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“So, you’re just going to lie to my face?” He was annoyed. He hated lies. His words had made me feel guilty, and I found myself in a dilemma once again.
“You’re not going to like what you hear. Besides, I don’t want to make things awkward.”
“Things are awkward now,” he growled. “This,” he had gestured animatedly from himself to me and back again, “this deceit is awkward.”
“Oh, come on, Dad.” He was being a little dramatic.
“You don’t lie to me, Jackson. You never have. What’s so different now?”
I had sighed heavily. He was going to force me to tell him by making me feel guilty. His favorite trick in the book.
“I found Bree with another guy,” I said. I caught the low grumbling of a car engine and, with a quick glance out the window, saw the cab pulling up outside. “Look, the cab’s—”
“Hang on just a damn minute,” Dad had demanded. “What do you mean, you found Bree with another guy?”
“I went over yesterday morning, and there was a guy at her house.”
“It could have been anybody,” Dad argued.
“Anybody who had her wrapped around him like Christmas paper?” I countered in frustration. “The two of them laughing and giggling like a pair of teenagers in love? I don’t think so, Dad. I should have just done what I’ve always done. Stayed in my own lane. I’m going back to what I know.” I walked over to him and squeezed him tight. “I love you,” I said, before turning and opening the front door. I had stepped outside with my bags, and had almost shut the door behind me, when—
“Wait—” Dad cried.
“I’ll call you in a few days,” I said, before shutting the door.
I didn’t want to hear him make excuses for Bree. I saw what I saw. Anything he would have tried to say would have fallen on deaf ears anyway.
I had felt a little bad leaving without saying goodbye to Daniel, but I didn’t want him to see me in such an angry state. It was partly that. I also didn’t want to hang around and listen to Dad trying to persuade me to stay. I’ve facetimed Daniel since. It’s obvious my younger brother is just as curious as Dad had been, but I haven’t told him about Bree either. All he knows is that my work called me back to the city. Whether he believes that or not, I don’t really know.
“Hey, man. How’s it going?” Phil asked, leaning into my office.
I just look at him blankly. Phil and I rarely see each other when we’re in the office, which is why I’m shocked to see him here. We’re just too busy. If we get time to talk, it’s a quick check in at the coffee machine. If we need to talk about something more in depth, we almost always have to make an appointment. The exception to that, is the monthly progress meeting we have, where we both come prepared with numbers, clients, and investment opportunities. Phil never just ‘pops in.’
“That good, huh?” he says, when I don’t reply.
“Is there something wrong?”
It’s the only conclusion I can come to for such an impromptu meeting.
Phil simply walks in and drops himself on the chair opposite to me.
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
My frown deepens even more. And then I shrug.
I’m not in good form. I haven’t been in good form since I came back. I just want to get my work done and go home, which is where I have been spending all of my free time, just staring into blank space, allowing my mind to drift aimlessly into nothingness. A few stiff drinks usually help the process along.
“Jackson,” Phil presses, looking at me like I’ve just landed from another planet. “You haven’t been right since you got back. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
I know exactly what he means. Clearly, I haven’t hidden my state of mind as well as I thought.
“Do you remember me saying hello to you this morning?” he asks.
There is absolutely no recollection of that interaction in my head, but I pretend to recall. After a few seconds, I shake my head. “Nope.”
“No,” Phil shakes his head along with me, “I didn’t think so. Just like you probably don’t remember not replying. I don’t know, man. Your body might have come back to the city, but your head is still in Sharon Springs. Is it your dad? Are you worried about him?”
