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"I'm home," Jeremy shouted, letting the front door of his parents' Highland Park home slam behind him. "Anyone here?"
"It's about time," Gary Klein scolded as he entered from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. "Dinner was ready twenty minutes ago, and your mother is on the warpath."
"You know traffic," Jeremy noted without apology, hugging his father briefly. "Where's everyone?"
"Out in the back, of course. Enjoying a fine summer night."
Jeremy sauntered through the large house following his father, bracing for a tongue lashing from his mother. His anticipation of the subsequent conversation sizzled through his veins like a hot current. Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the patio, stopping to admire the giant hydrangea bushes in full bloom. "The garden looks great, Mom."
"There you are," Annette Klein breathed with relief. "I was worried." She wrapped her son in an embrace redolent with her signature lemon verbena scent.
"You were annoyed," Jeremy corrected.
"Well, yes, that too, and complimenting my flowers won't save you," his mother bantered. "Dinner was ready an hour ago. You know how I hate it when you're late. Now everything will be ruined."
"An hour ago," he challenged, raising an eyebrow. His mother had the good grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry, Mom." Jeremy offered no excuses, knowing his mother would find none acceptable for his detention. "It won't happen again," he lied.
"Of course, it will," Zachary stated baldly, clasping his brother's hand in his firm grip. "It's the only time I get out of the doghouse, though, so I'm not complaining."
"Oh, you're not out that easily, baby brother," Jeremy teased. Moving away from Zach, Jeremy slapped his older brother, Scott, on the back.
"You don't even know what I did this time," Zachary complained. The two men were almost Xerox copies of one another, Jeremy, the original, Zachary, a slightly faded replica.
"I don't have to. If nothing else, you're consistent. It's money, a woman, or the car."
"That's not fair," the younger Klein argued.
"Except I'm right," Jeremy boasted, grabbing Zach from behind in a fake chokehold.
"That's enough, boys," their mother admonished lovingly. To their faces, Annette was strict and demanding, but there was nothing she enjoyed more than having her three grown sons around her. And that was what she told anyone and everyone who would listen, much to Jeremy's embarrassment. "They make me so proud," she would tell friends and strangers alike.
Annette was self-satisfied with good reason. All three of her sons were brilliant and well educated, successful doctors, each having pursued a career in medicine. And all three were tall, dark and handsome.
Although Jeremy knew his mom worried about Zachary, despite his proclivity for getting into scrapes his brother had breezed through med school, and finished an eye-opening stint with Doctors without Borders. Annette kept pushing her youngest child to outgrow his wild ways now that he had graduated and begun practicing, but at 34, Zach showed no signs of maturing.
Still, Annette adored them, hugging them affectionately, scolding them as she did now, yet begging them to come around more often. The three men were very different, but all made an effort to visit often enough to gratify her.
"Sit down, Squirt," Jeremy commanded. "And let me get some of mom's home cooking." Pushing Zach into the nearest chair, Jeremy looked over at Scott and his wife Alyssa, marveling at how different he was from his brothers.
Scott had been born an adult, diligent and disciplined. He had settled down with Alyssa the moment he graduated med school, becoming a successful oncologist and joining his father's lucrative practice. He owned a house in the suburbs and had two gorgeous children. Zach, on the other hand, was still sowing his wild oats, fun-loving and full of humor, as determined as Peter Pan to avoid adulthood.
And then there was Jeremy, persistently curious and inventive. He had landed somewhere between his two brothers, both in age and personality. Like Zach, Jeremy was able to enjoy a night on the town, but while he had not achieved the success of Scott, he was nose to the grindstone about work.
Today, that work ethic paid off. Jeremy stood to make his whole family proud. His hard work in school, his efforts in his startup company and his skillful negotiations had all led to today.
Jeremy moved around the large outdoor table, kissing cheeks and offering hugs before taking a seat. His father brought a large platter to the table, and the family comfortably talked over one another until plates and mouths were full. He ignored his mother's question and the sideways looks he received from the family. "By the way, which one was it?" he prodded Zachary.
"The car," his brother confessed, shamefaced.
"Totaled?"
"Not quite," Zach admitted. "And it was the other guy's fault."
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Seriously? It's always the other guy. You don't honestly expect me to fall for that bullshit, do you?"
"Jeremy," his mother warned. "Language. Why don't you just tell us your news."
"So," Jeremy deflected, wanting to make the moment last. "I'm famished, let's eat. Give me the gory details, Squirt."
Zach reluctantly shared the saga of his latest car accident, his fifth or sixth, if Jeremy was counting correctly. "And how can you running a stop sign make this the other guy's fault?" Jeremy challenged, rolling his eyes in disbelief.
"You had to be there," Zach insisted.
"So?" Annette asked him, unable to wait any longer. "We've skirted the conversation long enough."
