“Well, as luck should have it, I’m back in town. And whether you want to deal with this or not, you will.”
“Oh, my fucking God, Clarissa. Please stop!” I said in frustration.
“Take a deep breath and listen carefully, Cole. You never listen to me.”
I was accustomed to being blamed for not listening. The truth was, she talked too much.
“Yes, I do.”
“Fine. The first time I met you through Moretti, you took me back to the hotel after the wonderful dinner we had at his club. That night, you got me pregnant, but I didn’t know it.”
“But I used protection. I always do. You know that,” I insisted.
“Yes, I know, but you took it off because you were being so passionate. You wanted to feel it au naturel. You told me you were smitten. Your words, not mine.”
“Yes, I remember that last part. I was smitten, so what?”
“Then you swore to me I was the best you’ve ever had,” Clarissa asserted.
“True, I remember you were the best I’d ever had. I don’t remember taking it off, Clarissa. Stop making shit up, for Christ’s sake.”
Clarissa was working really hard to make me listen. I wasn't always the best listener, but I wasn't stupid either. I could see her scheme a mile away.
“Listen, please listen. I went back home to Jersey shortly after that night to take care of my grandfather. He was very ill and passed away. You know that.”
“Yes, we’ve gone over that,” I replied in frustration.
“Soon after, I had my son and named him Rafael in honor of my grandpa.”
I rolled my eyes. I was getting impatient. The pleasant drive had turned into an unpleasant one.
“Again, you’ve told me that before. Bless your grandpa. Now what?”
“And when I came back a couple of years later to pursue my dream as an actress, I didn’t tell you anything because your father could have probably killed me and disowned you. So it stayed a secret.”
“I’ve already told you, even if he were my son, what good would it do? It’s been twenty-five years. Do you really believe he would want to meet me now?”
I shifted uncomfortably in the back seat while my new chauffeur kept his eyes on the road, though I had a feeling he was listening to every word.
“Cole, you’re being an ass. It doesn’t matter if he wants to meet you or not. I don’t want to take this secret to my grave.”
“Take this secret to the grave? What secret? There is no secret. You’re so dramatic, like your mom,” I shot back.
“I’m not being dramatic. And don’t bring my mom into this. Just do the paternity test, and that will be the end of that. If he’s not your son, fine. But if he is, if he is your son, then you need to do right by him and, at the very least, put him in your will. You haven’t taken care of him. My parents have done that all this time. He hasn’t received a dime from you.”
“Well, how could he receive any money from me if I didn’t know I had another son with you until now? And as far as I know, our only son is Michael.”
Clarissa stayed quiet and just listened.
“I see what this is all about. Once a gold digger, always a gold digger,” I said angrily as I put the phone down on the seat next to me.
As I stared out the window, streets and buildings rushed past in a gray blur, mirroring my state of mind.
I could still hear Clarissa’s incessant, annoying voice loud and clear through the phone’s speaker. I had accidentally put the phone on loudspeaker mode.
“Do the right thing for once in your life.”
“What do you have to lose?”
