When Wealth Meets Homegrown - Chapter 1
Series: Dynasty (2017)
Word Count: 1,799
Lee typed on her computer keyboard with a bored expression on her face. It seemed to be another boring day at the office at her father’s company, Finley Inc. She was currently working on a contract for her father, Jacob, to Blake Carrington for Finley Inc. and Carrington Atlantic to work together while they ventured into the agriculture field while Carrington Atlantic took care of the oil operation on their farm in Iowa.
She sighed heavily and ceased her typing. She leaned back in the office chair and rubbed her eyes with her index fingers. “I should really get some glasses for the computer.” This wasn’t exactly her dream job, working for her father at this company after they struck oil on the farm and became richer than they could have imagined on the farm alone.
Lee wanted to work on the farm or make a name for herself as a handy woman in the small town she grew up in. But clearly, that would not happen soon. She even went to college for a bachelor's degree in business to help the family with the company. She understood all of this business stuff, but she didn’t exactly like it. It wasn’t her cup of tea, as they say.
She played with one of the plain silver rings on her right middle finger and twisted it around, letting her mind wander a little. A knock on the office door kicked her out of her own thoughts. She looked up from her hand and smiled at her mother. “Mornin’ mom. How’s dad this morning?”
Many would say that Lee was the spitting image of her mother, Rita, when she was her age. The long wavy auburn hair, her blue-grey eyes, and her athletic figure with subtle muscle definition from helping on the farm from a young age. Her face, however, was like that of her father’s in its heart shape.
“Your father is doing well. He has a few meetings to go to this morning and later tonight he is meeting with Mr. Carrington from Carrington Atlantic to discuss Finley Inc and Carrington Atlantic working together.” Rita explained as she walked further into the room and sat down on the couch in her daughter’s office.
Lee nodded her head and gave her mother a soft smile. “Oh. So that is why dad’s got me writing the contract for them. I did not know.” She remarked sarcastically, with a slight roll of her eyes. “I’m almost done writing it to hand it over to dad or his guy who proofreads this to see if I need to change anything.”
Rita chuckled softly and shook her head gently. “No need to get smart on us now, Lee.” She matched the sarcastic tone that her daughter had previously. “How ’bout we take a break and grab some lunch? You must be starved.”
“Can we do that in a bit? I’m almost done, and I’d like to turn this over before going to lunch. I can call you when I’m ready to go, though. I’d love to have lunch before we have to go to that party.” Lee bit the right side of her bottom lip for a moment.
“Sure thing. I’ll see you in a little while.” Her mother answered, giving her daughter a grin before getting up from the couch. She walked over to Lee and pressed a kiss on her forehead. “Are you going to ask Ben to come to the party later?”
A small pit grew in her stomach and her hands chilled at the mention of Ben. “Um… I can ask him, but I think he said that he had a family thing tonight that he can’t miss.” Ben was less of her boyfriend and more of her girlfriend, but she couldn’t bring herself to come out just yet. Ben was short for Bennett and she called her Ben to appease her parents into thinking that she had a boyfriend.
“He always seems to have a family thing going on. Your father and I really want to meet him.” Rita frowned. “You’ve been seeing him for two years now. Don’t you think that you’ve reached the meeting the parents stage, yet?”
“His family isn’t like us. They have normal family events going on and it just so happens that they are around the time that we have formal things to go to where I require a date. I’m not mad about it.” Lee tried to pull off a decent lie when in actuality that Ben was someone she met at one of those extensive business and rich people get-togethers similar to the Carrington’s. Bennett was born into riches where her family came into it later in life. “And we haven’t really discussed meeting parents yet. I haven’t met his if that makes you feel any better.”
The pit grew in Lee’s stomach at the rolling lies she knew eventually would unravel. She should have been used to this, considering that she hid her sexuality from them when she found out what it was, but it still hurt lying to them like this. It would only be a matter of time until she had to tell them.
