Epiphany

Chapter 2

"Why is he here?" Chase yelled on top of his lungs, looking comical in front of the man who stood tall compared to his own 5'7 stature. Mrs. Carter, a grey-haired old woman, sat on a chair next to him. She was also his grandmother and the Chairperson of Faraday motors. An automobile company, at present, facing a stock crisis for the first time since its establishment sixty years ago by Max Carter, her late husband.

Mrs. Carter turned her head towards the door, only to face a tall, clean-shaved man with his hair tied neatly in a bun, wearing a plain black sweatshirt paired with black sweatpants. His outfit was of no concern to her, as his presence was more than enough for her eyes to shine and lips to curl in a pleasant smile. She stood up and rushed towards him. Despite only reaching his shoulders, she threw her arms around her eldest grandson and enveloped him in her arms.

Ryan bent a little and hugged his grandmother, taking in the scent of her hair. He relished the soft pats on his back. He kissed her forehead and greeted her with a seductive 'hey beautiful'.
Chuckling, she let go of him, still teary-eyed as she whacked his arm.
"Took you long enough to come see your gram?"
"I was preparing myself to take in your beauty." He said in a light voice.
"You won't change, will you? I'm still not interested in you."
Ryan faked a hurt expression and clutched his chest.
Mrs. Carter ran her hands up and down his arms and shook her head.
"I missed you, Ryan."
"I've been busy lately, got caught up in work."

Ryan Carter, son of late Edward and Erica Carter, was the eldest grandchild of the Carter family. He returned from Somalia finally after almost 2 years now, where he worked with Doctors Without Borders. When he spotted his confused yet angry cousin, Ryan smirked.
"I am here because you missed me so much, dear cousin."

"Dad, why is he here!?" Chase looked at the middle-aged man sitting opposite him and asked in his same high-pitched voice, which made Ryan clear his ears just so he could provoke him more than he already was.

"It's been long, son." Sage, Ryan's uncle, came forward and hugged him.

"How's work? Last I heard, you were in Sudan. Were you not?"

"Oh, c'mon, are we really doing this now!?" Chase interrupted his father, throwing his hands in the air to show his displeasure at this surprise meeting.

"Remind me to thank aunt Lucy for teaching you such good manners, some great work she did there." Chase rolled his eyes at his cousin's sarcasm, which, ironically, he knew was sarcasm.

"Settle down Chase." Mrs. Carter said in a menacing voice. "Ryan is my grandson too and also a shareholder of this company. He can come here anytime he wants, and rightfully so."

"Also, he's here to accompany you to meet with the Yokohama." Mrs. Carter continued while avoiding her other grandson who now was looking at her with the same expression as Chase, who had already uttered a appalled "What?".

"I don't need anyone to accompany me to Japan, especially him!" Pointing at Ryan. "He doesn't even know anything about business!"
Disregarding Chase, Mrs. Carter turned towards Ryan, eyes meeting with his she tried to read his expression which remained unreadable.

Ryan said, "I came because someone said she was getting old and wanted to spend time with her family. I don't recall anyone mentioning a meeting." He said, looking at Mrs. Carter. When nobody responded, he glanced out of the window and clicked his tongue, feeling irritated that someone had lied to him. He thought that after his parents, at least his grandmother still cared for him. But now the heartfelt requested to come to New York changed from 'he was missed' to 'he was needed for some stupid meeting'.

"First time in his entire life Chase has said a correct thing. I know nothing about business. I'm a doctor, for God's sake." Ryan quipped with dissent.

Sage intervened, "It's not that hard Ryan, you'll take the role of the spokesperson of the meeting and convince them to agree with our deal. You were always good at this. It'll be a piece of cake."