Birds chirped and tapped at the window. Bennett groaned and squinted at the light coming into his room. He rolled from his stomach to his back in order to get out of bed. He trudged over to his en-suite to clean himself up for work. Dark circles lined the lower parts of his eyes along with puffiness. His hair disheveled. His skin pale. He pushed away from his sink counter to get into the shower. His look, after the shower, was slightly better. He looked a little less dead than how he felt emotionally. With a towel hanging low from his hips, he made his way to his closet. He emerged in a navy blue suit, and his white shirt's buttons were undone showing his muscular chest. After putting on cuff-links, he exited the room. He spread cream cheese on a bagel as he blankly stared out the window at the cars down below. 

His thoughts strayed to what would happen if he were to break a window and jump. Would anyone truly miss him? Besides his younger sister, he couldn't think of anyone else, and she even would eventually forget her memories with him as time passed.

 He collected his coffee mug from under his coffee machine as he saw his car pull up before leaving his penthouse.

"Good morning, Mr. Carolos." George, the door attendant, bowed as he held the door for Bennett.

He said nothing to the man as he passed him. Edward, his chauffeur, already had the door open. Bennett climbed into the Escalade then sipped on his black coffee. Edward looked at his employer in the rearview mirror before pulling into traffic.

Meeting with Mr. Jeffers at 10:30

Review Holman's financial plan

Revise the Fergal plan

The schedule for Bennett's morning felt dull to him. He sighed then turned his attention to the scenery outside of his window. Such a pretty day, but yet he felt nothing for it. Edward glanced at him again. He wondered if he should say something, but decided against it.

Ten long, silent minutes later, the vehicle pulled up in front of the office. Edward was opening the car door, way before Bennett felt ready. Chugging the last of his coffee, he stepped out of the car.

"Don't come at 5. I'll call you." He told Edward.

Edward bowed his head in acknowledgment. Bennett nodded back before staring at the building before him. He buttoned the last few buttons on his shirt, fixed his suit jacket then strode into the building.

"Good morning, Mr. Carolos." His assistant, Merida, greeted with a smile when he stepped out of the elevator. "You have a meeting with Mr. Jeffers in about 30 minutes. Would like a cup of coffee?"

"Please." He answered as he walked past her and into his office. He shut his office door then placed himself in the seat behind his desk. He sighed as he looked at the work on his desk. He really didn't want to do it, so he didn't. He turned his chair towards the glass wall overlooking the city and stared. His phone rang and he answered it without looking.

"Carolos." He greeted.

"Good morning, Bennett." A familiar voice replied back.

"Skylar." He stated.

"How are you this morning?" she chirped.

"Fine, I guess." He shrugged.

"That doesn't sound like a sure answer. What's wrong?" she asked.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" he asked instead.

"I am. You didn't answer my question."

"I'm just tired." He sighed, "I want to be at work, but I don't want to be here if that makes sense."

She hummed clearly understanding his situation. "What are you doing after work?"

"Going home to catch up on sleep." He said.

"You haven't been sleeping?" she asked.

"About three or four hours every night."

She tsked in disapproval. "Can I come over when you get off?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "What for?"

"Just to see some stuff. I just want to know how you've been supporting yourself for these last few months. I could also help you clean up." She offered.

He pursed his lips. How did she know that his place wasn't in the best of shape? Could he really allow a woman he just met into his home? His silence stretched on but was only ended by a "hello?" from Skylar.

"I guess so." He said.

"You're not a very firm guy, are you?" she mused, "I'll be around about 7?"

"No," he said, "I'll have my driver, Edward, come to pick you up from work."

"Um, okay. I get off at 6:30." She said unsurely.

He nodded. "Edward will be there."

His phone beeped and he saw his sister was trying to call him. A smile rose to his face.

"I have a call to take. I'll see you at 7." He said then clicked over to the next call. "Grace. You didn't call me back yesterday."

"Sorry, Fratello. Mama was having a hissy fit, so we went shopping. How have you been doing? Work isn't getting too stressful?" his half-Italian 19-year old sister said.

"I've been managing. Yesterday was a bit much. Hopefully, today will be better." He admitted, "How's Abrielle?"

"She's been demanding to see you. Volere, Benny. Volere, Benny." Grace mimicked her sister. "We can't shut her up."

His smile widened at the poor imitation of his baby sister. "Bring her by the office. I take a lunch at 1."

"Why don't you come by the house, Bennett?" she asked quietly after a brief pause.

The smile fell from his face, "Grace, you know I'm not welcomed."

"Papá would love your company." She rebutted.

"You know I'm not talking about him." Bennett rolled his eyes, "It's best if I stay away for a while."

"I miss you, Benny." Her voice wavered.

"I miss you too, Grace. You can always come to visit me. Your room is still set up at mine." He blinked rapidly to keep the tears back.

"It's not the same." She sniffed.

"Look, Grace. I have to go, but things are going to get better." He said not believing a word that was coming out of his mouth.

He hung up quickly then tossed his phone onto his desk. He rubbed his tired eyes with his knuckles. He found a file on his desk then stood to go to his meeting pretending that he wasn't breaking on the inside.

It was nearing the end of the day before Bennett found relief. He had worked through two financial plans which were accomplishments for him seeing that he usually could barely get through one. Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was nearing the time for Edward to go get Skylar. He saved all his data to his computer then shut it down. He stood from his desk and loosened his tie as he walked out of his office. Merida was finishing up some paperwork at her desk.

"Goodnight, Mr. Carolos." She chirped before going back to what she was doing.

Bennett walked into the elevator without a word to her. He had texted Edward thirty minutes beforehand to retrieve him from the office. The elevator stopped at the ground floor. He walked out of the building and into the car that was waiting for him.

"Edward, drop me off at the pent then get Ms. Woodwork from her job. I've already texted you the address." He told him.

"Yes, sir." He said.

The rest of the ride was quiet.

edited 7/18