Office Love

~ Chapter 11 ~

When I woke up the next morning, Celeste was already gone. My phone got a notification. I looked at it. My father sent me a message that he needs me to come over in the evening. Quickly, I sent a reply to confirm that I will. Then I stood up and walked around the apartment. The door to Snowball's room was open, and Snowball was not there. Celeste wasn't there, too. I decided that I should take a shower and got into my lounge wear, which was just grey sweatpants and a black compression t-shirt. Then I made some coffee and wanted to make breakfast, but noticed that I didn't have anything. I sent my mother a quick text, asking her if she would mind making me some breakfast since I forgot to buy groceries. She agreed to bring me meals all day long. I sent her a heart because of her kindness. When Celeste returned with Snowball, my mother came over to give us the meal she had prepared for breakfast. We thanked her. Over the rest of the day, I spent working on some projects. As it got closer to the time of the visit, I got ready for it. I took a shower and changed into more appropriate clothes, which was a pullover and some jeans. Then I went over to their place. When I reached their front door, Lacey and Melody appeared. I greeted them, "Hi. What are the two of you doing here?" Lacey answered, "Dad said that I would get some more money if I got Melody to tag along with me." Melody sighed, "She dragged me out of my place by my hair!" I laughed, "You two should relax. Let's meet up with mom and dad. I am sure that it is important, since we are all here." We rang their doorbell. Our mother let us in. She had a smile that seemed to be a little sad. We came inside and sat down at the dining table. Our father had the smile at us when he came into the room. There was something up, and we were about to know what. Our father started to talk, "So. You are probably wondering why I called you all here. The past few months were really hard on me. I went a lot in and out of the hospital. On Tuesdays, try not to go there. The food doesn't taste good on that day. But that is not what I wanted to talk about... I am sick. The doctor said that I should take it more easily and all. I have some medicine that I have to take, and it may be that I will die much sooner than expected. That is why I brought you all here together. Just to tell you that I may be dying." There was a silence. I asked, "Why didn't you say anything earlier? I asked you multiple times if you are alright. I saw you getting sicker, and you just lied to me?" He answered, "I wanted to not worry you or your sisters. I'm under enough stress already." Melody just stood up and hugged him. Lacey was frozen in place. Tears were rolling down her face. Both Melody and Lacey haven't had the best relationship with him. Lacey was accused of using him only for money, especially after her relationship with Felix ended and she started to date Geo.  She couldn't rely on Geo for expenses. With Felix, it was different. Felix was one of her co-workers and also the favourite future son-in-law. My parents never stopped talking to him. They really wanted Lacey to get back with him, but it seemed that Felix didn't try to get her back after she started dating Geo, which was understandable. Melody was a different story. She was at some point the 'favourite' of our father, but she became rebellious in the last few years. No one knew why. Our father loved going to the ranch, where we spent most of our summers. We all had rooms at it, but since Lacey and Melody had difficulties with him, they stopped tagging along. Nothing could get them to come with him. I was the only one who was still going with them. Most of my vacation time was saved and used around summer and winter holidays, but even my vacation time didn't stop me from working. I asked, "Can I take more of the company over? So more of your tasks?" He answered, "I actually wanted to ask you about that myself. The answer is yes. I will still be in the company, but I will take a step back. I hope that you are ready to be taking most of my place. You should let someone else take over your tasks." Our mother added, "Celeste took them over since both your father and you said that she is talented." I replied, "I don't know if she is ready to even take over some of the work." Our father laughed, "She would be the perfect replacement for you in the creative department, and you can still take some part in it by talking to your girlfriend." I asked, "How do you?" Before I could finish my question, our mother answered, "Oh. You asked for a date idea and took her with you!" Melody laughed, "I guess you made it too obvious that you two are having a relationship. That reminds me of something. We all have had or have a relationship with Valentine. Dad and mom with Felix, Celeste, and Zane. Lacey with Felix. You with Felix, Celeste, and Zane too. And me with Antonio." Our mother replied, "They are just great people. Felix and Celeste both belong to the family. The other two are not so important." Lacey asked, "Why is Felix still in the family?" Our father answered, "Since he is a good guy and a good friend of us. Also, you seem to not hate him at all." Our mother added, "Especially because you have been talking to us about how handsome, smart, attractive, and what kind of gentleman he is." I laughed, "You totally still have a crush on him." She hissed at me, "Shut up! I do not!" Geo was not well liked in our family since he worked for our father before he got fired for having sex at his workplace and allowing Lacey to cheat on Felix. No one had told Felix about the cheating part, and it seemed like no one dared to say anything to him. He really was a great guy. Lacey got anything she wanted from him and was treated like a princess, but apparently, that wasn't enough for her. Our mother responded, "You can't lie to us. We know how you are and how you behave. Maybe you should try talking to him again. He might dislike you for cheating if you ever tell him about that, but he always asks about you when your father or I see him. He still cares dearly about you, and you have a place in his heart." With that, Lacey just screamed, "No!" Then she stormed out. Melody laughed, "She totally has a crush on him." We all knew that it was true. Even though she was together with Geo, she never acted with him like a couple. Geo might grab her butt, but she never touched him or even kissed him. There was no flirting or anything. There was absolutely nothing. Melody and I both decided that we wanted to visit our father more, especially since we didn't know how much time we would still have with him.