Alpha Billionaire Series

BROOKE

I rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. I managed myself in spite of being sick but didn’t wake up Mark. It took me few minutes to realize that I was in his house, sleeping in his bed.

Shit. I was going to be in so much trouble.

The last thing I remembered was watching our show. I must have fallen asleep on the couch. I had been so tired I wasn't surprised. Why had he put me in bed instead of sending me home?

Without waking him I found my pants and my shoes and left. Maybe if I could sneak in, Mom wouldn't know that I had come. home late. I knew it was a lot of maybes, but I had to have hope. I had spent the night away without letting my parents know Dad would be disappointed, but it was Mom who would make my life miserable.

Mom sat just inside the living room, in the dark. The second I was inside and closed the door. She said, “You're home” She got up and walked upstairs without saying anything else.

I thought about going to my room and going to bed, but I was already awake for the day. I made coffee but couldn't drink it. The smell churned my stomach.

About an hour after I got home Mark texted me. “You left without waking me up.”

“Why didn't you wake me last night? You let me sleep.” I texted back.

“I tried, but you would not wake up. Is everything okay at home?"

“Mom is pissed, but she went to bed. I won't know how bad it is until later”

“Let me know if you need anything”

“A time machine!”

No longer interested in coffee and feeling icky from having slept in my clothes again, I headed upstairs and took a shower. Clean and dressed I grabbed a book and headed out to the deck. I didn't dare leave the house again, not until I knew the reparations Mom would demand.

“If anyone asks, I fell asleep on your couch.” I texted Angela.

“Oh, did you have a little too much of a good time last night?”

“Hardly. I fell asleep on his couch, and apparently, he couldn't wake me up. I accidentally spent the night”

“Oh fuck”

“Tell me about it. I think it's time to step up my job hunt so I can afford an apartment. You want to be my roomie?”

“Have you seen what apartments cost? You need to get your MBA with me so we can afford to be roommates.”

“rll think about it”

That hadn't been the first time Angela mentioned getting an MBA. I started looking up the kinds of businesses that required an MBA, and what average salaries looked like. The numbers were much better than what I would be making if my job was full-time. But the hospital would never make my position a full-time one, not when they could get away with hiring part-tim workers.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

Maybe going to graduate school wasn't the worst idea?

I don't know how long I was out on the deck looking up random things from MBA programs and job listings on my phone when Dad came out.

“Your mother is pretty upset. She wants to talk with you.”

More like she wanted to yell at me.

The look on her face said it all. She didn't even have to open her mouth. I could predict exactly how this was going to go. It would start with a stare-down. The frown lines that framed her face pulled the corners of her mouth down further, making her look older.

I made a note to frown less and smile more. Hell, even resting bitch face with no expression would be better than those frown lines. I must have been a great disappointment to her.

As per her standard practice, at times like these, I was made aware of something after the fact.

“We were going to go to the lake and get the house in order. But now there isn't enough time.”

There was plenty of time. Lake Lanier wasn't that far away.

“But now, I guess we'll have to go tomorrow and get everything done all at once.”

I wasn't stopping them from heading out to the lake. They could still go for a few hours and get stuff done.

“My entire morning has been off-kilter since I didn't sleep a wink last night”

And now I was expected to understand where my actions played a part in her distress.

I tried not to sigh. I felt like I was playing a part in a comedy of errors, or more realistically an ad-libbed melodrama. Mom was the victim, and I was the dastardly ne'er-do-well out to foil her plans. If only I had a moustache to twirl between my fingers and an evil cackle.

“You can still go to the lake," I pointed out. I decided to embrace my part in this farce.

“No,” Mom sighed. “There isn’t enough time to get there, figure out everything that needs to be done, and...”

I stared at Dad, pleading with my eyes, to make her stop.

“Karen, we can go up and assess what needs to happen. It doesn't need to be done all in one trip. I know you're going to be running up there all week as it is."

“But I could really use Brooke's help. And if she’s too tired from staying out all night, how is that going to happen?”

And there it was. It was my fault entirely, and she had never once asked or even told me that she was going to need my help “I wasn't out partying all night. I fell asleep on Angela's couch watching TV. You could have told me you wanted my help with the lake house today.”

“You know your father is having some of his work colleagues out next weekend.”

“Is that next weekend?" I knew, but only because Mark told me, not because I had received any psychic messages from my mother.

She knew because she made the arrangements. She's the one who put it together every year. I didn't pay attention because hadn't been around much in the past six years, and before that, I was a kid who didn't pay attention.

“Well, you could have called and let me know that's what was happening, so I didn’t need to stay up all night worrying."

“I fell asleep. If I was awake enough to call, I would have just come home. I didn't do it on purpose. I'm sorry you worried.” Mom dabbed at her eyes. I hated it when she cried. Especially when it was over stuff like this.

“Brooke, why don't you go change? We can pick up some burgers on the way there. Karen, if you pack an overnight bag, we can stay tonight, and get started bright and early in the morning. How does that sound?” Dad suggested.

“Really? We won't have any food for dinner there.”

“We can go out for dinner. Brooke can pull together enough from what we already have at home so we can have breakfast in the morning”

Dad was good at getting Mom to see things in a more logical fashion. It wasn't as if we weren't heading up to a house that already had beds ready and made. Mom never left the lake house without it being spotless and in ready-to-move-in condition.

“That sounds like a plan.”

I was on my feet and headed to the kitchen. Disaster averted. Mom made no mention of limiting my after-hours activities. Of course, I was about to be sequestered at the lake house with her for two days, there was plenty of time for it to come up. Mom followed me into the kitchen. At first, she just stood there as I pulled coffee filters and the bean grinder out. I placed them on the counter next to the bag of dark roast. The smell made my nose twitch. I felt nauseated for a moment but did m, best to hide it from Mom.

“I've been thinking, you can invite your friend up to the lake for this weekend."

“Really? I'll see if Angela is available. I bet she'd love it”

“Oh, Angela. Okay, she's welcome.”

For a moment I looked at Mom out of the corner of my eye. Was she trying to figure out if I had a secret boyfriend? I mean, I did, but I wasn't about to let her know. Besides, he was going to be there.

“Just let her know we are headed up on Wednesday evening”

“Wednesday? We'll be up Friday after work."

“Nonsense. Friday won't give you enough time. You'll want a few days to relax”

“Mom, we have jobs and have to work,” I said. I opened the fridge and began pulling out eges and cheese. I found an unopened package of bacon and added that to my pile on the counter.

She waved her hand around. “just tell them you're taking some time off. I'm sure it won't be a problem.”

“I haven't earned any vacation time yet. And I'm not using PTO to go to the lake house.” Especially not to go to the lake hous with my parents.

“I have no idea if Angela has time, she can take either”

“Don’t worry about it, Brooke. I'll let your father know. He'll take care of it. Don't forget to pack an onion and some pepper, we can make omelettes for breakfast”

I stared at her back as she left the kitchen. Going to the lake house next weekend was clearly a command, and not an optior