Billionaires At War

CHAPTER V

"Mom, come on, we are going to be late if you keep this up."

Harrison rolled up his shirtsleeve and looked at his watch. He rolled his eyes at the time, and he called out for his mother again. The woman had never taken this long to dress up before, but today she was taking extra care of her looks. Harrison gave up his will to stand, drawing himself a stool from the counter and perching down on it. It was the third Sunday without his father. Harrison recalled, fondly, how it was his father's job to hurry his mother out of the house.

"Don't be in too much of a hurry. I have some things I have to carry over today. I know we are running a little late, but I want to make sure I have everything. By the way, is Josephine going with us?"

He couldn't believe they were having a conversation when he was downstairs, and she was upstairs. It sounded more like a huge shouting match. "No, mom, she wouldn't be with us. She had to travel out of town for a while to visit her mother."

"Well, can't say I am disappointed. Would be the first Sunday that you'd spend in the house with me when we get back."

Harrison's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I thought you liked Josephine."

"I do honey, I am your mother, and I like whatever makes you happy, so I love Josephine."

He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck before whispering, "What a way to not answer a question."

His mother appeared in a beautiful blue skirt and blouse with a shawl hanging around her shoulders. "I am sorry about taking so long. I had to make sure I had the donations. Won't want to forget them like the last time."

He looked at her hand and reached forward to help her with the extra weights. She allowed him to take them from her then wrapped her fingers around his arm. Harrison kissed her head gently, smiling at her when she looked up at him "We should have been on the road five minutes ago. We are going to miss our seats."

"Then we sit at the back of the church. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that."

He grumbled and walked arm in arm with his mother as they made their way to his car, "The front seats are the best. Close to the altar, to reduce the distance you have to walk for your communion. Close enough to hear the sermon clearly with very few distractions."

His mother pursed her lip for a while before releasing it with a loud pop, "True, but that does not mean we would die if we miss the front seats." She patted his chest and slipped into the car, "The back would be just as good."

"Hmm, if it is not, then I want a whole basket of blueberries for compensation. I would make the rest of my demands later."

"Of course, you will."

The car's engine whirred as it came to life, and they were soon on their way.

Before a month ago, they would have been making the trip with his father, a man he always fought with but still loved. They made a pact never to fight on Sundays, and that was why Sundays were his favourite days. Everything was always peaceful and smooth because they always did things as a family. They rarely saw eye to eye on the same subjects, which meant they disagreed on many things and agreed on too little. His father never intended to force the business down his throat, he only wished that Harrison would take it a bit seriously instead of travelling back and forth from different countries. That was just one, in a haven of topics that they bickered over.

Despite their fights and disagreements, his father sometimes gave him good advice on women. His old man was never a fan of his Lothario lifestyle, and he always encouraged Harrison to find a woman that he was ready to commit to without a doubt. Harrison reached for his mother's hand, holding it while quietly in thought. Harrison regretted all the arguments he had with his father. Regretted all the times they wasted away from each other. When he found out about his father's death, Harrison had wished they had spent more time with each other, peacefully.

"Your mind is wandering again. It has been doing that recently. What is going on now?"

Shifting on the seat, he looked at his mother, then down at their joined hands. Smiling, he lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them. "I wish things with dad had been different you know. I wish that our Sundays were how we spent every day. Laughing, chatting, stuffing each other with food, and only he would gain weight. I would give anything to have a peaceful do-over with him."

His mother rubbed his cheek with her fingers and sent him a faint smile, "Your father was arrogant like you are. Very conceited; the both of you, but you both have a different approach to conceitedness. When Placer del Cuerpo defeated him, he refused to let go of the company. Not because he didn't want to but because he believed he could win the battle and refused to accept defeat."

Harrison grinned, "What is my approach to conceitedness?"

"Women," she replied easily. "You believe that you can smile your way through them, and you are probably right. Only because you are going for the ones who don't give you what your ego deserves."

"What would that be?"

"A tough time."

He raised his eyebrows in confusion, and she gave him another smile. "Let me see the kindest way to put this. You are the kind of man that needs an adult, not a child. Someone ready to not only stand her ground but challenge you intellectually. Someone to make your work a little harder at being a better person."

"It won't be wrong to guess that you don't believe Josephine is that woman."

The car came to a stop as soon as he asked his question, and his mother stepped out, "My real thought concerning your relationship," she replied, watching him move out of the car, "as I said, you need a real adult, not a child. Josephine is going to be a child for a long time. What you don't realise is that you deserve better than what she is giving you. Not the other way around."

Without a reply, he offered her his elbow, and she wrapped her fingers around it. He peered down at her nails, distracting himself with the metallic colours while he thought about what she said. He reminded the chauffeur about the bags before making his way to the church doors. The harmonic sound of the organ greeted them when they entered, along with the sight of a filled church. His mother gave him an apologetic smile, pointing him to some empty seats at the back of the church.

Most of his family had grown up in Santa Montes before deciding to travel out and go around the world. His father always told them that generations of their family had passed through this church. He usually found it hard to believe but could never say so. Every thanksgiving, their family shared stories of their lives in the church and growing in Santa Montes. Each story, more unbelievable than the last.

Squeezing through the back row of seats, he moved closer and closer to an empty space on the bench. He waited for his mother to get herself comfortably seated before he proceeded to do the same. He bumped into a small woman who was shifting around in her seat to make space for them.

"Oh, I am so sorry." Both of them blurted out with a nervous laugh. She bent forward to pick her hand-fan, which had fallen out of her hands.

The brown hair caught his attention first. Just like in the pictures he had seen of her, the white strands stood out on her head. He knew who she was before she turned to him with a small smile. The smile slowly dissolved from its owners face as recognition sank in.

He was staring right at Cassandra Hernández.