Heir Of The Heart

Chapter 4: Julian

I woke up to a serious headache in the morning. I was hungover from drinking excessively the previous night.

I looked up at the old clock on the wall. 9:35am. I should have been at the office since 8 for a board meeting. But now, I had to get home first so I could get changed because there was no way I was showing up to the office looking like a stray cat. I picked up my phone to see five missed calls from my father and a text:

I really don't care about what you've been up to all night but you better be here in the next 5 minutes.

Great. Another reason for my father to come at my neck again. Like yesterday's drama was not enough mental stress already. Typical me, always giving him something to complain about.

I put my shoes on and headed towards the door. As I opened the door, I paused for a moment and looked back at the bartender lady. “I'm sorry.” I whispered.

I took a long walk back to the bar to get my car. I was surprised at how I could even remember the way back there and for some reason, whatever it was that happened in the lady's apartment that led us to being naked was fuzzy.

I got home to Cecilia looking quite worried as she saw me arrive. “Master Julian, where have you been?” She said, “Your father is really furious.”

“Well, I had some urgent stuff to attend to. Don't worry about my dad, I can handle him.” I replied hastily.

“But…” I ran off to my room before she could say another word.

I had a quick shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. I put on a crisp shirt and tie, something official so I could at least ease the wrath my father was about to rain down on me for being late. I'm usually uncomfortable in suits but this time I had no choice. I couldn't be late and casually dressed at the same time, that would be too much rebellion for one day.

As I got dressed, I instinctively reached for the bedside drawer to get my necklace and… nothing. I looked and there really was no necklace there. I pulled open the first drawer, then the second, then the third and couldn't find it. I looked under the bed, in the wardrobe and even the bathroom.

“C’mon, I'm already late. Where is this necklace?” I whispered to myself. I was already getting frustrated. The room was a mess already. “I really can't lose mom's necklace, I really can't.” My heart already pounding heavy in my chest.

That's when a thought came. “Could it be that I left it at her apartment?” I asked myself. I inhaled and exhaled deeply in a bid to calm myself. “Okay Julian, calm down. I can go find her at the bar as soon as I leave the office. No problem at all.”

Time was already running out, I knew my father was already angry. I rushed to the car and drove at lightning speed, even running past a red light.

By the time I got to the office, the meeting had ended. I cautiously headed to CEO’s office to find my father sitting at his desk with his seat facing the window behind the desk. He immediately turned around as I opened the door. It was like he was patiently waiting and expecting me to walk through the door.

“And in comes the future CEO of Veritas Atelier.” He said as he closed the laptop in front of him and put it in a bag. “The one who doesn't have the time to attend board meetings.”

He got up and walked towards me. “Welcome, sir.” He then proceeded to offer me a handshake. I hesitated and then shook his hand.

I had expected my father to scold me and start some sort of lecture about how irresponsible I was. But this show of sarcasm scared me even more and I couldn't say anything because this time around, I knew I messed up. He also hadn't said anything about what happened at breakfast yesterday morning, so I really knew that I was in for a lot today.

“Dad I…” He headed towards the door before I could talk.

As soon as he got to the door, he stopped for a moment, looked back, smiled and said, “Aren't you coming?”

I was utterly confused at what was happening in that moment. I followed him to the car. The car arrived at a restaurant. I hadn't gone out with my father in ages, he was always so serious about work. Why did he choose today of all days when I did something that should have clearly upset him? The thought left me uneasy.

“Uh, dad, what are we doing at a restaurant?” I asked.

“What else do people do at restaurants?” My father asked sarcastically, laughing softly.

I gave him a confused look and he smiled. He headed inside the restaurant. I stood there at the entrance watching this high spirited man that seemed very different from my father.

He stopped and looked back to see me standing there. “They won't come outside to serve you, you know.” He said, gesturing to me to come inside.

As we sat down inside the restaurant, my father looked at me for a long moment. “You're not putting on your mom's necklace today. You always have it on.”

