章 35: Came close

"Hi, Dad. How are you today?" She walked into his office with a wide smile on her face.

His dad looked up from the papers he was working on and glanced at his daughter's unannounced arrival. It was a rare occasion that she visited him at his office.

"This is a surprise. What can I do for you sweetheart?" His dad asked with a playful smile on his lips, putting his pen down on the table.

"Can't I just visit you because I missed you?" She teased him back. She hugged him from behind his chair and kissed the top of his almost balding head.

"You know I could set an appointment with my friend for hair implants if you like." She continued to joke with his father.

"No need. I'm comfortable with my looks." He replied. "Why are you here?"

He was certainly curious since her youngest daughter would never set foot in a hospital or a law firm if she ever had a choice.

"I just wanted to ask you about a contract I was offered recently." She said.

"Isn't that your sister's job? Why don't you call her or just go to her office? I'm sure you still know your way around here." He pointed at the other side of the hall where her sister was probably busy with her case.

"But I want your opinion on it." That was a mistake. She was too whiny. His dad picked up easily on her acting.

"Did your sister put you up to this? To check on me." His voice was not loud, but she could sense the irritation on it.

She knew she could not lie to him. "She was just concern that you are overworking yourself. You just recovered from your heart bypass operation."

Ever since the scandal last year, his father became worse. He eventually needed a bypass operation. After her press conference, she decided to lay low on her acting career, deciding to give her time to nursing his father back to health.

Now, that he had finally fully recovered, he was being stubborn and abusing his health once more. Her sister asked her to check on him since they sort of formed a bond while she stayed at his side during his recovery.

"I know my body and what it's capable of." He pointed out, even flexing his newly developed arm muscles from the fitness regimen he implemented.

"Well, George is the doctor in the family, so she should know better what is best for you, but you are not listening to her." She chastened his father.

"Ok fine. You girls are ganging up on me again. You think I don't know that Marge asked Madeline to divert some of my cases to her. Now, look at your sister, she could barely keep up with her clients." His dad mumbled on.

"We are just concern about your health." She reasoned. "Besides, Madeline was just concern that you might be overdoing it too." She tried defending his secretary, not wanting her to get into trouble.

Being the managing head of the firm was a really big responsibility, so his kids feared that it might take a toll on his health if he kept the pace he was in ever since he got back. Although the other partners were trying to help, he would rather do his responsibility thinking that he was gone far too long from his company.

He took her hands in his and made her sit on his lap as if she was her little girl once again. "I'm good. I never felt this great in a long time. You have nothing to worry about."

"Then, why don't we go out for dinner tonight. My treat." She offered. It had been a long time since they last went on a date. It would be nice to spend a night with her family again. Since she moved back to her home, she felt lonely, living in a big house, by herself.

"That would be nice. Where? So I could arrange it with Madeline." He asked as he fixed his tie and grabbed his pen, ready to get back to work. It was a sign that the conversation was over.

"Don't worry, already cleared your schedule with her. All you need to do was show up tonight." She said, grabbing her bag and giving his dad a peck on the cheeks. "Bye, Dad. See you tonight."

She walked in the long hallway, deciding to drop by her sister's office to discuss the dinner plan tonight.

"She's in right?" She asked Nancy, Marge's secretary who was busy talking on the phone. She just nodded as she typed something on the computer.

She immediately walked to her closed door and without knocking barged inside without asking for permission. That should serve her right. She just walked in with her sister locked in the arms of a man she did not recognize, heavily kissing in her office.

"Oh my! Sorry, don't stop on my account." She declared as she walked further into the room and sat on the sofa located at the far corner of the office, grabbing her phone and pretending to be busy with it.

Her sister who was shocked to be caught in a very compromising position tried to compose herself, fixing her disarray clothes and messy hair. While the unknown man in question just sported a satisfied smile on his face as he moved a step back away from her.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Marge said as soon as she recovered from her predicament.

"Then, missed out all the fun. Not a chance." She teased her sister more without actually looking at them and still pretending to play with her phone. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Of course." Marge interrupted her.

"Hi. I'm Sabrina, her famous sister." She introduced herself before her sister could say more as she walked to his side.

"I'm Alexander Ross, new in town, but I do know you. My sister is a big fan." He introduced himself. "Well, I better be going. Call you later."

"Yes, we'll just discuss the case some other time." Her sister said as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

"So, what are you doing here?" Marge avoided her knowing look. She did not like sharing her personal life. After Marge's failed engagement, she had stopped dating and concentrated on her work. She was beautiful just like her, but not as skinny as her or tall.

"Just want to visit my sister. Is that a crime?" She teased her more.

"What you witnessed was just an accident. It was nothing, so don't start making up stories in that head of yours." Marge warned her, looking at her as if she was on the witness stand.

"Of course, why would I think anything of that?" She mocked her. "It wasn't like it would be considered kissing, right? It was hardly anything at all." She continued, irking her sister more.

"Stop it." Marge sat down on her chair frustrated. "I did not know what happened. We were just discussing a case, then all of a sudden he was kissing me, and then I started kissing him back."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Maybe it's time that you went back to dating. It had been years since that bastard broke your heart." She consoled her, this time seriously.

"Your probably right. When did you become better at giving advice?" She teased her back. "Anyway, why are you here?"

"George asked me to check on Dad." She said.

"Oh yeah. I've been trying to slow him down."

"Yeah, he knows." They started laughing at that. "By the way, I arranged dinner tonight with Dad. I expect you and George to be there."

"Sure, I have no plans tonight. Just text me the details, and I will make sure that Dad would be there." Marge assured her.

"Then, it is arranged. All I need to do now is to call George." That would be the trickiest of all since George was the busiest of them all. If she had surgeries, then it would be unlikely that she would make it.

"Why don't you call her now? Maybe she could still cancel any prior commitments." Marge suggested.

Luckily, after talking to her, George said that her surgery for tonight was canceled because the patient became stable. That left her free to join them for dinner.

It was perfect. She would be dining with her entire family after a long time. Maybe this would help her from her feeling of loneliness.

She had started dating again, but nothing was working yet. She could not find the right man for her. The man that could make her heart jumped out of her chest. No one could compete against him. No one came close.