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I detected a bit of sarcasm in her voice. Yep, same old mom. “What’s up? What’s the old man doing now?”
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked with a giggle in her voice.
“Mom, what do you want? I’m kind of busy.” I was getting disgusted. My mother and father did not get along with each other and neither had ever really gotten along with me. I loved my mother, but I could hardly stand her. All she did was point out other people’s shortcomings, the wives and mistresses’ of my fathers peers, most of the time. And that was about all my father did as well, but the judgement was reserved mostly for me. With that, they should have been as happy as pigs in shit, but surprisingly they did the same crap to each other and that precipitated argument after argument.
I hated knowing that about them. Everyone else thought they were this elegant, perfect couple. But no one knew the darkness behind their marriage. It was a façade. In fact, it was a pretty good ruse. But that’s all it was. And it was so difficult growing up living fake like that.
“Well, I just thought I would remind you that your father wants to have dinner with you this week sometime. What works for your schedule?”
Shit. I hated this. About once every three months or so my father decided we needed to have some “bonding time” and demanded that I have dinner with him. The only reason I went, was so that he wouldn’t disinherit me. I hated being at the mercy of his money, but with the amount of money I stood to inherit, I would have been stupid to turn it down. Then again, I did have my pride. And a part of me felt that dealing with the two of them, practically babysitting them at times when I was growing up, meant I had damn well earned a bunch of that money. It was my birthright and I would not be denied it.
But my father was really starting to push me on that. What the hell? I would have to meet with him. “I guess Thursday will be fine.”
“Ok, I’ll tell him that, dear,” she said. “I do know that he has something very important to discuss with you. So, you’d better be prepared to actually have a real conversation with him this time.”
“As opposed to what? We always talk when we get together,” I reminded her.
“Your father isn’t dumb. He didn’t build an empire of wealth by being stupid.”
“Ok,” I said. “I’ll see him then. Text me the restaurant.”
I hung up the phone and slipped my gloves back on. Something about talking to my mother really made me so angry that I felt like pummeling something. I got into position and I started to throw sharp hooks, and jabs, followed by some hard kicks. I kept imagining my dad’s head was right in front of those blows. My anger had been pent up inside of me for so long it was enough to make me certifiably insane.
I finished the flurry of hard blows into the heavy bag and then rested grabbing my water jug again. I kept thinking about the girl from the softball field. Kat… I wondered if that was short for Katrina or Katherine? She was so intriguing that almost every thought I had was about her since I’d met her.
She wasn’t going to call. That much was obvious, so that meant I might have to do a bit of detective work to track her down. I had to do that without appearing as if I was some kind of weirdo. I supposed I could set up something so that I accidentally ran into her somewhere, but she would be suspicious.
Plus, she’d probably asked around about me, if she was really interested, and no doubt heard of the rumors of my reputation. I wasn’t that guy anymore.
That was scary to me. I knew I didn’t want to get married, and I wasn’t sure if I ever wanted to have a relationship, but lately I’d been missing that warmth and connection in my life. I was changing.
It was scary, especially because I had never thought this way before, but maybe it was time for something different.
I sighed as I remembered I would soon have to interact with my father. He’d never understood me and I had a feeling that I was not going to enjoy this meeting one little bit…
Chapter Six
Kat
Why did I keep letting them drag me here?
I took a sip of my beer and glanced around the club. The music was so loud I could hardly hear myself think. The place smelled stale and stuffy for some reason, as if it had been closed for renovations, and I was exhausted. I’d had a really good day at work. That bitch Jenna had barely gotten under my skin, I hadn’t let any of the customers aggravate me, and I’d done well in tips. Of course, Jenna took half of that, but it was still decent. I was now blowing all that money on overpriced drinks and an annoying atmosphere. But, I was out with my friends, and they were hell bent on partying it up. I sometimes wondered if they went out so much just to get away from their significant others.
I was so damn tired. Getting back into fighting shape was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. My body wasn’t quite used to moving that way anymore and some of the muscles that used to be very tight and strong, were now jelly-filled and listless. It would take some time, but I knew that soon I would be right back where I needed to be.
I was going to teach my first class tomorrow night. I was a bit nervous, scared even, but I knew that it was a step towards the mentality of where I needed to go with my life. It was a passion, part of a lifestyle that I had let crumble under the weight of grief. My parents would not have wanted me to suffer that way.
“Are you going to frown all night again?” Kayley asked me, nudging my arm. “There is a bevy of super-hot guys all over the place. I’ve seen several throwing glances at you.”
“And yet I’ve found the will to resist,” I teased. “Kayley give it up. I’m focused on other things right now. There is a lot more to life than finding the right guy. It’s like a sick obsession with you. Let it go.”
I was getting a bit testy, but I was sick of people meddling in my personal life. I was focused.
“That’s my point, exactly,” Kayley said. “You are just drifting aimlessly through life. That’s not healthy. I think it would be good for you to hang out with a guy. Tha
t’s all. I just really care. I can see you aren’t happy. Getting out there is the first step. That’s why I keep dragging your ass to the club every other night.”
“It’s annoying,” I said.
