078 - Red string: Another family, same expectations

Lance fixed his eyes on the display above the elevator door. He watched the digits change with the steady rhythm of a clock. His restlessness was well suppressed, and he would have been able to hide it if not for his eyes struggling not to roll in their sockets, not to let them shift to the side to glance at Riz Lotter, his father, a shareholder and main representative of the Lotter family in Arland Group.

*Ding*

The sound of the elevator arriving and his door opening stunned Lance for a moment, before he snapped out of it. He followed his father in, and after an uncomfortable half a minute, at least for him, the elevator's notification sound rang again.

They had arrived on the tenth floor. Nevertheless, his father's silence continued, feeding his restlessness as they reached the restaurant, and were led to a table.

"Mr Lotter. This way please."

The decoration of the place was simple but comfortable, and the scenery outside through the window beside them was not bad, but all those were things Lance could not enjoy. Finally, when the waiter excused himself after taking the orders from his father, he gathered his courage and leaned over to speak in a low voice:

"Dad, we don't have to eat here, do we?"

Riz Lotter looked up at his son even as his hands didn't stop moving to adjust the napkin on his lap. His voice was flat as he delivered his answer:

"No, we don't."

Those words got Lance's face brightening up with hope which made him push for another victory:

"Then can you talk to… Alex…"

His voice went from bright to low, almost listless, under the impassive eyes of his father. Finally, he muttered with the feeling of grasping onto straws:

"Do we have to talk about work?"

At that moment, the waiter came back with the first dishes which he put before them before going away. Riz took a sip of his aerated wine, and tried the dish, before he started speaking:

"The Group is as complicated as you saw in the meeting today. Make sure to follow Alex's instructions. You should know already, so I don't need to say it, but he is more than he seems on the surface. Learn well, speak less and ask about anything you don't understand. Think for yourself and ask for help as little as possible. As long as you can help me retire in five years, I will already be very happy."

From the environment to the food itself, everything was the best a restaurant could ever offer, but Lance found himself unable to enjoy much of anything. The expectation falling on him was too heavy, way too heavy, so he tried to weasel his way out from below its mountainous weight with a bright but miserable grin:

"Hehe, dad, why are you talking about retirement? You are still young, and strong. You still have a few decades before you."

Faced with his son's bright, hopeful look, Riz expressionlessly pulled him back down to Earth:

"And you expect me to use them to keep toiling? And for what? Since you have started working, I can freeze your credit cards. Your salary will be enough to survive from now on. The Group has always been generous."

No! Way!

That was what was written all over Lance's face as his hair stood on end, and panic set in, growing like a chilly tree from the bottom of his feet to the crown of his head:

"Wait, wait, wait! Dad, wait! Let's talk it out first. First of all, I don't even have a post yet, and I don't know if Alex will push one onto me. Second, why do we have to be so extreme from the get go? Let's put a condition to my cards instead, alright? You watch my performance, and if it is not up to the standards acceptable by the Group, then you can take action. Isn't that better? I will be motivated instead of battling against despair. If I suffer too much and mom gets wind of that, you will be setting yourself up for more trouble than I am worth, don't you think so?"

"Cough, cough…"

Riz moistened his throat with a sip of wine which pushed down the troubling entity. He waited for the red face to pass before he glared at his son:

"At least you know what you are worth. If you dare disappoint me with your performance, even if we cannot have another child, I will convince your mother to adopt one."

It was Lance's turn to loose his composure and choke on the food:

"Cough, cough, cough… Dad, that is too much! You want to shift mom's love and attention away from me."

"Humph! If not for those, how would you have ended up so spoiled?"

The hard look in his father's eyes didn't faze Lance. If anything, he looked proud, just short of craning his neck as his words:

"What is wrong with a mother loving her son? Dad, if you go for my weakness, beware of having your secrets out."

Riz paused. He looked at his son for a while, then suddenly smiled. It was a simple smile, but it unsettled his son, who squirmed on his seat.

"Is that so? That is an interesting threat. But the thing with threats is that you need to ensure your own survival before starting the war. If you go through with yours, I can spare no effort to coax your mother, retire early, and go tour the world with her. What will you do then?"

Lance immediately put his cutleries down, and stood up to fill his father's glass with a fawning smile:

"Don't worry dad, your secrets are safe with me. I will also work hard to follow into Alex's footsteps and make mom and you proud."

Riz leaned back in his seat, picked up his glass. The wine swirling inside following the movements of his hand, he glanced at the ingratiatingly smiling Lance beside him, his lips thinning up in a smile full of the satisfaction that his son could still be salvaged.

"You can disappoint me, Lance, but don't disappoint your mother."

Lance's smile faded away, as he lost his careless expression. His father's sentence made him look at him seriously, and reply with assurance, and the weight of sincerity in his voice that was the only possible response for all the love his mother had raised him showering him with:

"I won't, dad."

"Good, I will hold you to your words."

Riz nodded, and emptied his glass to punctuate the agreement.