Chapter 5 - The Phone Call
My phone buzzed on my desk. I let it ring three times before picking up, placing it on speaker.
"Arthur!" my father's voice boomed through the speaker, breathless and trembling with rage. "What the hell is going on?! The airline says our reservations were cancelled! We were just escorted away from the Emirates counter by armed security! Do you have any idea how embarrassing this was?!"
I sat back in my leather chair, taking a slow sip of water. "I know, Dad. I cancelled them."
Silence hung on the line for three agonizing seconds.
"You... what?" my mother’s voice shrieked in the background. "Arthur, tell me this is a sick joke! Our $150,000 anniversary trip!"
"It’s not a joke, Mom," I replied evenly. "I called the concierge service on Friday night right after we left your house. I cancelled the flights, the cruise ship suites, the helicopter tours, and the private car service."
"Are you insane?!" Vanessa yelled, snatching the phone from my father. "We are standing in the middle of JFK with eight bags! People filmed us being dragged away by cops! You cost us $150,000!"
"Correction, Vanessa," I said, my tone dripping with ice. "I cost myself $150,000. It was my money. And I decided that throwing water on my pregnant wife isn't conduct worthy of a luxury Mediterranean vacation."
"It was just a little water!" Vanessa screamed, her voice cracking. "She took my chair! She was acting like a drama queen!"
"She is seven months pregnant with my child and suffers from severe pelvic pain," I barked back, my patience evaporating. "You humiliated her, hurled ice water at her chest, and my parents laughed and told her to go eat with the servants in the kitchen."
"Arthur, you are blowing this way out of proportion," Richard took the phone back, trying to sound authoritatively commanding. "It was family banter! You don't ruin a thirty-fifth anniversary trip over a minor domestic misunderstanding! Now book us on the next flight out, right now. Use your corporate card."
"My corporate card is no longer available to you, Dad," I said smoothly. "In fact, I’ve frozen all secondary cards linked to my accounts. Your credit cards will be declined by the time you try to call an Uber home."
"You can't do this to us!" Eleanor cried out. "We are your parents! We raised you!"
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"And I have supported you for ten years," I replied. "I paid off your mortgages, financed your cars, covered your country club dues, and funded Vanessa’s vanity projects. But as of today, the bank is closed. Find your own way back from JFK."
I ended the call before any of them could respond and placed my phone on silent.
