A Compromise Before Christmas

Chapter 2

Following Adonis' shocking news, Nikolaos went quiet to properly process it all. Adonis understood this and waited for his big brother to be well enough to talk again.

Not being included in his grandmother's will was a situation Nikolaos never thought he would find himself in. It could have been pride or the fact that he knew how much his grandmother loved him; whatever it was he was just never worried about such things.

But for it to be happening, it meant his grandmother had lost the love and, most importantly, the patience she had for him, and that was not good because Corinna's love came with many benefits; that is what he shamelessly thought.

"This just isn't fair", Nikolaos finally said after the long silence.

"Oh you're still there"

"Why am I the one to be left out? I thought grandmother loved me the most"

"You really have no shame"

"Sorry, but it's the truth; ever since we were younger, grandmother told me how much she loved me, and she showed it to me every day; does that love no longer exist?"

"Since it seems you are actually serious about what you're saying, allow me to level you down to size because you appear to be missing something..."

Nikolaos was surprised at how Adonis was talking to him, he sounded so grown up.

"Yes, Grandmother Corinna indeed loved you the most, and till this day Michalis and I can't figure out why because you were just as insufferable back then as you are now; perhaps even worse"

"That's not true", he attempted to argue his case, "I was young then, Adonis, I wasn't thinking rationally"

"Really, that is your excuse? Okay, what about now, care to explain your embarrassing behavior now?"

"What about my behavior is embarrassing? I am just living my life the way any other young man my age would"

"Would a young man your age get into a bar fight three times in one night? Would a young man your age throw a massive yacht party that would result in coast guards being called? And finally, would a young man your age get involved with a married woman ten years older than him and cause a divorce?"

As Adonis listed each of Nikolaos' offenses one by one, he started to get the picture. He was just shocked he hadn't seen his terrible behavior before.

"We all make mistakes, right?", Nikolaos responded, trying to make light of the situation.

"This all happened in the space of one year, who makes that many grand mistakes in one year?"

"Me, apparently"

Adonis let out a disappointed sigh, "Nik, please take this seriously, do have any idea just how embarrassing it is to read so many bad news articles about you? Every time your name popped up in the news we only expected the worst, especially grandmother"

Nikolaos could see where his brother was coming from. When the scandals were happening he believed everything would just blow over and everyone would forget about them, but he forgot the media never forgets and his past misdeeds would be remembered forever.

"You're right, I'm sorry"

"Don't apologize to me, you need to apologize to Grandmother"

"Would she even accept my apology?"

"I don't know, but if you don't start now it'll be too late, you have to do something"

The pressure of Adonis' words weighed heavy on his head; his brother was right, but he did not know what to do or where to even start.

"Thank you for telling me Adonis, I appreciate it"

"Don't mention it"

"No, really, if you didn't take the time to call me I wouldn't have known what was going on, and I would have probably embarrassed myself...more"

"I care about you Nik, and I'm just as worried as grandmother, just...promise me you'll fix it"

"I don't really know how I will, but I'll try"

"That's enough for me, I have to go now, I'll call you on another day"

"Alright, have a good night"

Adonis had cut the line first; Nikolaos looked at his phone to see how long he had spent talking to his young brother. The call lasted 45 minutes, which was funny to him because time felt like it wasn't moving since they started talking.

With almost an hour gone by, Nikolaos knew the brunette he was to take back to his hotel room wasn't waiting for him anymore, no one in their right mind would. But that did not bother him because of the news he had received; Nikolaos did not want to engage in any acts of intimacy; he just wanted to be left alone to think.

***

Back at his hotel room, Nikolaos looked out the large windows overseeing the city. As it was only 4 in the morning, it was still dark, and the only thing he could see were the lights in the distance.

Though the city's night view was a beautiful sight to see, Nikolaos couldn't appreciate its beauty because he had far too much on his mind. Stepping away from the window, he sat on the white sofa just beside it and leaned his head in the palm of his hand, which was supporting him on the armrest.

No matter how many times he repeated it to himself he still couldn't believe it, or rather, accept it. Being told that he was likely to miss out on generations worth of wealth made his stomach churn, it would have made anyone's stomach churn.

The Cassavetes empire was established before Nikolaos and his siblings were born. Since that time, Corinna had worked hard to build the business to where it was and her efforts resulted in a multi-billion dollar Tourism company with several branches spread out all across Greece. Being the grandson of such a powerful and business-savvy woman was an honor that shouldn't have been taken for granted, and yet that was exactly what Nikolaos did.

Sitting in his hotel room in complete silence, Nikolaos felt nothing but the worst feeling of all; regret. But it wasn't regret for his actions, Nikolaos was yet to see the fault in what he did. It was regret for not playing his cards right and being foolish enough to think that his family would continue to support his extravagant and outrageous lifestyle.

But the damage had already been done and he could not return the milk that was spilled back to its carton. What he could do was move forward and figure out what to do to avoid what was to happen.

Picking up the landline from the small table beside him, Nikolaos dialed the number of the only other person aside from Adonis, who did not despise him: his aunt and godmother. Since it was so late, Nikolaos worried that she would not pick up, but she did, and he was relieved.

"Nikolaos!", she answered with glee

"Aunt Elena! Good morning"

"It's a little too early but good morning to you too"

"I'm sorry for calling so late but I have something important I wanted to ask you"

"Of course, because my darling godson could never just call me because he missed me"

"Don't say it like that godmother, you know you're always on my mind, I'm just very troubled right now"

"What troubles you?"

"It's something that I heard, and since you work closely with grandmother I'm sure you'll know"

"Go on"

Nikolaos took a breath, "it's about grandmother writing her will"

"Ah, so the news finally reached you"

"Was it intended to?"

"Not in the slightest; I was just wondering how long it would take until Adonis told you; it was Adonis, wasn't it?"

"Of course, he's the only one who cared enough to warn me"

"Good, so now that you know what are you going to do?"

"You asking me this basically confirms that grandmother has plans of leaving me out"

"She does, and I support her"

"Aunt Elena, I can't believe you're in on this too, I feel so betrayed"

"I'm sorry you feel betrayed Nikolaos but this is just how it is, you don't reward bad behavior, and the fact that Corinna was doing it all this time is just sad; you deserve to be cut off"

Aunt Elena's words stung more than any insult he could have received. She was his wall to lean on and very supportive of him; to be told she agreed with him being cut off was something he never expected from her.

"That hurts", was all he could say in response

Elena was silent for a moment then responded, "Look Nikolaos, I'm not telling you this because I want to hurt you, I'm telling you this because I want you to shape up, Corinna is very serious; if you don't do something fast...it's not going to end well for you"

Twice, Nikolaos had been warned about the situation, and twice he was told to 'do something', but each time, he had the same response: being completely clueless on what to do next.