Free Claimed by Elizabeth Hendricks

Chapter 1
    “You are one step away from dying,” he said, giving me grimace.
    “Everyone is one step away from dying. What am I supposed to do? Just drop all my obligations and relax on a tiny beach?” I argued with the doctor.
    “That could work. Your stress levels are high, and this minor heart attack is only the beginning to bigger problems if you don’t take it easy.” He intertwined his fingers and gave me a penetrative stare.
    What was I doing wrong in my life? “I live my life easy, doc. I work, go home, eat healthy, and I exercise daily.”
    “You work ninety hours a week. What kind of life is that?”
    “It’s not that much, but I just fired my right hand man for the past decade for embezzlement, so it’s not like I have a million fucks to depend on.” Thinking about it, I did work ninety-three hours last week.
    “Just take a vacation or the next time that chest pain rolls around it’ll be your last.”
    “It was that serious?” The reality of the truth hit me hard.
    “No, it wasn’t, but it could have been. Don’t let your young age and physical condition fool you.”
    “Fine, I’ll take a short trip.” It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but what the fuck could I do? I was stuck in a terrible situation. I just turned thirty and was still working on making a name for myself after my best friend decided to rob me blind. My company wasn’t going under or anything. In fact, despite the setback, we were still a top one hundred business, but I wanted to have control of the company at all times. My trust in people disappeared that day.
    My first stop after leaving the ER at County General was my mother’s. I needed to see her and make sure she was managing. I wasn’t going to tell her I was at the hospital. No one was going to know about that, but I needed to see her. It would force me to make some changes. I couldn’t do this to her after the heartache she suffered when my dad died.
    Knocking on her door, she opened it with a bright but wary smile on her face. “My baby!” she squealed, rushing into my arms.
    “Mom, I’m a grown man now,” I reminded her, but I still squeezed her tight.
    “You’ll always be my baby, so get over it. Come in and then you can tell me why you’re not at work like you’d normally be.”
    We immediately went to the kitchen and she started with a cup of coffee. “I’ll pass on the coffee. I’ve had enough today. The reason I stopped by is because I’m going to be taking a trip and will be leaving in two days.”
    “A vacation? You haven’t been on vacation since before your father died. You’ve worked yourself to the bone. Not that I don’t want you to take some time off. I’m just curious.”
    “I’m a bit stressed out, and, well, I don’t want to be dad.”
    “I can agree with you on that one. I can’t lose you, too. Besides, you need to find a girl to give me some grandbabies. And not some whore that’s after your money.”
    “Mom, I don’t think I’ve been on a date since dad died three years ago.”
    “Well, then don’t be falling for the first piece of ass you see,” she warned.
    “Mom,” I cried out shocked and disgust.
    “Please, boy. I’m old, but how do you think you got here?” There were just some visions you just didn’t need in your head, and your parents doing it had to be at the top of the list.
     

Chapter 2
    I managed to save all my pennies for this trip. At twenty, I didn’t have much in the way of savings or a real great job at the moment, but I needed to get away. My family was driving me insane. My parents were busy cleaning up my sister’s latest mess, which forced them to stop helping me with my college degree. With one year left, I decided to take a long break and take a trip to Europe. First stop was Spain.
    “Danielle, please be safe, sweetheart,” my dad said, dropping me off at O’Hare Airport. My flight out of Chicago was scheduled for two o’clock, but a storm had rolled in.
    “I will, Dad.