Logan enjoyed his Sunday in the polo club before returning late at night to enjoy the warmth and coziness of his bedroom. His alarm had beeped twice but he shut it down. He was the CEO but he still hated arriving at work late especially not on a Monday morning.

But after playing polo all day, there was nothing he longed for more than enough sleep. Rolling from one end to the other. A soft palm caressed his head gently, he wasn’t sure if it was real or if he was imagining things.

His eyelids parted gently to confirm his doubts.

“Mum?” Seeing her vague image in front of him, he lifted himself up to a sitting position. He brushed off the first question of how she got in, from his mind. He was probably too tired to confirm locking his door last night.

“My sweet boy.” She kissed his cheek, he returned with the ceremonial kissing of the back of her palm.

“Boy? Mum, I’m a man now…a full-grown man with beard.”

Betty chuckled, “The fact that you have beards doesn’t make you a man. You’re still my baby boy.” He knew how futile it was arguing with his mother so he accepted it.

If anything was more enticing than his love for his job, it was his love for his mother. Betty had always been present in his life at least until he went to England to further his studies. She always called him her “savior”. It was a known fact in the family that Betty didn’t have children early hence the pressure on Ryan, his father to entertain mistresses.

Still, with his mistresses, no one conceived a child at least not until Betty had Logan. That’s when Diego came into the picture from Paulina one of Ryan’s mistresses but after that, he focused on his wife and children.

“I brought you breakfast.” Snapping her fingers, two maids stepped in with their heads bowed as they dropped the tray of finely brewed coffee and some pie and cakes. No matter how many times he told his mother that he was dieting from sugary substances, she never stopped.

He served himself the coffee, taking a few bites from the cake.

“So you know today is the family’s monthly dinner right?”

Logan took a hard gulp causing him to cough and Betty massaged his back till he got his calm.

“Sorry, dear? But did you hear me about the dinner?” She reiterated for him to hear. There was nothing he hated more than having all his family seated on a big long table having dinner. More like a family report system because everyone always got nosy. He would rather spend time with his father alone than at that table with his siblings and other close acquaintances.

“I heard you Mum, but I’ll be having a meeting and I’m not sure when it would end.”

Betty’s displeasure displayed on her face, “What meeting is more important than family?”

“Business meeting, Mum.” Dropping his cup of coffee, “It’s not like we would be talking about anything other than business on the table. I might as well just focus on the real business.”

“Logan!”

Sucking his breath, he leaned forward observing Betty’s displeasure. He knew the only reason she wanted him there was to show him off and he wasn’t ready to receive bants on that account.

“Mum, I’m sorry. I’ll come, are you fine now?”

“Really?” Her face lit up, “that will be so beautiful, I’ll call Clara to come too.”

“Clara?” A softness swelled in his voice. Why didn’t he think of that? The family dinner would be a chance to see and spend more time with Clara. She was his fiancée but he had never come to terms that she was his. She was his crush for the longest, so having her as his was a reality he always had to remind himself of.

“I know you’ll love to see her since you’re too busy to make time for her.”

“That’s not the case, Mum. It’s just-“ he halted himself, she wouldn’t understand anyway.

“If I would be able to make it for the dinner, I’ll have to go to work early.” Springing up to his feet, “I need to prepare for work, Mum.” He waved to her before stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door. He was sure that by the time he was done, she would be out.

>>>

Emily’s first day in the office was nothing like she would expect. She thought Logan was overreacting when he kept asking if she was sure of taking the job but standing beside Logan for a three-hour meeting and taking notes, she was certain the job was tasking.

“You can sit now, Emily.” He said pointing at the empty seat in front of him. Emily gasped as soon as her butt touched the soft leather seat. Thinking that holding a sniper in a lying position for hours was difficult, she was sure it was nothing compared to standing with a file in her hand.

“Did you take in all the important points from the meeting?”

“Yes, I did.” Stretching the file in her hand to him. He observed carefully, nodding as he did that. He looked up with a strange smile, “you have a very beautiful handwriting.”

She looked up with a wry smile, “Thank you.”

“I almost thought you would flap but you did quite well on your first day.” Pushing back her file to her. He lifted his wristwatch to his face, “5 pm already? What’s the rest schedule for the day.”

“You have a meeting with the Polaris investors by 6 pm.” She read from the printout that the office secretary handed her in the morning.

“That would have to wait,” he breathed, “we have a family dinner by 6 pm, so can you move the meeting to 7?”

“Ok, I’ll just take their contacts and inform them.” She took down the note, “So does that mean I’m done for the day, and if I’m not, where am I going to stay for the one-hour gap?”

“Gap?” He chuckled, “Didn’t you hear me? I said we have a family dinner to attend.” Pointing at her, “You might just want to let your hair down. It’s a dinner, not a board meeting.”