“It does, but I would really like to meet the man who has taken the heart of my little girl.” Rita said in a soothing tone. “But I should let you get back to work and just let me know when you’re ready for lunch. It’ll be my treat, hon. Love ya!” With those last words, her mother gave her a brief wave before leaving the office.
Lee waved back, biting her bottom lip when her mother’s back turned to her. Her stomach turned sore and her appetite that she had gathered from earlier dissipated. She sighed heavily and took out her phone from her sling bag that laid on the floor beside her desk. She unlocked it with her passcode and navigated to her messages. She went to the conversation she was having with Bennett. Her eyes shifted over to the contact title at the top of the conversation.
It read as ‘Ben’ with a winky face emoji and she tapped the three dots towards the top right of the banner where the contact name was. She went to contact details and tapped edit. She erased ‘Ben’ and replaced it with Bennett, only to cancel the changes and lock her screen. She lightly tossed her phone on her desk and plopped down on her chair, slumping down into it.
Lee entered the password into her computer and continued to work on the contract that her father wanted drawn up for his meeting later with Blake Carrington. All the while, the pit in her stomach grew with each minute that passed as she debated on when she should come out to her parents. She couldn’t do it at the meeting and certainly she couldn't do it at home, not yet. She knew her parents stance on homosexuality. Not that they were the conservative type. They just held a firm opinion on those who were homosexual and it didn’t help that she was their only daughter. They wanted grandkids, like most parents with a child at this age. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint them because she prefers girls over guys.
It wasn’t her fault. She felt this way since she was born. The homeschool group had both genders as students and she found out quickly that she preferred the same sex as opposed to the opposite when she got her first crush on a fellow student, one of her best friends. But after admitting those feelings to her crush, she was rejected pretty quickly. It hurt for a time, but she got over it once she was a teenager and definitely later in college when she pursued her degree in business.
Lee glanced at the time on her computer in the bottom right-hand corner and it read 1:00 PM. She saved the finished contract and sent it over to the printer. She grabbed her phone from her desk and texted her mother, saying that she was ready to go to lunch. She stuffed her phone into the left back pocket of her pants and sauntered over to the printer, taking the sheets of paper once they all finished printed. She opened the top drawer of the cabinet that the printer was sitting on and plucked up a manilla folder. Lee closed it with her hip while paper clipping the small stack of paper and slipped the papers into the folder.
A chime sounded from her phone in her pocket and she took it out, slipping the folder under her arm. She saw it was from her mother saying, okay. Lee responded with a text saying, Let’s meet downstairs in the lobby. She walked over to her desk and picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.
Lee dropped off the folder to her father and mentioned something about having lunch with her mother. She left his office after exchanging a quick ‘I love you’ and ‘I love you too.’ She took the elevator down and saw her mother in the lobby, waiting by the front doors leading into the office building. “Ready to go?”
“Of course. After you, hon.” Rita answered with a kind smile before opening the door for them to leave. They walked over to Lee’s car in the parking lot behind the building. She insisted on using their old hunk of junk car from Iowa that she learned to drive with at 16. Lee slipped into the driver’s seat and her mother in the passenger’s seat.
“I don’t know why you drive this old thing when we have a brand new car just for you in the garage at home.” Rita stated, giving her daughter an inquisitive glance.
Lee took out her keys from her sling bag and put the key in the ignition. She turned the key and started the car before answering her mother. “I do it to keep me humble, mom. I don’t want all the riches going to my head.” It took her a moment to realize what she said, and she attempted to save herself. “Not that you and dad have let the money get to your head. I just… don’t want to get too used to it. Sure it’s nice, but I don’t really need it. I’d rather do something with my hands like fixing stuff like I did at the farm.”
Rita’s face softened as she listened to her daughter. She placed a hand on top of hers and gave her a gentle smile. “That is completely understandable, darlin’. It is quite admirable as they say.” She leaned over and placed a kiss on the side of Lee’s head.
