Page 43 of Boss from Hell
“Do you miss your dad?” he asked gently.
Memories of my father came flooding back and I had to swallow the hard lump in my throat. “Yes, I miss him very much. None of this mess would have happened if he was still alive.” As the words left my mouth, I knew I shouldn’t have said that. The last thing I wanted to talk about was my private life or to relive that nightmare again.
“What mess?” Max asked. His voice was so full of warmth and caring I felt confused by the change in his character.
“Nothing.”
“It’s obviously not nothing. Tell me. I’m a good listener and I’ve been known to solve a few problems in my time,” he said, his tone friendly and encouraging. I’d never heard him speak like this before.
“Okay.” I took a sip of wine and inhaled deeply. I’d never discussed the situation with anyone apart from my sister, ofcourse, but even with her, I’d just skimmed the surface as she had been angry with my mother for a long time.
“After my father died, my mother got married to a man whose great dream had always been to own a restaurant. He roped her in on his dream and to help him, she remortgaged our childhood home. It did well at first, but after the initial excitement died down, people moved on to other newer establishments.”
Max nodded. “It’s the nature of that business. You have to have something special that will keep them coming back.”
“Unfortunately, Henry didn’t have that special something. To keep the restaurant afloat she took out a loan on top of remortgaging the house. Both my sister and I tried to convince her to stop throwing away good money after bad, but Henry was adamant he just needed time to turn things around and my mother just went along with it.”
It took a moment to realize that the voice coming out of me was throbbing with fury. I’d never before expressed my anger over the whole situation. I’d tried to be kind and understanding so as not to upset my mother more. But the truth was, I carried a lot of anger. Henry had no right to come into my mother’s life and turn it completely upside down, in fact, getting very close to destroying it.
“A lot of people make that mistake,” Max said quietly while softly caressing my hand.
“So he took his own life, leaving Mom with the loans and a huge mortgage that she couldn’t make the payments on,” I said bitterly. “My sister and I have tried to convince her to sell the big house and buy a smaller place, but she won’t hear of it. Says all her memories are in that house.”
“So how does your mother manage?” Max asked.
I lifted my wine glass and drained it. “She’s got a job… and I help out where I can.” I was careful with my words. I didn’t want to tell Max that I was the one who paid my mother’s mortgage. She wasn’t there listening to the conversation, but it felt like betrayal saying that.
He refilled my glass without waiting for the waiter to do it and smiled an almost fatherly smile. “A job? What kind of job?”
I reached for my glass and took a big gulp. I suddenly felt nervous. This interrogation, no matter how gentle it was, I didn’t know how to handle it. “She works as an assistant at a dentist.”
He nodded slowly. “I see. Basically, you’re saddled with paying her mortgage.”
I swallowed hard. I really didn’t want to make my mother look bad, but I couldn’t lie outright. “For the moment.”
He looked grim. “What about your sister? Can’t she help?”
“She’s a stay-at-home mom,” I explained quickly. “She decided to raise her kids herself rather than send them to day care. I think it was the right decision.” Max had not criticized my sister’s decision, but I couldn’t stop defending her. Old habits, I guess.
“Is your salary enough to pay both your bills?” He looked so concerned I was touched.
I nodded and reached again for the wine. “Yes, I think I’ll be able to manage.”
“Good, good. It’s rather lucky then, that you found this job. How did you come across it, Lillian?”
“Maggie, my best friend, is the owner of the recruitment agency your company is using.”
“I see. I’ve never met Maggie, but I believe we have a long history of her agency sending me PAs that never work out… until you.” His eyes narrowed. “What did she tell you about me?”
The wine on an empty stomach had gone straight to my head and I was feeling quite light-headed. I answered withoutcaution. “That you’re a tyrant and I wouldn’t last a month,” I babbled.
Suddenly, he looked forbidding and distant, reminding me of the way he usually was, but I couldn’t stop my tongue from wagging on.
“We actually took a bet about it. She believed I couldn’t last a whole month and I thought I could.” I covered my mouth with my hand as soon as the words were out. Shit. Was I going to get Maggie’s agency in trouble with my drunken confessions?
“You won’t get angry with her, will you?”
He laughed indulgently. “Of course not. To be honest I have a feeling you’ll win that bet.” He was silent for a few seconds. “So, you really need this job, huh?”