"I'll be here" CH: #7 Even if it drives me ragged
Heyo, next chapter of I'll be here is out......after like a year......sorry life has been a bit much. Anyway! link to it on AO3
Korin was running himself ragged.
He knew that he would be having to deal with a lot of meetings for the rest of the month and that he could handle it just fine but that was before he also started to look into the Briarwoods and De Rolos which was a whole lot of red tape and legal jargon to confuddle the mind of whomever looked too closely at it. The added workload meant unintentional slacking in his family life, more than once now he either packed the wrong thing or just flat out didn’t prepare anything for his daughter or the twins and now Percy along with his sister that he’s yet to meet. And himself as his stomach loudly announces as he rubs his eyes.
The guilt eats at him even if the kids laugh it off and say it’s fine, because it really isn’t, in his mind at least. Their kids, they deserve home cooked meals even if Vax definitely has more cooking skills then him, they deserve someone who tries but the best he’s doing now is what he’s always done when he gets too overworked. Leave one of his credit cards with Keyleth for food and snacks if there isn’t anything to eat in the house. He hates it, not that Keyleth has ever misused it, she hasn’t, but rather he hates it because it shouldn’t be necessary. Sure, yes, kids go to the mall and buy food and snacks or even do it when having a sleepover. But not for weeks. Not as their main source of food.
A loud beep from his phone knocked him out of his musing, it was his office phone which oddly didn’t ring that much, granted that was because most people called his mobile work phone instead, with a raised brow he answered it on speaker. The voice of his secretary Derrig telling him with a slight chuckle that he had a delivery.
A delivery? Strange, he didn’t remember ordering anything but as Derrig came into his office holding a pizza box with a huge grin it made sense. Sure enough as he checks his personal cell he sees a text from his beloved daughter hoping he enjoys his lunch, a somewhat blurry picture of her and her gaggle of friends smiling right underneath her words. He couldn’t stop the fond smile from crawling onto his lips even if he had wanted to.
Sadly his good mood slowly sours throughout the day, having finished most of his work he had ventured back into looking up as much information on Percy’s situation as he could. It was grueling and tedious, sure the boy could probably explain things but he can tell without knowing whatever happened that it must have been horrific and he didn’t want to put the white haired teenager through that, especially without some sort of plan in case the Briarwoods caught on to his questioning.
The De Rolo’s were an impressive family to say the least, owners of a well established refinery company that has since been slowly running itself into the mud after it was acquired by the Briarwoods after the previous owners death which didn’t sit right with Korrin. Surely the De Rolo’s would have left the company to their children? Or at the very least had a family friend have temporary hold of the company till the child turned eighteen but the Briarwoods had complete control. Something didn’t add up. Hours and hours he pulled on this thread until finally he discovered a name. Victor, an old close friend and business partner of theirs, which surprise surprise was some how, most likely illegally if he could take a guess, placed into a sanatorium, one that just so happened to be getting money from the Briarwoods shortly before the De Rolo’s deaths and then the Whitestone refinery after all was settled. It’s a long shot but it could be his ticket to finding a way to help his daughter's friend, quickly he set up a way to look into and possibly even meet this Victor.
By the time he was finally heading home it was one thirty in the morning, so late it was early. His eyes stun from exhaustion, flinching at the loud sound of the garage door opening, silently noting to himself to research the possibility of finding a more quiet garage door for his daughter’s sake.
The memory of a young Keyleth, roughly the age of four, wide awake sitting on the other side of the door greeting him as he returned at two in the morning. Him and Vilya were flabbergasted at the toddler but she’d just latched onto him and demanded that he and Vilya read her a story.
Opening the door in the present sadly didn’t greet him with a tired smile, the smell of a late dinner and an exasperated sigh from his wife. Such a small thing, a none outstanding memory but it sings with such warmth and sorrow in his heart. Yet as he entered the kitchen, sitting on the center of the island countertop was a wrapped dish, a note placed on top.
Should only need a minute to heat up-Vax
With a soft smile Korrin unwraps the meal, setting it gently in the microwave for a minute, opening the fridge for a drink to yet again find a pleasant surprise. Yet another note this time on a jug.
We made lemonade! Hope you enjoy! - Keyleth
He did, sitting down eating the dinner Keyleth and Vax made for him. He really did enjoy it even as he teared up, just a little. It didn’t escape his notice that it was only his daughter and Vax that signed the notes.
