Willow was seated on the plush leather couch in the family house, the interior as vintage as the exterior. Sunlight filtered through the lace curtains, dancing upon the hardwood floor and Willow's pale, freckled face. In the corner, a vintage record player sat atop a wooden credenza, playing an opera song. It had a soothing effect to it, for the room was silent, but not enough to soothe the anger brewing in Robert.
He watched Willow as she was engrossed in her phone, her laughter adding joy to the singer's sorrowful voice. She tucked her hair behind her ear and kept texting the person on the other end, who, Robert was sure, was going to be so unlucky once he got his eyes on him. He had already known his name, Frederick, the one with the fancy horse at the racetrack.
"Willow, who's that?" Max asked, breaking the silence.
"A friend," Willow said without lifting her eyes off the phone.
"And who's this "friend?" Max asked, his big brother mode activated. Outside the door, Alexander and Williams were engaged in a conversation, something about a new business idea William wanted to launch.
Willow set her phone down, her frown directed at her brother. "What? Are you supposed to know who all my friends are now?"
"I hope it's not Frederick?" he asked.
Willow gave him a sneer and continued texting.
"Stop texting him, I mean it," Max said.
Willow dangled her phone in her hand. "What? Do you want to seize my phone from me now? Go through my messages? See the kind of pictures I've been sending him?"
Max's face darkened. Robert didn't say anything, knowing it was best not to get into a sibling's quarrel.
"Have you been sending him pictures?" Max asked.
"Ugh!" Willow rose from her seat. "You're so annoying! I was just messing with you. Thanks dad, You just ruined my afternoon." she said hissing at him.
"I mean it Willow, end all conversations now," Max said after her.
Willow didn't look at Robert as she stomped out of the living room and past William and Alexander. She had avoided looking at him for a while now, and Robert could feel the pain thud with his heartbeat each time she did that. Alexander and William stopped speaking and looked into the living room, their gazes exchanging between Max and Robert in question. When Max waved his hand to dismiss their concern, they returned to their conversation.
"I don't know what to do with that girl," Max sighed. He looked to Robert. "I want to make sure she's focused enough to get back to college. Mum and Dad are counting on me to do so."
Robert nodded. "I know."
They all knew the kind of trouble Willow had stirred when she dropped out of college and said her dream was to rear horses like her brother, only that her brother had a college degree. Her parents had been furious and ended up blaming Max for not directing his sister rightly, all of which Max had tried to speak to her but had failed. Willow wanted nothing to do with "boring" classes and "useless" assignments when she could start living her dream, and their parents were not having it. But even Roberts knew Willow could be as stubborn as a mull.
"That's why I want to make sure she has nothing and no one distracting her," Max pierced Robert with a hard stare. Robert gulped silently; had Max known he liked Willow? Had he been too obvious? "I'm going to make sure she goes back."
Alexander and Williams walked into the room just at the same time the opera singer had finished singing. William had a satisfied smile on his face as he plopped on the couch, and Alexander didn't look all too relaxed.
"What's up?" Robert asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Willow as fast as he could.
"My father," Alexander said. "He wants me in his office first thing tomorrow morning. Partners are coming from different parts of the country, and he's told them I'd be speaking."
"That's low," Max said.
"It's manipulation at this point," William said.
"Tell him you're busy," Robert said, his mouth set in a grim line. "Put your foot down, and let him know your no is no."
"It's going to ruin things," William said.
"Are you in support of…" Robert turned to Alexander while pointing a finger at William. "Is he in support of you going? Was that what you two were talking about there? Because if it was I'd mess up that pretty face of yours, Will."
"I mean, Jeff is already doing a great job of ruining things at the company already," Max said.
"I wasn't telling him to take it," William said. "But I see no problem in him addressing a few partners."
"Are you blind?" Robert was visibly angry now. "Don't you see this is to trap him in Sterling Corporation?"
"And is that such a bad thing?" William shot back. "Is it such a bad thing for a father to want his brilliant son handling the family's legacy?"
"It is! It is when the father is simply using the son to get what he wants and dumping him after!" Robert yelled, frustrated that William was not seeing the truth as plain as day.
"You're being dramatic," William scoffed. "I think he wants to bring Alexander on completely but doesn't want to reveal all his cards lest Jeffery's mother gets all hysterical and dies of a heart attack or something."
"Now you're being delusional," Robert said. "But I get. I do. Your father isn't too far off from his."
At once, William was on his feet and charging at Robert. Robert too rose, but before any fists were thrown, Max stood between them as a buffer.
"You need to learn to keep that trash of a mouth when no one asks for your opinion," William warned with a finger pointed at Robert.
"Okay, you two need to calm down," Max put his hand on each of their chests, pushing them farther apart from each other. William, mostly cool-headed, yanked Max's hand away and went to go have his seat.
"Rob," Max called. "I need you to leave."