Impulse: Book
Four
MOVING ON
“Impulse:
A sudden inclination or urge”
The American
Heritage dictionary
By Mezzo
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(see
INSTALLMENT
ONE)
Copyright:
Copyright
© 2002 by Mezzo All Rights Reserved
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INSTALLMENT
TEN
Cole
Crawford looked out the window at the scenery he had seen all his life. After being away
for almost four month’s, he looked at his childhood home with renewed fondness. The car pulled up to the Crawford estate as he
anxiously prepared to see his family. The car
came to a stop and the driver stepped out and opened the door. Cole got out and stretched his legs, happy to
finally be at the end of his long journey home. He
had been in
“Mr.
Crawford, sir…. I can get those?” The
driver rushed to Cole’s side and attempted to take the luggage from him.
“Please.
There are four others in there. Let’s not fight over these.” Cole smiled and the driver gave him a puzzled look.
“Sir….
it’s my job and my employer would have my head if they found out that a client had to
carry their own bags.” The driver looked
very worried but Cole did not intend to have the man fear for his livelihood.
“Please…
there’s only you and me here. Unless
there’s a camera in that car, no one’s going to know. I’ve been away a long time and my luggage is
very heavy. I promise not to tell anyone if
you don’t, okay? Besides while we’re
out here arguing about the luggage, I’m losing valuable time that I could be spending
saying hello to my family.” Cole pleaded
with the driver and the man acquiesced. “Thank
you.”
Cole
proceeded up the stairs to the front door and as he approached, the door flew open. Cole’s father, Paul, rushed out and gave his
son a bear hug.
“It’s
good to have you home, son.” Paul
Crawford said giving his son a warm welcome. The
two had always shared a close relationship. Cole
was a carbon copy of his father and they both had the same good looks and warm nature.
“It’s
good to be home. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed all of you.” Paul took Cole’s garment bag and the two made
their way into the house, they left the bags in the front foyer and went out to the
breakfast lanai. Cole’s sister Pamela, her husband Ian Hull, his mother Diane and his
niece and nephew, Dominique and Marcus were seated having breakfast.
As
soon as Cole stepped out on to the lanai, his sister and mother surrounded him.
“We’ve
missed you, Cole. This place hasn’t been
the same without you.” Pamela looked up
at her older brother and Cole quickly picked his sister up and gave her a big kiss and
hug.
“I’ve
missed you too sis. Well look at you! For
someone who’s given birth just a few short months ago, you look incredible!” Pamela blushed at her brother’s compliment and
they hugged again.
“Hey….
don’t I get a hug and kiss?” Diane
held her arms open for her son. Cole bent
down, swept his mother in his arms, and twirled her in the air. They shared a laugh as they often had. Her son was home and the joy of having her family
under one roof again filled Diane Crawford’s heart to overflowing.
“Put
me down you brat.” Diane playfully
slapped her son on the chest.
“Never. I
haven’t been able to do this in four month’s and I’m going to enjoy
it.” Cole hugged his mother and felt the
love that only a mother could offer surround him. Cole
finally placed his mother back on the floor and gave her a kiss.
“I’ve
missed you mom. I missed all of you very
much.” Cole looked around the table and
smiled at the faces that were his family.
“Well
you look like you’ve lost weight. I’m
going to have to get the cook to fatten you up. Come,
join us for breakfast.” They all took
their seats and Cole went over to the crib to get a look at his new niece and then picked
Marcus up.
“Hey
little man. You’ve gotten so big.” Marcus’ face lit up seeing a somewhat familiar
face and quickly lifted his arms to be picked up. Cole
bent over and lifted Marcus up. He brought him over to the table and had him sit with him
on his lap.
“Hey
Ian, how are you buddy?” He reached over
the table and gave Ian a handshake.
“I’m
doing great. Pam and I just came back from a
nice long vacation.” Ian turned to his
wife and they shared a kiss. “We were having a rough time of it for a while but
we’re doing better.” Ian looked at
his wife and hoped she felt the same way. Pamela
nodded in affirmation and a grateful smile came to Ian’s face. He took Pamela’s hand and brought it to his
lips, kissing it gently. “We’re
trying to make more time for each other. It’s
easy to take one another for granted when you’re working and you have kids.”
