Billionaires At War

CHAPTER XIII

"Long night, Maria?"

Harrison laughed as he crossed Maria's desk on his way to his office. He turned around to watch her gather her things, her eyes were wide open, signs of strain at the edges. They had been working tirelessly in hopes of having everything they needed, done by the end of the eight-month goal before they could reduce their pace. She was giving it her best, and Harrison greatly appreciated her effort.

"Yes sir." She sat down at the desk, setting the files down while he stripped out of his jacket. "Not about work. It was a personal issue, I spent all night at it, so I am a bit hare-brained, but I already have some cups of coffee on the way."

"Everything alright?"

"Right as rain, nothing to worry about." She passed him the folders after quickly sorting through them. "These are the sales report from the stores, some reports from the factories, receipts from our overseas purchases, and the research you asked for."

"You are a miracle worker."

"Thank you." She muttered, looking down at her tablet, focused on what was on her screen. "You have a meeting at ten and three today. Lunch with your mother at one, I have already reserved the tables at the restaurant."

"Thank you. I'll go through these and get them back to you."

As heavy as the workload was, it was considerably lighter compared to when they started. Harrison was down to a few meetings a day, depending on if issues arose during the day. His closing hours were earlier, he had more time to rush home and spend some quality time with his family. He and Josephine were also in a better place, they spent a little more time together, and he had decided to allow her lie about Cassandra to fall away.

He pushed the folders aside, setting his phone on them and resting his head against the table. He laughed to himself when an odd thought came to him. That morning, before he headed out, he caught a glance of himself through the car window and realised how old he seemed. All the long hours seemed to be taking a toll because he looked fifty and felt like a hundred. His bones were almost always sore, his eyes were strained from stress. The veins on the top of his head and across his neck became more pronounced, his skin seemed so drawn.

He needed a long, extended vacation. He wondered if he could fly out of town for a few uninterrupted weeks. Somewhere with a cool beach and king-sized beds that his body could get lost in. He would sleep most of the day and only wake up to enjoy a few brushes of sunlight before sleeping some more.

He was even on the verge of falling asleep when a knock came at his door.

"Mr Clark?"

He sighed, opening his eyes without lifting his head, "What can I do for you, Maria?"

"There is a woman here to see you, and she doesn't have an appointment, but she would really like to speak to you."

He sat us slowly. He was sure it wasn't Cassandra again, Maria would have said so the moment she knocked. "Did she give you her name? She might be a client who has a complaint about our product or something."

"Her name is Elizabeth Claymont."

"Send her in, please."

Harrison had met Josephine's mother once, briefly since her parents were usually out of the country, he never had time to visit them as they planned. The woman was as elegant as Josephine described, tall, not only because of the heels she wore, and with short brown hair. He always found it funny how many similar features she shared with Josephine, the oval face, Greek nose and...on the more obvious side, the height.

She walked over to the desk with her hand out, shaking him as he stood to greet her. Her smile was sunny, so at least he was sure nothing was wrong with Josephine. "I am sorry for showing up here unannounced. You...you know who I am, right?"