"Nice try, Jeremy. How was your meeting?" Scott insisted, asking the question everyone else wanted to have answered. "Are you selling?"
"You guys don't waste any time, do you? Can't a guy eat in peace?" Jeremy asked with a laugh. Annette slapped his extended arm as it stretched across the table reaching for the potatoes. Retracting his arm, Jeremy asked Alyssa to pass them instead.
As a young man, he assumed that his long arms, long legs, long fingers and feet, which he barely managed to avoid tripping over, would provide entrée into the world of professional tennis. He'd shown promise in high school and college. How different his life might have been if he'd chosen that path. Thank god he had given up the youthful notion of turning pro or he wouldn't be here now.
Jeremy returned to the conversation his family had anxiously awaited all day. Much as he would have enjoyed stalling a while longer, it was time to put them out of their misery. But not without one more poke. "Selling what?" Jeremy asked, his face a blank mask.
"Don't you dare play this game with us," Scott demanded. "First, you're late, and now you won't give us a straight answer?"
Jeremy couldn't deny them, or himself, any longer. "It looks good." The family nodded around the table, leaning in to hear more. "It looks excellent," he corrected, his voice rising eagerly. "Outstanding." Jeremy's enthusiasm was infectious.
Annette clapped her hands together with glee.
"So, spill," Zach insisted.
Jeremy was happy to oblige; his words almost tripped over each other. "I spoke with Randall Parker again this morning just to be sure. Do you remember Randall, my investment banker? He's reviewing the final offer. The man is sharp, and he likes it. That was just the reassurance I was looking for."
"What would your role be?" his father prodded. Jeremy was dragging things out a bit, sharing his news with the maximum buildup. His father was inching toward the question Jeremy knew they were all dying to ask.
"Still to be negotiated," Jeremy replied, cryptically. "We discussed several options, including a choice of VP of operations, or VP of Design..."
"Which will you choose?" Scott asked.
Jeremy stabbed a piece of beef from the platter and shoved it straight into his mouth, taking his time to answer, while he chewed thoughtfully. "...or President of the whole damn company."
"Damn," Zachary shouted, jumping up, throwing his hands in the air, and knocking his chair backward. "You killed it!"
"I did indeed," Jeremy nodded, accepting handshakes from his father and Scott and a hearty slap on the back from Zach. "They were beyond generous. In addition to absorbing my startup, and positioning me at the helm, the focus will be on new product development. MetriRx will make job offers to all of my employees. Everyone keeps his job for at least one year. Then we will evaluate redundancies. Almost everyone remains in Chicago, although a few may have to move to Texas. We agreed to do all we could to avoid significant losses due to layoffs or a move."
"I'm sure they'll be relieved to hear that," Scott commented.
"Will you have to move?" Gary asked. Annette looked stricken at the idea of her son relocating far from her.
"You will be relieved; I was. MetriRx would like me in Dallas, but we will revisit that in a year. For now, I will commute." Annette heaved a loud sigh of relief. "They have over 600 people scattered around the country, so if I can find a way to move headquarters from Texas, I probably will. I know Texas is more attractive than Chicago, weather and tax-wise. I'll have to think that through a lot more."
"My son the president," Annette lifted her eyes heavenward. "I couldn't be prouder."
Jeremy shared an amused glance with Zach. "It's a company, Mom, not the White House. Pass the salad, please," Jeremy took the bowl, taking his time to load his plate, adding vinaigrette as if dressing this lettuce was an essential job.
The family was staring, expectant, watching him pour as if their lives depended on it. He looked around the table and laughed. "I know you want to ask, so go ahead."
"How much?" his father whispered. Jeremy savored the moment, their anticipation, his sense of accomplishment.
"One point one billion over five years. One hundred seventy million this year with the additional milestone payments." Jeremy sat back in his seat with a satisfied laugh.
"Holy shit," Zachary exploded, "You're a fucking billionaire!"
"Well, not exactly," Jeremy said shyly. "At least not right away, but yeah, I guess so. Can you believe it?"
"What are the milestones?" Scott asked, always the practical one while his parents sat stunned, Zach grinned like a hyena and Alyssa squeezed his hand until he feared it might break.
"Revenue targets, deliverables, none of them out of reach if I get the backup MetriRx has promised."
"Poor Natasha. She's going to be so sorry she split," Zachary declared, referencing the painful breakup of Jeremy's two-year engagement. Jeremy recoiled from the remark like a gut punch, the pleasure of the moment dimmed.
"Oh please," their mother jumped in. "This is not about Natasha or the past. It's about Jeremy's very bright future. Bask in your moment, Son. You earned it."
"You're mother's right, Jeremy. We couldn't be prouder," Gary added, clapping him on the back.
