Chapter 3

Stan’s POV

I wake up with a pounding feeling in my head, which I blame on the many tequila shots I took last night. And why is Marie or was it Dennise still on my bed?

“Hey Stan, last night was fun. We should do it again sometime”, the lady, whose name I don’t remember said and got off the bed into her dress. I’m unsure of what happened last night, so I do not respond.

“Call me, okay?”, she said as she walked out of my apartment.

After she is gone, I try to recall the events of last night. I remember talking to my dad and him whining about me taking the family business seriously, and I think we ended up fighting. We definitely ended up fighting. After that, I went to the bar to hang and get a drink. As usual, people from the bar recognize me and come to me for all kinds of favors, from jobs to partnership to things I can't even remember. Gerald, my good friend will always say, “these things come with being the heir to a well known and successful winery.” Maybe he is right. Every girl at the bar from last night was all over me and I bought so many drinks. I blame Gerald for not showing up, if he was there I wouldn't drink so much.

“Fuck! Gerald didn’t come for a reason” i cuss and pick up my phone to call him. After five rings, he picks up.

“Bro, what happened yesterday?” I asked immediately he answered.

“Not all of us are heirs to billionaires Stan, some of us have to work to get to that level,” he replied and I instantly felt bad.

Without thinking it through, i say “once the company is mine, i want you to be the chief accountant. Not just cos you’re my best friend, you’re also very good at what you do and i’ll make sure you’re paid your worth at Hughs.”

“You want to take the company now and move to New York? Thought you preferred being the billionaire’s son without doing a thing?” he scoffs.

“Very funny Gerald, very funny. Well, only change is constant and nobody really knows me in the big city. I’m tired of being asked for favors everywhere I turn around here.”

“I feel you. Make sure you don’t forget the promise you just made man, I'll be needing that big break.”

“Of course, I'll talk to my dad now. He’ll be so happy and proud,” I scoff.

“Later dude,” he says and ends the call.

My dad John Hughs is not one to talk about serious matters over the phone, except he’s trying to remind you of the already discussed matter. So, I dial him to let him know I'll be coming home for dinner. As usual, he tries to convince me to take over the company. Once I told him I'm coming home tonight for dinner, I felt his mood brighten.

I look around my apartment after the call with my dad to be sure everything is in order. Thankfully, the lady from this morning didn’t leave a souvenir, because if she did I would have trashed it seeing there was no way I could reach her. I don’t even remember her name. Every other thing in my apartment is in place, so I step into the bath and wash off the events of last night. It’s 6pm when I pull up into our gigantic home in the middle of chicago. I always wonder how my dad pulled off owning a structure like this in the city. You only see houses as big as this in the country. I park my mercedez in the garage, get to the front door and our butler Henry is waiting to greet me.

“Good evening sir, trust you had a smooth ride over,” he greeted and took my purse.

“Yea sure Henry. Thank you.”

“I’ll go get your mom and dad, then dinner will be served sir,” he told me and hurried off, after dropping my purse on the stand close to the dining table. I’m tempted to go upstairs to my old room, but the family will be coming down any minute now and mom would start her lectures on etiquettes, which I do not want to receive so I stay put. Few minutes later, they come down speaking in hushed tones, and i’m sure they’re talking or betting about why i came.

“Good evening mom, you look lovely.” I said, kissing her on both cheeks when they reached the dining room.

“My dear son, I've missed you. You don’t call your mama anymore.” Mom pouts.

“Hey dad. Mom, I call you once every week.” i defend. She does this everytime i call her or visit. Our calls every week are longer than an hour.

My dad scoffs, “if you want to live, call your mom everyday son.”

We all laugh and get seated for dinner. There is an unspoken rule in the house that we must never talk while eating, whatever we must say in the dining room should be about the food we’re having. I know my dad can’t wait for dinner to be over so we can talk about why I really came. After dinner, we all head to the sitting room while Henry goes in to get a bottle of wine as requested by my mom. Once the wine gets served, he leaves and my mom looks at me to start the conversation.

“I am ready to take over the company,” I say, cutting to the chase.

“You owe me 5000 love, tell you.” my mom calls out to my dad.

“Wait, you bet on me? When will you two stop this?” I question, feigning surprise.

My dad hands my mom 2000 and promises to give her the balance once they’re up in their room. Then he faces me, “I'm glad you want to, son, really glad. You just have to stay here for a month and see the production process, before heading over to New York to be in the business proper. I’ll have my lawyer work out the details for putting you in charge. Thank you son, I'm really glad you came around.”

“One more thing dad, I want Gerald to be the chief accountant working with me. Before you disagree, I made a list of the companies he has worked for and sent to your email. He is really good, and I want to continue your legacy with people I trust.”

“You owe me 2000 bucks for this one too, you now owe me 5k John.” 

 “You know everything Vanessa, I'll give that to you. And, I like that you want to start out with people you trust, son, so I'll check the email and get back to you as soon as possible,” my dad responds with a smile on his face.

The dinner and conversation ended pretty well for the first time in a long time, and my parents look happy and satisfied. I leave the house at 8, and drive straight to a bar to celebrate and probably find a hot chic to bring home tonight.