Chapter Seven

Her thoughts drifted back to Timothy. It was almost impossible to stop thinking about him. Right now, her body seemed to heat up about five degrees just by the mere thought of him.

She shook away her thoughts. If she was going to do this, it had to be done professionally and that sucked, because there was definitely nothing professional about the way her body reacted when she thought about him.

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"There you are!" Katherine Kavell-Packard said when she saw her son walk into the room. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come after you promised me that you would. I would have been so upset. Come have a seat. Thankfully the food is still hot. Why are you so late? And please don't tell me you were stuck in the office. I'm tired of hearing that excuse."

"I'm sorry, mom," Timothy said as he kissed his mother on the cheek before he sat down. "I was working and lost track of time"

Katherine stared at him for a few seconds before she said, "That's a lie" as if she could see through him.

Timothy groaned inwardly. Honestly he didn't know how she always knew when he was lying and sometimes he hated that she could read him like a book. Well, he didn't care how she knew, he wasn't going to admit it that easily though. Wasn't going to admit that the reason why he was late wasn't because he was stuck at work, but because he had purposely stayed in the office... Trying to avoid seeing his father because he was still very mad at him, and trying to come up with a reason why he suddenly couldn't join them for dinner.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't come up with any since his mind had been filled with thoughts of Chloe. Apparently, he wasn't as unaffected by her presence as he would have liked to be. Right now, Jensen was also at the table and he hadn't said a word to him either.

"I'm not lying" Timothy said simply , as he reached for the bowl of rice and began to dish some of it into his plate.

"Yes you are. Don't lie to me, Tim" came Katherine's reply. "You and I both know why you are late and I think it's ridiculous that you and your father have decided not to settle whatever is going on between you like adults should. So I think maybe I should step in now"

"That won't be necessary, Kat," said Jensen, speaking for the first time since Timothy came into the room. I have tried to reason with him and he has refused to listen. There is nothing more that I can do about the situation"

"Seriously, Dad?" Timothy replied, abandoning his food. "Really? There's nothing you can do about the situation?"

The expression on Jensen's face did not change. "Yes. What else would you like me to do? I have tried to be civil with you but you seem to enjoy being upset with me. Since you have decided that that is the way you are going to be, I'm afraid that there is nothing more that I can do"

"How about apologizing, Dad," said Timothy. "I'm mad about what you did. You ignored me and made decisions in the company as if I didn't matter. You know how I felt about your actions and it has never occurred to you to apologize. Not even once." He suddenly pushed his chair backwards and stood up. He wasn't hungry in the first place, but he had come because he had promised his mother that he would. Now he couldn't even take a bite out of the food.

"Enjoy your dinner, Dad. I'm sorry, mom, but I can't do this if dad is just going to act this way. I have to go home now" he added.

"What?" Katherine asked, as she placed a hand gently on his arm. "You haven't even eaten anything. Don't be like this, Tim."

"I'm sorry mom. I have lost my appetite. And I honestly can't sit here and eat when dad is just going to act this way...."

"I don't care, '' Katherine said sternly, raising her voice. "Now whatever is going on between you two, you guys better fix it right now. My food is not going to waste because the both of you are too pig headed and filled with so much pride to apologize to each other. So sit down Tim, and have a discussion with your father. No one is leaving this table until you guys talk and I mean it."

There was silence in the room as Timothy and Jensen stared at each other. Neither of them wanted to hurt Katherine or make her angry.

"Please sit down," Jensen said finally. "Please" he repeated when Timothy made no move to do as he said.

Timothy sat back down in his chair and pulled his food towards him, but he didn't touch it.

"I'm sorry" said Jensen softly, "I was wrong to have accepted Golden gate promotions without talking to you first. I honestly thought that they were good for us, especially since they had Chloe. I felt like I could trust her because we all have history together so I decided to go with them, but that's not enough reason to keep it from you. You are a huge part of the company and the company is where it is right now because of you and your contributions. I'm sorry, Tim. I sincerely hope that you forgive me"

There was no way that Timothy could continue to stay mad after that apology. In fact, he realized that he was even more upset about not getting an apology from his father and now, he felt much better. He had worked hard to prove to his father that he meant well for their company.... That he was leaving the company in the right hands, and being left out had stung like hell. It made him feel like he hadn't done enough.

"It's alright" he replied. "I guess I have been really grumpy about the whole issue and I'm sorry too. I just... I hated being left out. It made me start to think that... Maybe you didn't think that I could handle the company or make the right decisions. I really don't want you to think that about me, Dad. You know how much the company means to me"