smile on his face. It had been a while since he had had a pleasant conversation with his mother that did not end in a fight. He leaned back in his chair, still deciding to take the personal day he had planned for himself. He had a busy night that evening, so he wanted to rest; he had planned a rather lavish date for Lillian, and he was looking forward to it.
Chapter 7
Nathaniel adorned himself in his favorite suite –a charcoal gray slim-fit that he knew drove women crazy. The tie was a dark, navy blue, and it went well with the ensemble. He smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror, knowing he was going to sweep Lillian off of her feet that night. There was a knock on the door of the presidential suite, and it opened shortly afterwards.
Tony entered, his laptop in hand. “All right, I need you to sign a couple of things for the shelter. If we’re staying in Troy, I do have to make you work a little bit, you know?” Tony called out from the main room. Nathaniel exited the bedroom, and Tony gave him an awkward thumbs up that was soaked in sarcasm.
“Sure, Tony, whatever you say,” Nathaniel said and signed the digitized paperwork without giving it much thought. He was far too distracted with his plans for the evening to worry about paperwork on a homeless shelter.
“Got some good news,” Tony said as he plopped himself down on the couch. “The media in both California and here in Troy are going nuts over the shelter. Looks like the plan to fix your playboy persona is working out nicely.”
“Well, that is good news,” Nathaniel said, laughing slightly. “I suppose I have to be more private about my playboy routine, then?”
“Or you could take a few notes from your mother,” Tony teased. “I’m pretty sure she’d appreciate you dropping the act.”
“Fuck off, Tony,” Nathaniel said with a hand wave. “Everything set for the evening?”
“Yes. Lillian is going to have a wonderful time, I’m sure,” Tony said while checking his watch. “She should be getting flowers delivered to her room right about now.”
“Great,” Nathaniel said and headed towards the door. “I’m off.”
“Enjoy your night, playboy,” Tony said and headed towards Nathaniel’s couch.
“If you want to live it up in the presidential suite while I’m gone, be my guest, but you better not be here when I get back,” Nathaniel warned as he left the room.
He headed down the elevator to get to Lillian’s room, and he was walking up on the room just as she was receiving flowers from the delivery guy. “I see you got my gift,” he said, nodding politely at the delivery guy as he hurried off down the hall.
“That I did,” she said, smiling. “Lilies. Cute. Do you have any idea how many Lilies for my Lilly routines I’ve been through over the years?”
“And here I thought I was being original,” Nathaniel teased. “Yes, I can imagine so, but I bet those other guys didn’t know that your favorite lilies were Easter lilies, and if they managed to guess right that’s all it was –a guess.”
She blushed. “You remember me telling you that when we were kids?”
“Are you kidding?” Nathaniel laughed. “I had my poor mother drive me to five different flower shops trying to find you some Easter lilies for your birthday one year.”
Her face turned even redder than Nathaniel thought possible. “Give me a moment. I want to put these on water,” she said and hurried into her hotel room. She