Chapter 82 Weird Rules
As spring blossomed into summer, Emily hoped to spend more time with her boyfriend, but all he seemed to think about was work.
Merging their two companies had done the trick. The financial crisis was mostly behind him, but he couldn’t relax. He was up at all hours, and then wake up at six in the morning and head to work again, his handsome face marred by under-eye puffiness.
This had to stop.
When they had dinner, one of the few times of the day when Byron was not buried in work, she brought up the issue.
“Are there some other financial troubles I don’t know about?” she asked.
“Huh?” he said, his mind obviously not focused on the present.
“I read the reports,” Emily said, “I read the business news even though it’s really boring. Everything says we’re doing well. Why are you working so hard?”
“I’m not,” he objected, “this is how much I normally work.”
Emily gave him a look to indicate he wasn’t fooling anyone. “Are you still worried about the company?”
“A little bit,” he said, “I’ve got to make sure to keep the positive momentum going.”
Emily still had the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her.
“How long until you can stop working yourself into the ground?” she inquired.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It could take a while...”
She was disappointed, but Byron took hold of her hand. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll bounce back.”
“Are you talking about the company?” she asked.
“Yes.” He seemed to have no idea that their relationship had stalled. There was hardly any more time for late night cuddling or luxuriating in bed in the mornings.
Emily would have thought he was having an affair, but she trusted him too much. This was the same man who once held her in his arms in the throes of passion and told her that he loved her. Surely he wouldn’t cheat on her... would he?
When Sylvia called to invite them over for lunch, Byron said he was too busy. Emily couldn’t believe he wouldn’t visit his mother. She decided to go by herself instead; maybe Sylvia would have some ideas on how to deal with him.
Emily brought her dog Shandy along since she didn’t like to be apart from the pup. But to her surprise, Sylvia had a pet of her own.
“I need a cat to keep my company,” the older woman complained, “this is what it’s come to because I never see my son anymore.”
Sylvia was still bitter about their move into the new house, not that it reduced the number of her unannounced visits all that much. But lately, things had really changed. Byron had barely spoken to his mother in the last few weeks.
The cat looked alarmed when it saw Shandy approach, while the innocent pup bounded up to it, impatient to make friends.
“Shandy, be careful,” Emily called out. She picked up her pet in the nick of time before the cat could swipe at the pup with its claws.
Sylvia poured some cocktails, and they went outside to enjoy the sunny weather on the patio. Emily put Shandy down and the dog ran around on the lawn.
“Now I’ve got little bits of cat fur everywhere,” Sylvia went on complaining, “It spreads all over the house, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Why do animals have to be so... hairy?”
Emily laughed. It seemed Sylvia extended her need for control even to household pets. “You should have gotten a hairless cat.”
“No thank you. They freak me out with their nakedness.”
“Then you have to accept that animals are imperfect creatures,” Emily advised.
“Unlike humans, who are perfect in every way,” Sylvia sneered.
“Humans...” Emily mused.
“Is everything okay with Byron?” Sylvia asked the exact question Emily had been thinking about.
“I don’t know. He’s been working too much lately, and I hardly ever see him.”
Sylvia’s mouth hung open in astonishment. “You too?”
“Yes, why are you so surprised? You know how busy he’s been lately.”
“To be honest, I thought you were conspiring to keep Byron away from me,” Sylvia said in her usual blunt way.
“Why would I do that?” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I would never try to keep him from his mother.”
“Then what the hell is going on?”
“I was hoping you would tell me,” Emily said. She was quickly losing hope of making sense of this situation. “Maybe at least you have some advice? He won’t tell me what’s going on.”
“Men have their own weird rules...” Sylvia waved her hand dismissively. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. If he thinks he needs to work, he’ll keep working ‘til he drops.”
“That’s not very comforting,” Emily said.
“That’s the way it is,” Sylvia stated, “I had to deal with all sorts of crap when I was married to Byron’s father. Now as you see I’m single and couldn’t be happier.”
“Are you saying I should do nothing?” Emily exclaimed, “No, I refuse to accept this.”
“Talking to him won’t help once he’s decided on a course of action,” Sylvia warned.
“Then I’ll try something different,” Emily resolved.