They had started to go to couples therapy sessions and were committed to making their
relationship work.
“That’s
good to hear. You two have been together
forever. It’s hard to think of either of
you without thinking of the other. I admire
what you have. I wouldn’t mind settling
down myself.” Cole smiled at Ian and they
shared a knowing look. Cole had dated
Ian’s sister Victoria in high school and they had seen each other whenever possible
throughout the years. Although they were not
dating exclusively, Cole still loved Tori very much. A part of
him still had hopes that someday they would find their way back to one another. Cole had been patiently waiting while Tori figured things out for herself.
Cole knew in his heart that he loved Tori and would
patiently wait for the beautiful Victoria Hull. The
last time Cole saw her they had spent time together as they had always done the past few
years. It was understood that they could see
other people. Although Cole hardly ever found
anyone that could hold his attention like Tori could, he knew
that she had been with many people throughout the years. He couldn’t help himself. He still loved
Marcus
screamed for his uncle’s attention and Cole quickly entertained him.
“Hey
little man. What can I get you?” Marcus pointed to his
awaiting bowl and Cole fed Marcus a spoonful of cereal making airplane sounds before it
landed on the runway that was Marcus’ mouth. Marcus
laughed at his Uncle Cole’s antics and begged for another spoonful.
“So
son….What are your plans? Are you going
to take a few weeks off before you get back to work or are you going to jump right back
in?” Paul observed his son and thought it
best that Cole take time off before he got back to business. Fatigue was written all over
his face and the light in his son’s usually brilliant eyes was somewhat faded.
“Well
I was thinking of taking a couple of weeks off. I
am really drained. I can’t tell you what
it’s been like overseas. The market is so
uncertain and it took a lot of shoulder rubbing to get through the red tape, but we got it
done nonetheless. I just want to totally
vegetate for the next two weeks.” Cole
slumped back in his seat as Marcus finally tired of the game and was on his way to a
midmorning nap.
“That
sounds like a good idea, Cole. Besides things
are a little slow right now so you just take things easy.” Paul smiled at the sight of his son and grandson
halfway asleep.
“Yeah. I
was also thinking of dropping in on Tori. I’m so excited that she’s finally back in
the states. I’ve worried so much about
her these past few years. I know she did a lot
for the European offices of Hull Enterprises while she was there, but I’m glad to see
her home again.” Even though he was tired
and his eyes slightly watery from the lack of sleep, his energy seemed to pick up at the
mention of his childhood sweetheart. Cole
yawned and blinked his eyes a few times trying to hold back his sleep.
“We
are too. I can’t tell you how good it is
to have Tori back here with us.
She’s starting to prepare herself and the company to take over as CEO. So far, everyone is very excited at the prospect of
that. She’s just brilliant. Our family all agree that’s she’s the
best one for the job.” Ian was so proud
of his younger sister and was so happy that she was home and finding happiness in every
part of her life. He looked at his childhood
friend and knew that Cole was in for a bit of a disappointment. Tori and Brett seemed
so happy together and from all signs, were very committed to one another.
“It
will be nice to be able to see her on a regular basis without having to get on a plane for
at least six hours.” Cole got a wistful
look on his face when he talked about Tori. He was obviously still very
taken with her.
All
eyes met as Cole went on about the future CEO. They had promised Tori
that they would not say anything about her and Brett.
She had asked that she be allowed to break the news to Cole in person. After
everything they shared, she thought it only right that she give Cole that courtesy.
Cole
looked up and caught the exchange. He wondered
what it had been about. But at the moment, he decided it could wait until he got some
sleep and was thinking more clearly.
“Well
folks….I’m beat.
I think I’m going to go upstairs and take a nap.
I’ll probably sleep for most of the morning and a good portion of the
afternoon.” Everyone understood and Cole
gave each of them a quick hug or kiss. He
placed his sleeping nephew in his sister’s arms and left to catch up on some much
needed rest.
TO BE CONTINUED. Installment Eleven
Impulse: Book
Four
MOVING ON