I shut the door behind me. “I wanted to talk to you.”
He sighs. “This couldn’t have waited until I was done with work? You should be trying to get your job back. You made a mistake, and you’ll have to earn back their trust. It’s getting too late.”
My nervousness transforms into anger at how one-track he is. He hasn’t even asked how I am. I’m more than my job, but not to him. “I don’t want to.”
He frowns. “Don’t be childish. You’re a bit upset, but you know better. Swallow your pride and apologize. Show Richard you can handle it.”
“No, Dad, I’m done with them.”
“Don’t say that. I should have called him for you.”
“I quit my job, and I’m never going back to Yesterly and Havings. I hated it there. I’m not even sure how much I want to be a lawyer.”
That was graceless, but the relief I feel once the words are out is immense. No more lies. We’ll have to learn a new way to relate to each other that’s not work based. I wonder if we can.
Dad lowers himself and stares at me. “You foolish girl. What were you thinking? You’ll never get a chance like that again. If you quit, you’ve wasted your life.”
“I was wasting my life when I was there.”
He’s talking over me before I finish. “You need to think this through. This is your future at stake. What’s going on with you? You used to be so steady. I never had to worry about you, not like Phoebe.”
“This isn’t about Phoebe. It’s about me.”
He blows out his breath and turns to his screen. “If that’s what you came to say, I need to get back to work.”
I start to leave, but there’s an itch in my mouth. I’ve started this, so I might as well get it all out.
“I haven’t said everything.”
He raises his eyebrows and puts his hands on the desk in a move of exaggerated patience.
“I only went into law to make you happy. You wanted Hui and Hui or Bay Street Hui, and Phoebe was never going to do that.”
Dad picks up a pen and looks over my shoulder. “Is this because of—” He frowns. “Jihoon?”
“It’s not.”
He looks up. “No?”
This rankles. “I am perfectly capable of making a decision without a man.”
He puts the pen down. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I only want what’s best for you.”
“How about you let me decide what’s best for me?”
Dad stiffens. “I don’t appreciate that, Ari. There’s no need to speak to me with that tone.”
This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but I take my courage in hand. I walk over behind the desk, wrap both my arms around his thin shoulders, and say, “I love you, Dad. I love you, but I’m done being what you want me to be.”
For a long moment, I don’t know what he’s going to do, but then he gives a little shake, so I release him, and he pulls away without looking up. “I want you to reconsider Yesterly and Havings when you’re calmer.”
“I’m very calm. I know you wanted me to be a lawyer,” I say. “I didn’t know what I wanted. Now I know what I don’t want.”
“I’m not happy about this, Ari. You’re showing a huge lack of judgment.” He purses his lips. “It’s a mistake.”
“If it is, it’s my mistake to make. Not yours.”
He gestures as if to indicate washing his hands of my decision and keeps his eyes trained on the monitor.
