It was early. Far too early. He wondered if Jack was even up yet. Or was he too early? Hell, was he actually invited? Sure, he was family. And his father actually had an invite. But did he get one? Jacob’s dad was kind of vague on the details. The phone call came sudden. For a moment, Jacob wanted to just hang up. But something had compelled him to take the call regardless. He and his father rarely exchanged more than 2 sentences, but this time around all formalities were skipped. His cousin was to marry, and he was the only Darcy presentable enough to go there. After that his dad hung up. Jacob didn’t try to call back.

Back then, he had walked several rounds around the house, smoking half a pack. Nervous as hell. What was he going to say? Maybe he should call Jack? He and Jack hadn’t spoken in over eight years. Jacob never went to family reunions. For hours he stared at his phone. Only to eventually realize that he might as well just go and see what would happen. But of course he had to convince the Board first to let him go. And to his surprise, they did. In fact they allowed him to go for two whole weeks, instead of the 3 days he requested. The paperwork was cleared in an afternoon. Before Jacob fully realized it, he was on a plane heading for LA.

And now he was here, the next day. His BMW i8 was driven over, so at the very least he didn’t have to miss his new, noble steed. An expensive piece of engineering but, more importantly, a gift from the Board after he closed the fiscal year 2015 with a profit in times of financial crisis. Once before the gate, he realized how little he remembered of the familial house. The Darcys have owned the complex for many years. Jacob didn’t miss it. It was far too big for him.

As one big block of nerves he grabbed his phone, checking his e-mails. None. The company seemed to run smoothly without him. At least during the next. But for the first time, Jacob actually got frustrated that nothing went wrong. [color=9e0b0f]“C’mon man! It’s just family. Damn I closed deals with god damned idiots from Silicon Valley. I shouldn’t be stressed for this.”[/color] In a fit of courage he drove up towards the gate, where the guard stopped him. [color=9e0b0f]“Jacob Darcy, checking in.”[/color] The guard checked his list and then let the gate open. Jacob let out a sigh of relief. At the very least he was on some list.