“No need.” He released the paperweight and pinned with me a hard stare, all traces of fake deference gone. “I’m used to doing things for myself. But life must be a lot easier for you, huh? All you have to do is not fuck up for the next four months and the CEO role is yours.”
I didn’t take the bait. Tobias could talk shit all he wanted, but I was damn good at my job and we both knew it.
“I haven’t fucked up in over thirty years,” I said pleasantly. “I don’t plan on starting now.”
His phony affability slid back into place like a curtain falling over a window. “True, but there’s a first time for everything.” He stood, his smile oilier than a fast-food kitchen. “See you at the exec retreat in a few weeks. And Kai? May the best man win.”
I returned his smile with an indifferent one of my own. Lucky for me, I always won.
After Tobias left, I reviewed the last quarter’s financial reports for the second time. Print revenue down eleven percent, online revenue up nine point two percent. Not great, but it was better than the other divisions, and it would’ve been worse had I not doubled down on the shift to digital despite the board’s protests.
A sharp ring tore my attention away from the reports.
I groaned when I saw the caller ID. My mother only interrupted my office hours to share urgent or unpleasant news.
“I have excellent news.” As usual, she cut straight to the chase when I picked up. “Clarissa is moving to New York.”
I flipped through my mental Rolodex. “Clarissa…”
“Teo.” The clack of heels against marble emphasized her impatience. “You grew up with her. How could you forget?”
Clarissa Teo.
A vague impression of pink tulle and braces passed in front of my mind’s eye. I suppressed another groan. “She’s five years younger than me, Mother. Growing up with her isn’t quite accurate.”
The Teos owned one of the biggest retail chains in the UK. My mother was best friends with Philippa Teo, and our family mansions stood side by side in London’s posh Kensington Palace Gardens.
“You were neighbors and attended the same social functions,” my mother said. “It counts in my book. Regardless, aren’t you thrilled she’s moving to Manhattan?”
“Hmm.” My noncommittal answer contained all the enthusiasm of a defendant sitting trial.
Despite our families’ closeness, I barely knew Clarissa. I hadn’t been interested in hanging out with a girl five years my junior as a kid, and an ocean separated us when we were both adults—I’d studied at Cambridge for my master’s while she’d attended Harvard. By the time she returned to London, I’d already moved to New York.
We certainly weren’t close enough for me to feel any type of way over her comings and goings.
“She doesn’t know many people in New York,” my mother said with the subtlety of a thousand neon sparklers spelling ask her out at night. “You should show her around. The Valhalla Club’s fall gala is coming up. She would make a lovely date.”
A sigh traveled up my throat to the tip of my tongue before I swallowed it. “I’m happy to take her out to lunch one day, but I haven’t decided whether I’m bringing a date to the gala yet.”
“You are a Young.” My mother’s voice grew stern. “Not only that, you could become CEO of the world’s biggest media company in four months. I’ve let you have your fun, but you need to settle down soon. The board does not look favorably on people with unsettled home lives.”
“Didn’t one of the board members find his wife in bed with the gardener? A married home life sounds more unsettled than an unmarried one.”
“Kai.”
I rubbed a hand over my mouth, wondering how my smooth, easy day had devolved into this. First Tobias, now my mother. It was like the universe was conspiring against me.
“I’m not asking you to propose, though it certainly wouldn’t hurt,” my mother said. “Clarissa is beautiful, well-educated, well-mannered, and cultured. She would make a wonderful wife.”
“This isn’t a dating app. You don’t need to list her qualities,” I said dryly. “Like I said, I promise I’ll meet up with her at least once.”
After a few more reassurances, I hung up.
A headache throbbed behind my temple. My mother gave me the illusion of choice, but she expected me to marry Clarissa one day. Everyone did. If not Clarissa, then someone exactly like her with the proper lineage, education, and upbringing.
I’d dated multiple women like that. They were pleasant enough, but there was always something missing.
Another image flashed through my mind, this time of purple-black hair and sparkling eyes and a husky, irrepressible laugh.
My shoulders tightened. I pushed the image out of my mind and tried to refocus on work, but glints of purple kept resurfacing until I slammed my folder shut and stood.
Perhaps my mother was right. I should take Clarissa to the fall gala. Just because my previous girlfriends hadn’t worked out didn’t mean a similar relationship wouldn’t work out in the future.
I was destined to marry someone like Clarissa Teo.
Not anyone else.