack and Lily.

“Who gets to be at this meeting is my decision, not yours. Now can I continue?” Without any objections, Sarah continued.

“As you all know, my 80th birthday is around the corner, as well as the 40th anniversary of the company. At both celebrations, I would be announcing Tom as the new CEO of the company.” You could cut the silence with a knife. It was deafening, it was as though we were all taking our time to process the information.

“What do you mean you’re announcing him as the new CEO of the company? What about me?” Jack asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah grandma, what about him?” Lily asked too.

“Unless both of you haven’t noticed, Jack is not very good at his job. You’ve only brought scandals upon scandals to the company”, Sarah said as a matter of fact

“None of it was intentional. Besides, it’s my right to take over the company, how could you think to take my rights away from me?!” his voice rose louder this time.

“I can do whatever I want because last time I checked the company was mine”

“I don’t want it”, I finally spoke up. All heads turned to me and for a split second I saw Lily smirk.

“What do you mean you don’t want it?” another voice spoke, and I turned to look at the face behind the familiar voice. Henry. He looked so different now, older, more mature. He was a good-looking son of a b***h. If the situation wasn’t what it was right now, I would have gone over and hugged him.

“You heard me right. I don’t want to take over the company. I’ve been gone for 15 years; the board won’t accept me as the CEO.” I tried to reason with Sarah

“Let me worry about the board,” she said immediately like she was expecting me to say that. I looked over at my brother for help, but he didn’t say anything. Wracking my brain for another excuse, the unexpected came out of my mouth.

“I’m getting married”. Now this silence was worse than the last. What the f**k did I just say?

“Well, it looks like we have a lot of things that need to be celebrated. Congratulations, I expect to meet her very soon” With that Sarah gets up and leaves the room.

“Sarah wait!” I shouted all while skipping the stairs to catch up to her at the top.

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“Is there something else I should say?” When I don’t give a response, she turns the corner and leaves. What the hell have I gotten myself into? Where am I going to find a bride? Let alone one that will get into all the shenanigans with me?

I turned to go back down the stairs but somehow missed my step. Before I know what’s going on, I’m tumbling down the staircase and hitting all the wrong things at the wrong places. I landed on the ground with a thud and everything went black.