Looking in the bathroom mirror covered in steam from his shower gave him an excuse to stay secluded for a few more moments waiting for it to clear.
The counter was covered with ashes surrounded by empty red cups and bottles of half drunken liquor around double sinks. Richard’s maid knocked on the door twice to check on him. “Give me a minute – I’ll let you know when I’m out!” He whispered loud enough for her to hear him but not so loud to make his pounding migraine worse.
While the steam was clearing out, he walked through his large attached closet to find something to wear. While looking up at the clothes hung up, he noticed his assistant already placed his outfit in the middle of the room. Everything was curated in his life, the only time he forgot were days like this. When he spent the night pretending to be a normal person, partying with people who had no idea of the lifestyle he had to deal with everyday.
They made him feel regular but then they leave.
The maids clean up and the assistance curate the perfect life they were paid to keep in place for his family. People are usually escorted out of the house before he wakes up and his 6 year old son Sean is called over from his residence next door at 8am daily for breakfast. “It’s 7:30a do you need anything before breakfast sir?” His assistant asks through the other side of the closet door. “No, I’m good,” Richard said as he put his clothes on and walked back into the bathroom to check his face.
The bathroom door opened,”I said I was ….” He yelled before noticing that the woman walking in wasn’t his maid or assistant. It was one of the women from the party last night. “Hey, can I use the bathroom?”
“Yea sure. Let me get out your way.”
“Thanks, Morning,” she said smiling as she closed the door in his face.
Richard looked at this maid who was standing in the hall next to the bathroom door with her cart waiting to clean. She was as confused as he was. She shrugged her shoulders; then walked the other direction towards the other rooms down the hall to start her morning cleaning routine.
After a few moments, the door opened and the woman walked out and towards his bedroom. As she walked down the hall she said,”That was a wild night, you should have made them clean up before telling them to get out your house last night.” He followed her, still not remembering the details of the night.
“Crazy, how you end up stayin?”
“You asked me to. You don’t remember saying…. Tiff, please stay here. Please Tiff….how could I say no to that?”
Richard sat on the corner of the bed watching her gather her purse preparing this leave.
“Are you staying for breakfast?”
Something about this woman made Richard not want her to leave. She felt safe and familiar.
“I wish, have to pick my daughter up from my mother’s house before work. Your son is waiting for you at breakfast. It was fun last night. Let’s just keep it at fun. I’ll see you around.”
Richard nodded his head in agreement to appear cool, saying “Right, see you around. I’ll walk you down.”
“That’s okay, I know my way out Richard. Call me later, my number is in your phone.”
Tiffany walked out the bedroom and walked downstairs towards the front door as Richard stood at the bedroom door watching her leave.
“Sir, Sean is in the kitchen waiting for you at the table,” his assistant yelled up the stairs.
“Okay, tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”
Richard walked back to the bathroom, which was clean of all evidence of his party the night before. Looked in the clean, clear mirror and realized how aged his facial features were starting to appear in the reflection back to him. “I’m too old for this,” he thought as he stared at the gray hair starting to take over his beard.
When he made it to the kitchen table, Sean was almost finished with his pancakes. Richard just grabbed a muffin and coffee before getting into the back of the car with Sean as their driver took them downtown to the Court Design office. On the way there, Richard sent a text to Tiffany asking when he can see her again.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the office and no response from his text. Sean was full of questions about the apartment building and what we wanted to make sure they walk away from the meeting with. His son was exactly like his father and grandfather, completely consumed with business. Richard was good at keeping things maintained but they were always focused on how to make things better. How to take things to the next level.
The passion skipped Richard and got into his son somehow.
Richard was focused more on his personal life. Being happy was something on his mind lately and the woman in his house that morning was heavy on his mind.
They arrived at the office, went up the elevator, and walked towards the front desk where they were met by the woman he was thinking about.
Both shocked, they kept the fact that they knew each other quiet.
“Hi, Courtney is expecting you guys. I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thank you!” Said Sean.
Courtney told Tiffany to go ahead and walk them back.
After walking them back, Tiffany went back to her desk and returned Richard’s text.
“Hey, I’ll meet you at your place after I drop my daughter off at home tonight.”
“Cool. Okay see you then,” he text-ed back as he smiled.
Richard was so excited, he didn’t hear most of the conversation. He just knew Sean didn’t like it, so he left Courtney with a list of things to correct based on Sean’s feedback, which he trusted because it was like his grandfather speaking through a 6 year olds body.
