A Way Down
Page 16
***
Mr. Eisen's son heard sniffling in the other room. He leaned forward on the railing for the stairs. Looking around, he quickly went down the stairs, heading into the room where he heard the noise.
"Mom?" He yelled out. It echoed throughout the house. "Mom is that you?" He walked into the family room. Seeing the top of his mom's head poking out from the top of the couch, he ran over to see if she was alright.
As he went over to see her, his mom was holding a picture frame up to her face. In her other hand, she had a ball of used tissues. A box of tissues sat on the long glass table in front of her.
"Mom?" The son said. "Are you ok?"
She jumped as she did not see her son come up to her. "Oh, yes," she said. As she looked up at her son, she then went back down to look at the picture that was in the frame.
"What's that?" Her son asked. He climbed up onto the couch, sitting next to his mother.
"You don't remember? She asked her son. "This was taken when we took the trip up to Aspen. It wasn't long that ago. You have to remember it."
Her son shook his head. The memory was familiar to him, but he didn't remember taking the picture that his mom was holding.
The picture showed the four family members all sitting around a fire in their cabin. Mr. Eisen was sitting in a big chair, staring directly into the fire. His wife was holding the dog that they once had. Mr. Eisen's son was sitting down on the rug that was in front of the fire. The daughter was sitting right next to their son.
"Mom, why are you crying?"
His mother lowered the picture from her face, placing it on the glass table. "Oh, no reason," she responded. "Go on. Go play with your sister."
"Come on mom, I know when you're lying," the son said. "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with dad?"
He could see that his mother was holding back tears after he said 'dad'. She didn't say anything.
"Is dad coming back?" He asked his mother. She took a while to respond.
"Not for a little while," his mother said, her voice cracking. She bit her lips, trying not to cry out in front of her son. Knowing the true answer to her son's question, she did not want to show him that she was scared.
"Why?" He said. "Did something happen to him?"
"He just needs more vacation time," she said. "More time for him to relax and all. Come, sit on my lap."
Her son climbed on top of her lap. He gave her a big hug, and she returned one to him. They both sat there while a few tears trickled down her cheek.
***
"Woah, did you see the storm that came rolling in last night?" An office employee said. He barged into the break room with flakes of snow attached to his jacket.
"Yeah, brutal, wasn't it?" The only other person in the room said.
The man shook his head. "Hey did you hear the news?" The office employee at the CEO's building said. He took off his winter jacket, hanging it on a hook near the refrigerator in the break room. He held a newspaper in his hand.
"Yeah, sad," the other man in the break room said. He was sitting down at the table in the middle of the room, sipping coffee from his mug, checking his phone. "I just made a fresh pot. You can have some if you'd like."
"Thanks," the man said, tucking the paper under his arm as he grabbed a mug. He went over to the coffee machine and poured himself a fresh cup. "So, who do you think will run the company now?" He turned around, leaning against the counter.
The man sitting at the table shrugged his shoulders. "Not sure," he said. "Hopefully someone a little less stressed out. I've been looking at the stock after the news broke. Not good. If those two were still around, they would be screaming at us." He took a sip of his coffee.
"Well, what can you do?" The man said. "I'm gonna get an early start today. Do you want the paper?"
"Couldn't hurt to have a look," the man at the table said. He then cleared his throat.
The man took a few steps toward the table, dropping the newspaper on it. He then left the room. The main headline on the paper read "Bodies recovered of two CEO's and their pilot after deadly plane crash".