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As I was about to open up for my dad, Dex whispered behind me, “Bianca, do not tell him my identity, okay?”“So you own your own business? Is it something I’d be familiar with?” Dad was trying to strike up a conversation with Dex, who was being uncharacteristically quiet. Whatever he came to tell me was clearly weighing on his mind.
“Probably not. It’s a financial firm. Nothing too flashy.”
I hadn’t had a chance to tell Dex yet, but the article I’d written was green lit and had been moved up on the magazine’s schedule. It was originally slated for publication in the fall, but the editor-in-chief loved it so much, she moved it to next month. Dex had said he didn’t want my parents to know who he was when he walked in, but the article would take care of that for us sooner rather than later. I also didn’t want him to downright lie to my father. Looking between Dex and my dad, I thought to myself, lies were how so many things ruined my early relationship with both men.
“Dex is being modest, Dad. He runs a very successful company. In fact, that’s how we met. I interviewed him for an article in Finance Times.” I looked over at Dex, who was staring off into space until I caught his eyes. “You’ll actually get to learn everything about him in two weeks. The magazine is running with my article as the cover story next month.”
Dex’s eyes grew. “Next month? I thought it was coming out in the fall.”
“They moved it up. Apparently, my editor thinks the world has waited long enough to get to know you. By this time in a few weeks, all your secrets will be told to the world.” I winked. Of course, I was kidding, but it looked like the thought made Dex pale.
“Can you excuse me for a moment? I need to use the bathroom.”
Dex was gone for a few minutes, so after I got my dad a beer, I went to check on him. I knocked lightly on the bathroom door. “Dex? Are you okay in there?”
He opened the door. “I’m actually not feeling too well.”
I felt his forehead. His naturally tanned skin was sallow and his skin was a little clammy. “Do you think you’re coming down with something? Maybe you should go to my room. Lie down for a bit.”
“I should probably go. I don’t want to get you and your father sick.”
I was definitely disappointed, but I really wanted to believe maybe Dex’s strange behavior was the result of him not feeling well. Although inside, my gut was twisting that his behavior was from something else entirely—something that didn’t bode well for us long term. I just had that bad feeling. “Okay. If you think you’d feel better in your own bed.”
Dex’s eyes searched mine. I went to turn away and walk back to the living room when Dex grabbed my elbow and pulled me back. He cupped my cheeks with both hands. “Being in my own bed would never feel better than being in yours. Mine is lonely without you even though you haven’t been in it yet.”
His words were so sweet, such a contradiction to his sad face. “Well, I hope you feel better.”
He nodded. When we walked back to the living room together, we found Dad bonding with Bandit. The dog’s two hind legs were on the floor, but the rest of his body was sprawled across my dad’s lap on the couch.
“Seems like you’ve made a friend.”
Dad scratched behind Bandit’s ears. “I always wanted a dog. Is he a rescue dog, Dex?”
“Yes. He is, actually.”
“I didn’t know you always wanted a dog, Dad? How come we never had one growing up?”
Dad’s voice was low, the same way he spoke whenever we were forced to discuss my mother. She was definitely a subject we both avoided, although sometimes it was inevitable. “Your mom never wanted one.”
Bandit climbed off Dad’s lap and went to sit at Dex’s side. My father stood. “How about a beer, Dex?”
I answered. “Dex was actually going to leave. He’s not feeling well.”
“That’s a shame. My daughter so rarely allows me to meet anyone that she’s spending time with. Thought I might finally get a chance to put some of those embarrassing childhood stories to good use.”
Dex raised an eyebrow. “Embarrassing stories?”
My father walked to the kitchen as he spoke and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. “In kindergarten, my little princess had a crush on our neighbor’s oldest son—Tommy Moretti.”
I turned to Dex. “You should probably get going since you don’t feel well.”
Smiling, Dad twisted the beer cap off and extended it to Dex. Both men completely ignored me while Dex took the bottle from my Dad’s hand. He continued, “Anyway, Tommy was about eighteen or nineteen. Bianca was maybe seven. She befriended Tommy’s little sister so she spent a lot of time over at the Moretti house.”
