Free Ineffable by Sherrod Story

Margot?”
    “Your father’s never gonna accept me, Nori. I’m not stupid.” She stood then, looking down at him, flat on his back.
    He felt flattened, so he figured his position was appropriate.
    “And I’m not interested in coming between the two of you. We need to decide what we’re doing, so we’ll know if it’s worth it for us to continue.”
    He watched her leave. He couldn’t catch his breath. He wanted to jump up and run after her, shake her until her head rattled like a child’s toy and she recanted even the idea of leaving him. Instead he forced himself to take deep, even breaths until the tremors faded from his hands.
    His mind raced, but he knew one thing for certain: he couldn’t lose her. There was no doubt in his mind what course of action he would take if pushed to choose between his father and Margot. She won. Hands down.
    She’d been in his life for just a few weeks, yet he couldn’t remember what he’d done before her. He couldn’t fathom his life without her in it. The very thought of her leaving made him feel desperate. It made him want to find her, pull her close and shove himself inside her, make her a part of him so she could never escape.
    His father would always be in his life. They had a business relationship for one thing. But if he had to make that choice, he would not miss Aro. Lunch every three months and appearances at events and so called family gatherings around the holidays did not a father son relationship make.
    He grew up in the company of nannies after his mother died when he was five. When he turned seven he was shipped off to boarding school, and there he remained unless it was a school holiday.
    When he graduated from Harvard he got a few slaps on the back. It was the first time his father had touched him in nearly a decade, and he flinched.
    When his father offered him a position in the family company he wasn’t grateful. He knew he’d be mistreated, and he was. He was given a lower than necessary position that he took because he understood the value of learning the business from the ground up, the way Aro insisted.
    He thought he could prove his worth eventually. He didn’t realize it was a trap, a test he could never pass. He worked for Ineffable for three years before he finally wised up. He watched as Aro took credit for his ideas and promoted others over him in payment for executing them. Complaining gained him nothing. Threats gained him nothing. So he left. He moved to New York and got a job that had nothing to do with retail. He quickly rose higher and higher until he was the man people came to for ideas. Until he was the man who was promoted as payment for executing them.
    Years passed, and he went out on his own, made his former employer his client, and never looked back. Not until Aro’s health began to suffer did they meet again, and if his father hadn’t been forced to step down else risk his life, who knows if he’d have come to Chicago at all.
    But with Gallic charm and a cultured voice, the man who had belittled his accomplishments every single day until fame and fortune made them public, admitted in a small and stilted voice that he needed him. That there was no one better suited to run the Ineffable empire than Nori. Only then had a prideful gleam appeared in his pale blue eyes, eyes they shared.
    It hadn’t been easy. His father, used to being in charge, to having everyone jumping at attention every time he said boo had not taken well to forced retirement. He undercut Nori many times, going around him to change things, make arrangements, challenge decisions, until Nori gave him an ultimatum: Step back or I walk.
    Aro stepped back. And as a concession, Nori agreed to him staying on as chairman, and gave him the odd project so he could keep his hand in. Now they spoke to each other as equals. He could see the respect in his father face, the pride in his voice when he introduced his son to business acquaintances and friends. Earlier tonight,