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"What's wrong?" I asked.
She didn’t look at me. “If I lose my job, then my father will stop at nothing to get me to work for him.”
The first time I’d asked, she’d turned me down. Was it stupid of me to want to ask a second time? “And that’s such a bad thing because…”
Her eyes lifted to mine then, and I saw with shock that they were filled with unshed tears. “Because that’s exactly what he wants, and it’s the one thing I won't give him."
This dispute with her father meant something serious to her. God knew I wanted to know more, but she would turn it down if I pushed too hard. The questions gnawed at the back of my head. What had happened between them? Felicity didn't like confrontation, but somehow, she jumped at it whenever it came to her father.
I watched in silence as she wiped under her eyes. I didn't like seeing her cry. In fact, I hated it. When she smiled, the entire room lit up. Her eyes shone brighter, and when I was the cause of that smile, it was almost as if I was on top of the fucking world.
"Go ahead," she sniffled. "Ask away."
"I thought you said you didn't like personal questions?"
She shrugged. "You are obviously burning with questions."
I couldn't help but smile, even if I tried. "Are you alright?"
She huffed out a breathy laugh. "No one has asked me that in a very long time." She sniffed again, wiping under her eyes. "I guess I am. Sometimes. Other times, I hit rock bottom."
I decided right there and then that I disliked Stephen Wiley. If he couldn't recognize how amazing his daughter was, how the hell had he come this far in the business world?
"Rock bottom is surprisingly comfortable, considering how awful it feels to fall. At least it's safer than falling again,” I reasoned.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anything is better than falling,” she replied.
Her eyes held a faraway look, and it hit me again that there was more to the story than she was willing to tell. Pushing was not an option, as it was a sure way to get her to run back into her shell. Besides, she seemed more like she needed a listening ear than advice of any sort.
I kept my gaze on her as she gathered her wits and met my eyes.
"Ever since childhood, my parents have always wanted to control my life,” she began. “My father has been popular in the field for my whole life, and my mother is well-known in social services. 'Appearances matter,' my father always said. My brother, Derick, and I were supposed to be star children. And when we didn't conform to his rules, things became ugly.
“Something…happened a few years ago. Something that threatened his public image. My father and I weren't the best of friends before that. When everything happened, it almost shattered our already strained relationship. I blamed him for being a shitty father, and he blamed me for making shitty decisions."
The look on her face told me she still had more to say, so I waited.
"I expected him to let go of our grievances and be who he was meant to be: my father. But he was too caught up in his own way of thinking, and even when I told him what I needed, he told me I was acting like a foolish child and would not encourage it. So, I moved out and started applying to companies where I knew he had no power."
"Hmm," I made a sound at the back of my throat. "Sounds like a dick."
Felicity scoffed. "You should meet him. He's the definition of the word."
Since we’re exchanging secrets… "Actually, he asked me to come to work for him two years ago and offered me a hefty sum if I switched teams."
This time, she chuckled humorlessly.
"Judging by the unperturbed look on your face, I'd say you expected nothing less,” I said.
"Can you blame me? My father had this ridiculous knack for being a perfectionist. He probably approached you after seeing Happy Bird's global success. Of course, he'd want to steal you out from under OceansPlay's nose. How typical."
"Typical, indeed. I won't call it loyalty, but if he didn't hire me when I applied to his company, then he had no business hiring me when I suddenly became the hottest thing in the news."
Her eyes widened. "You applied to Blizzard Games?"
I nodded. "OceansPlay too. Thankfully, they were the ones who recognized my value."
"Ugh," she sniffed. "My father is such an asshole. And my brother doesn't have the balls to tell it to his face. Derick acts like the sun shines out of his ass, and he's got a Vitamin D deficiency."