Now, thanks to Zach, Natasha was in Jeremy's head. He pictured her reading the news. Would she be sorry, as Zach predicted? Would she wish she'd waited for Jeremy to succeed? The past came back to haunt him, along with all his insecurities.
Jeremy recognized his mother's words as the platitudes they were. Annette was as devastated as Jeremy when Natasha left, maybe more. Running a shaking hand through his hair, Jeremy tried to make a joke of it. "Ironically, she left me to marry someone rich," Jeremy conceded, although the words chafed. "Because Anthony was more financially successful."
"She put dollar signs ahead of your love for each other," his mother asserted philosophically. "She got what she deserved." Patting Jeremy on the cheek, Annette rose from her chair. "Gary," she addressed her husband, "let's find a bottle of something bubbly and celebrate properly."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence," Jeremy told their retreating forms as his parents went in search of champagne, the excitement missing from his voice. "This is just the beginning. There is still a ton of work ahead."
"You've never been afraid of hard work," Gary tossed over his shoulder. "You have made the deal of a lifetime, Jeremy, and don't you forget it."
His father's words buoyed Jeremy. Gary had expected Jeremy to join his oncology practice after graduation. But, somewhere along the way, engineering fired his imagination. He began inventing and never looked back. A biomedical engineer and physician by training, Jeremy started with nothing then built a profitable company as each device was more successful than the last.
"Remember what a hard time Dad gave me when I chose engineering?" Jeremy laughed, tilting his head in the direction his parents had gone. "The pressure to study medicine was incredible."
"I couldn't believe you agreed to do both," Zach acknowledged with a bit of awe in his voice even now. "But what a payoff, huh?"
"You're not kidding," Jeremy agreed, still a little shell-shocked at the sale of his small company. "After all the pressure, it means a lot, hearing Dad now," Jeremy laughed.
"Oh yeah, Dad was relentless," Scott agreed.
"He wasn't as bad as Natasha," Zach maintained, ignoring a steely-eyed look from Alyssa. "She was horrible. What a bitch she was when she thought Jeremy was letting his future livelihood slip through his fingers. Talk about a reversal of fortune! She's gonna kill herself when she finds out."
Jeremy's parents returned with an open bottle of Prosecco and fluted glasses, which they filled rapidly. Lifting his drink, his father toasted proudly, "To our son, Jeremy. To his great success."
"To Jeremy," the table echoed.
"Boy, would I love to see Natasha's face when she hears about this," Zachary said, throwing back his wine in one gulp and reaching for a refill.
"Maybe," Alyssa spoke up in her quiet way, steel under velvet, "Jeremy doesn't want to talk about Natasha anymore."
All eyes shifted to Jeremy, who struggled to hide his hollow expression. Even now, at the top of his game, his face reflected the hurt he had suffered. "She's moved on," he mumbled. "It was never a match made in heaven, and we all knew it." A geek through and through, no one had been more surprised than Jeremy when Natasha, lovely and popular, had dated him. From the first moment to the last, Jeremy worried that he couldn't hold on to her. He should have known she would find greener pastures.
"And now you'll move forward, too," Jeremy's mom promised. "This sale has taken all your energy, but you are approaching forty. You've settled the business, and honey, you may not realize it, but you are quite a catch. Find a nice girl. It's past time for you to be giving me grandchildren."
"You have grandchildren," Scott and Alyssa protested in unison.
"Stay out of this," Annette laughed. "I am trying to make a point here. Jeremy, I know she broke your heart, but you need to put yourself out there again, start dating, find the right girl this time. You're incredibly successful, and you're my very handsome boy..."
"Of course, you would say that," Jeremy interrupted, running a hand through his thick, wavy hair self-consciously. "You're my mother."
"Maybe. But I am right. You're so good looking. Seriously," Annette continued when he looked skeptical. "You are the complete package. That's what they call it now, right?"
"Yep," Alyssa confirmed. "You are, Jeremy. Annette is right. My girlfriends ask me for a fixup with you all the time. What do you say, Mr. President? Let me set you up, please?"
"Thanks, Alyssa, but let's not jump the gun on that title or the dates," Jeremy replied, unable to make eye contact with his sister-in-law. "I'll find my own women when the time is right." Why did he have to discuss this with his family? It was so humiliating.
It had been a while since he had dated, but Jeremy knew women found him to be smart and good husband material. That they also thought him attractive and sexy never failed to amaze him. He knew women were looking to settle down with a good man who had a reliable paycheck. Jeremy wasn't blind. And he certainly wasn't stupid. Women would be actively chasing him now, for all the wrong reasons.
But his family was correct. He had allowed Natasha to get under his skin and undermine his confidence. It was well past time to let that go. Jeremy would have to determine who craved his cash and who wanted him. It would just add an extra layer to the dating process. He was a discerning man. He would be able to tell them apart.
It was time to get back in the saddle.