AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What I’m hearing is that analyzing all of the accounts is only the first step in the job. What really needs to happen is a complete restructuring of all your father’s accounts and retraining him to use only one card.”
She rubbed the side of her face. “It’s not that easy though. Some of these are legacy accounts Mom’s family had set-up.”
Daar didn’t know what impact that might have and he wasn’t certain he cared. There were times when the only right answer was to burn it all down and start over.
“Have you begun compiling a list of reoccurring charges and deposits?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes.”
Relief coursed through him. He reached over and patted her arm. “You are divine.”
Robin flushed and shifted in her seat. “I’m just doing my job.”
“It isn’t an easy one. I’m glad Cassim came around to you doing this. I don’t think anyone else could have.” Daar sighed and leaned on the arm rest. “It’s a pity you weren’t born a boy.”
“Really? Sometimes I wonder if you would have rather I weren’t born at all.”
“That’s not an insult. It’s a fact. There are things in this world women cannot do. There’s only so far that brilliant brain of yours can get you.”
Robin stared at him. He could practically hear her modern, feminist arguments. He’d heard enough of them during his time, but the facts were facts. A woman could not survive in his world the same way a man could.
“Has your father begun to talk marriage to you?” Daar turned his attention from the screen to Robin. She would no doubt iron out all of Cassim’s problems in time. “It might be a good idea to find a husband sooner rather than later. A husband could temper you some. You’re brilliant, but there are times when I see your mother in you.”
She didn’t reply, which shouldn’t surprise him.
Robin had been allowed too many freedoms. Cassim had never been strict enough with her, and now they could very well pay the price with an unfavorable match for her.
“Harper isn’t a bad man, but I’m not certain he’s right for you,” Daar said, thinking out loud. “I know a few men, slightly older than you, who could make you wonderful husbands and very rich.”
She suddenly turned toward him. “How can you say that in a modern culture? I get arranging a marriage so that you are with someone you share values with. But how is it my education and what I want come second to marrying someone? Why is it I have to be attached to a man to be valuable?”
So they were going to do this again. He’d had some variation of this conversation with her since she was young. Eventually he’d get through to her. She really should have been a boy.
“Why is it about you? Why isn’t it about what’s best for the family?” he countered.
Her eyes widened. “When is it not about the family? Why can’t it be about me for once? When do I get to matter?”
He paced his words, ensuring that he spoke calmly compared to her heated questions. “When you do something for this family.”
She gestured at the computer. “What am I doing now?”
Daar shook his head and sighed. The younger generations were losing sight of what family really meant. How could he make her understand when Cassim had never properly shown her? “This is why I said you should have gone to study abroad instead of here. Americans have ruined your head. You don’t even know what family duty is.”
Robin stood abruptly. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment.”
Great.
“Robin?”
She turned and stalked around the desk.
“Robin, don’t twist my words like that,” he called out.
But she was gone.
Wonderful.
Just what he needed.