He noticed? He had never mentioned it or her before now. I cleared my throat. “I uh… forgot to put it on today. It's at home.”

“Oh, okay then.” He said softly. “Julian, you know I only want what's best for you.”

“Yeah.”

“You've always had a good eye for fashion. That's why I know I can entrust the company to you.” He took a deep breath. “With you in charge, I know that what I and your mother worked so hard to build is safe.”

“Dad…” He interrupted before I could say anything.

“I'm not trying to force you into anything. But I need you to take things seriously.” He paused briefly to look me in the eye. “There are members of the board who are looking for the slightest opportunity to steal the position of CEO from you. Don't give it to them.”

“I won't dad.”

“You sure about that? Because, when you don't show up to board meetings, it gives the idea that you don't respect the company well enough and that can be a reason for the board to give a vote of no confidence against you.” He said, his tone was beginning to become harsh.

“I didn't mean to miss the meeting, I…”

“Maybe be more intentional. Your actions have consequences, a 25yr old should be old enough to understand that.” He continued. “You're an adult, you can do whatever it is that you want. So I'm not gonna ask about what you were up to last night but sometimes, maybe consider the impact of your actions before going ahead to do them instead of just thinking about yourself.”

I kept my head down, realizing that everything he was saying was true. “I'll do better.” I said softly.

“I'll believe that when I see it.” He said and went on to eat his meal. I had nothing else to say.

The rest of the evening was very quiet. After the meal, I immediately drove straight for the bar to look for the bartender lady with hopes that she had my necklace.

On my way there, I got pulled over by the police.

“What might be the problem this time?” I thought to myself.

I kept my hands on the steering wheel as the police officer approached the car.

“Good evening officer.” I said with a forced smile.

“Good evening sir. What is so urgent that you've been driving so fast today?” He asked.

I was confused. What did he mean by that question? Like they've been watching my car all day. “Sorry?”

“This vehicle broke speed limit and also ran a red light this afternoon. Weren't you the one driving it?”

“Sorry, I'm confused. What do you mean by…? Oh.” I remembered how fast I was driving this afternoon to get to the board meeting which was eventually a fruitless endeavor. “Yes officer, that was me.” I said, followed by a deep breath. “I had a family emergency.”

“Well, I'm going to have to write you a ticket. Please learn to drive safely.” He reached inside his pocket to pull out a pen and ticket. “License and registration please.”

I handed him my driver's license and immediately he saw it, a look of shock briefly took over his face.

He looked at it and then looked at me for a moment. “It's all good sir, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. You can go.” The officer said, returning my driver's license.

“Are you sure, officer?” I asked, looking confused. I wondered why all of a sudden, I'm no longer getting punished for obviously breaking the law. I left anyway, since the verdict was in my favour. No one ever complained about not getting a speeding ticket. Plus also running a red light, that would have left some negative points on my license.

I got to the bar and met a lady tending the bar. Definitely not the lady I was looking for. I approached the bar.

“Hi. What about the other girl? The one that was here last night.” I asked.

“Daisy?” She replied. “She's not on duty tonight. Are you gonna buy a drink?”

“Oh… um.”

“You like her boyfriend or something?” A croaky voice shouted from behind me.

I turned around to see an obese man with long white beard that didn't seem like it was properly cared for. He was holding a bottle of beer in his hand.

“Uh… nothing like that.” I replied.

“I really don't care anyways.” He took a large sip of the beer. “She quit this morning. You don't need to come here looking for her.”

So, she no longer works at the bar. It was already late so I decided not to go to her place until morning.

When I got to her apartment in the morning, it was empty. A neighbor saw me at her door and approached me.

“You must be looking for Daisy.” The lady said. “She moved out this morning. If you had come last night, you would have caught her before she left.”

I went into my car and just sat there trying to process the situation. So, Daisy was gone. That meant that my mother's necklace was also gone. I had no idea where she had moved to or what s

he might've done with the necklace either.

I wondered if maybe all this time, my father had actually been right about me.