Page 76 of Beyond the Hedge Maze

“Actually, let’s do a 90s pop mix. I think I need to spice up my life.”

Chapter 30

Oliver

Present

His foot tapped nervously against the laminated floors of the Butchering and June law offices located in the Square Mile.

“Olive, you’re going to put a hole in the floor, bro.” Isaac jostled his arm, and he stopped the tapping as Jesse took his hand.

Jesse had tried his best to wear him out before the meeting with his parents' solicitors, taking him apart and putting him back together several times the night before. Then he, Jesse, and Isaac all got up early that morning to go to Jesse’s city flat and pack up as much as they could in his rental car to take back to Chapman House later.

He appreciated the effort, but he was still filled with restless energy as they waited in the lobby.

The meeting was set to start in less than five minutes, but his parents still hadn’t shown. There was a conference room ensconced in glass off to the side that kept drawing Oliver’s attention. Two women and one man dressed in severe black suits sat at one end with their laptops open, talking to each other and typing away. He looked from them over to Mr. Stillwell with his magenta and white polka dot bowtie, and his nerves hit the ceiling.

Where the fuck where they?

He wanted to get this over with. He wished he had accepted the cup of tea that had been offered earlier by the man behind the reception desk.

“Tell me something to distract me,” Oliver pleaded. He watched as Isaac and Jesse looked at each other, Jesse’s eyebrows raising as he floundered for something to say.

“Can’t you just look at him and be distracted?” Isaac stuck his thumb in Jesse’s direction. “Congrats really are in order, Olive. Your hot rower is equally hot in a suit.” From behind them, he heard Mr. Stillwell chuckle, and Oliver wanted to die—right there on the grey floors under the fluorescent lights. “Okay, so not what we’re looking for. Let’s see…Let’s see…Oh right. Well, I did have some news, nothing crazy, but I quit my job, and I’m moving back to Chicago.”

Oliver swiveled on the spot to look at his friend dead on. “What’re you on about?”

Isaac let out a nervous laugh. “I also haven’t told Rachel, so let’s keep it between the three of us for now. And Mr. Stillwell, of course. No blabbing, right Barnaby?”

“My lips are sealed,” Mr. Stillwell replied, mirth in his voice. He stood from one of the lobby chairs. “Ah, it seems Patricia and Charles have finally decided to join us.”

Oliver’s heart rose to his throat while he watched through the glass walls as his parents exited the lifts to begin the long walk down the hall to get to the offices. Isaac’s announcement did more to break his heart than to distract him, and as it lay there crumbling in the hollows of his chest, the sight of his parents set the remnants of it on fire. He was overwhelmed, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

Jesse stepped in front of him, blocking them from view. “Ignore Isaac and refocus, remember what my dad said. They don’t have a strong case. You have the upper hand. They want something from you. They need you. After this, you never have to see them again, okay? This is it.”

He stared back into Jesse’s hazel eyes, absorbing the earnestness in his gaze, the confidence of his voice. “Right, you’re right.”

The receptionist rounded the corner of his desk to open the door for his parents. They barreled through like they owned the entire building, an air of unearned privilege wafting off of them in waves.

“Is there a reason we’re all loitering like criminals?” His mother’s voice echoed through the office like fingernails on a chalkboard. “Why hasn’t anyone taken my coat?” Oliver was sympathetic towards the poor receptionist as he scrambled to accommodate her. Oliver wondered how often she had verbally abused him at his own place of work.

“Oliver. I see you’ve brought company.” His father then addressed Jesse and Isaac. “I’m sure you both will understand that this is a family matter. Your presence here is not required, nor is it welcomed.”

One of the B&J solicitors had emerged from the conference room, and Oliver was glad to get the meeting started. Isaac and Jesse both looked like they were seconds away from an outburst. “Lords and Lady Catesby, we’re ready for you.”

Jesse again stepped in front of him, bending close so no one else could hear them. “If you want us in there, we’ll be there.”

“No, I’ll be okay. I want to do this myself.”

A firm kiss was pressed to his cheek. “Okay. We’ll be right here when you’re done.”

Oliver shifted his attention from Jesse to the solicitor, ready to get the meeting over with when his mother opened her mouth again. “If you’re done with your…display. We have better things to do with our time.”

Oliver’s resolve hardened. Their relationship was over. It had been sick and suffering for years, for most of Oliver’s life, but he realized that it had truly died the same day they had laid his grandfather to rest. He was tired of the space that they continued to take up in his life.

With Mr. Stillwell’s hand on his shoulder, trying to provide the little bit of reassurance that he could, Oliver followed his parents and their solicitors into the sterile conference room.

He took a seat in the black leather swivel chair next to Mr. Stillwell. They were facing the glass of the conference room walls, the lobby along with Jesse and Isaac at their front while the view of the city sat behind them.