Page 30 of Take It Offline
She was never featured in a list, and her life wouldn’t warrant a biopic. While her success was grander than she expected, it was a combination of savvy and luck.
What the internet doesn’t say is that my father, Lawrence Conway, has never had need for money, and thus, has neverworked a day in his life. Instead, he’s chosen to dedicate himself to family and lifelong retirement.
Similarly, my mother has limited work experience. Her career includes some modeling in her teen years before marrying young and becoming a mother.
Even though none of the family has been involved with the company in decades, the name has lived on. Within the upper classes, in the minds of my schoolteachers and classmates, and on the tongues of my coworkers.
But there’s only one tongue that kept me awake last night.
Charlie’s lips are softer than I imagined, full and insistent. I can’t stop thinking about the heat of his hands on me, in my hair, down my back, digging in, as unrelenting as his mouth.
Kissing him was a mistake.
One I can’t stop thinking about making again.
Just as the cab pulls up to my parents’ house, the front door opens, and Harvey Casemiro exits, looking ruffled. At the sight of him, my heart drops into my stomach. He’s been their accountant since I’ve been alive, and if he’s here, there’s trouble.
“Good afternoon, Emma,” he says, flattening his tie and buttoning his jacket. The man is built like a linebacker Ivy once dated, and he’s always in his Sunday best.
I’m afraid to ask how good it can be if he’s here. “Is this a social visit?” I ask, desperately hoping, even though his visits have never been social.
Harvey has a fantastic poker face. Though his eyes are kind, it’s difficult to get a read on the deep frown lines carved into his brow. “A small consultation. Nothing to worry about. Your father has been getting some new trading tips, but I was able to steer him away before he committed to anything. Everything else has been cleared away now, and you’ll be the first to know if anything changes.”
The relief makes my knees weak. Harvey has single-handedly saved us from impending doom, and at this point, I trust him with my life.
“It was Logan senior, wasn’t it?” I ask. Logan’s dad is always filling my father’s head with “finance tips.” The man hasn’t heard of a pyramid scheme he doesn’t admire.
Harvey tips his head. “Mr. Williamson Cross might have been mentioned. But he’s only a symptom of the larger issue.” He exhales, long and slow, his mouth pinched in the corners. “They need to be realistic in their situation, Emma. If they make a big move without my knowledge, even I won’t be able to save the house.”
The estate looms behind him, and my gut twists.
It’s exactly what I’m scared of.
He slides a hand into his pocket, his broad shoulders testing the stress limit of his jacket buttons. “Keep working to convince them to dissolve their investment in the foundation. It’s a good place to start. Though I really want to reiterate that moving?—”
“I know.” Downsizing is the only way to get my parents out of their circle of friends and far away from the peer pressure to keep up with them financially. More than ever, I wish I could convince them to sell. The price it would get could take care of them for two lifetimes, and it would save me a lot of sleepless nights. “I’ll talk to them again.”
His face softens so profoundly that I think that if I gave him a hug right now, it would throw him into a tailspin, so I pat his arm instead.
“Thank you, Harvey. We’re in your debt.”
There’s twice as much gray hair at his temples than there was the last time I saw him. My parents have probably taken years off his life. “It’s all part of the job. Don’t worry yourself too much. You pulled them out of the worst of it. We’ll make sure it works out. It’s under control.”
What a kind lie. “I don’t deserve you.”
He surprises me with a gentle smile. “I think you’ll find you do, and more importantly, it’s your parents who are indebted to you. Remember that.”
Once upon a time, I had designer clothes, front row tickets, first class flights, almost everything I could want.
It was wonderful.
It was also an illusion.
The first time my parents dipped into my inheritance, I was a freshman in college. By sophomore year, they had drained every last cent through bad investments and overspending.
Though it’s a constant fear, they haven’t had to file for bankruptcy. But that’s only due to Harvey’s smart accounting, along with two Renoirs, a Signac, two summer homes, an apartment in New York, and every other item I could convince my parents to give up.
We disguised it as retirement—as much as two people who hadn’t ever really worked could retire—downsizing from four houses to one, and ensuring all financial decisions had to be approved by Harvey or me first.
