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Chapter Nine - Sloane
It is a lunch rush, so it takes me longer to get home. However, I take the time in the cab to think about how to connect with Myah and convince her to go home. I cannot hide her forever. And knowing how well-connected his father is, I highly doubt that I can even keep her for long. Someone from my neighborhood is bound to see her.
“How do I even make friends with a twelve-year-old?”
I wasn’t exactly an amicable child when I was that young. My father didn’t like me mingling with people that he disapproved of. Meaning, I had very limited choices for companions in my small prep school. Chris Keeley only likes people whose family value matches his wealth. And even in my prestigious and expensive school, there were not many people who did. My father had gone straight to the parents of those rich kids to set up playdates. So before long, everyone had labeled me a snob. My reputation had gone sour before I could do anything about it.
The light turns green, and the cab crosses the last avenue before my street. It parks in front of my apartment building. I jump out, pay the cabbie, and climb the stairs. I don’t have a clear gameplan, but I have a clear goal. Myah just has to adjust to that.
I open my apartment door to the sight of the twelve-year-old, lounging and watching some afternoon drama on the television.
“I made lunch,” she shares as soon as she sees me. I can smell tomatoes and pasta from my kitchen. My stomach grumbles at the scent, but I want to get into why I came back here first.
“Myah.”
She turns away from me. “No. I’m not going home.”
I let loose a deep sigh. “Is there anything that I can do to change your mind?”
Myah doesn’t give me an answer to that. I know she can hear me because there is no way that she is really interested in the trashy show playing on the television. I don’t even think adults enjoy it.
“Is Owen — your father — an asshole?” I ask.
That gets the girl’s attention. She turns to me and offers me a small smile. Then she looks outside the window and adds, “not really.”
I lean back against my couch and place my feet on my coffee table. This is my relaxation place, and I need to be my calmest to convince her to go back to her father. And I’m finally getting her to open up, I think.
“My father is an asshole too. And I really mean that.”
Myah laughs softly. “Dad is not that bad. He’s just too controlling. I think he sometimes assumes that our home is his military ground too. He orders me around and doesn’t let me be me. I think that’s part of the reason Mom left him. Well, that and because she cheated on him when he was away.”
Wow. Owen was not kidding about his ex-wife. She is a self-entitled bitch.
“My father doesn’t like me to be me too,” I begin.
I’m not usually upfront about my personal life because people often misunderstand me. They say I complain too much when I already have everything I can ever want. I always answer them in my head and say, anything but free will and freedom. Yet, this sudden feeling inside me tells me to trust Myah.
I grab a pillow and hug it to my chest. Then I continue, “Chris, my father, is a wealthy businessman. I thought of him as a king when I was a kid, and I was this princess in my own castle. But as I grew up, I realized that it was not a castle but a fortress. Then when I became as old as you are now, I began to hear what my classmates said about me and what my father had done. To control me, he began handpicking who I could be friends with. Those that he deems unworthy, he pays off with cash. By that, I mean, he gave their parents money to have their kids ignore me. And that went on until I finished high school.”
I sigh, remembering how alone I felt during those days. In college, I was blessed to finally have friends. People that I could trust and share some shallow things with. However, at McKenzie, Inc., I began to trust other people a bit more. It all happened when I met Kane’s wife, Reese. We started as enemies, but she soon became my closest friend. Reese is easy to talk with, so I have begun to tell her about my childhood. She’s been really helping me move past it.
I notice Myah staring at me, so I raise an eyebrow.
“Your father is an asshole,” she says with a nod. Then she adds, “mine is just a mild jerk compared to yours.”
