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Afterward, their bodies melted together into one and they drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 16
Returning to the real world from their weekend of bliss wasn’t an easy transition for Angela. She and Daniel had agreed to keep their relationship secret from the rest of the office. It meant Daniel, the darling of the gossip bloggers, had to keep a low profile. He’d welcomed the respite and had told Angela he wanted to be with her more than being in the public eye.
At work they maintained the same level of professionalism and decorum they had previously. For Angela it was difficult to spend so much time with him all day and keep her hands off him. But at night…
Oh, the nights were another matter entirely.
Once they got to his penthouse they came together and made sometimes sweet, sometimes hot passionate love into the wee hours of the morning, making it very difficult for Angela to rise for those early-morning showings.
A couple of weeks into their affair, Angela was feeling pretty good about her relationship with Daniel and about work. She’d landed her first sales offer for their new downtown development and was feeling so high, she didn’t give a second thought to agreeing to dinner with her parents.
What harm could there be?
Later, Angela would regret her cavalier choice.
When she’d suggested taking her parents to their favorite restaurant, initially they’d balked, claiming it was too expensive, but eventually they’d acquiesced when she told them she’d landed a big contract.
Angela had just given the waiter their wine selection when her parents started in. She was becoming quite fluent in selecting wines, thanks to Daniel’s impeccable taste.
“Two hundred dollars for a bottle of wine?” her father huffed. “Really, Angela, must you be so over the top?”
Angela rolled her eyes and prayed for patience. “I’m not being flashy, Dad. It happens to be an excellent vintage that I like. If you don’t want any, don’t drink it.”
“Angela!” her mother cautioned.
“What?” She shrugged. She wasn’t going to apologize for her good fortune any longer.
“Your father was just thinking of you. There’s really no reason to go through all the trouble.”
Angela released a long sigh. “It’s no trouble, Mama. I want to do this. As I told you both earlier on the phone, I had clients put in a huge offer and it’s a big coup for me.”
“But you haven’t actually sold it,” her father stated. “Perhaps we should be celebrating after you’ve closed on the property.”
“Don’t rain on my parade, Daddy. Before joining Cobb Luxury Real Estate, I would never get clients of this caliber, but my career is on the upward swing now.”
“Career?” Her mother chuckled. “C’mon, Angela. This is nothing more than another job you’ll stay at for a few years before you move on to the next thing.”
And then it came.
“I wish you were more like your sister, Denise,” her mother continued. “Now that girl has her head on straight. She knows that the only way to get ahead is with a good education.”
Angela reached for her wineglass. “You don’t have to sing me Denise’s praises,” she responded, drinking her wine. “I’ve heard it all before.”
“Then you would do well to listen,” her father said.
“No, Daddy, you would do well to recognize the fact that I’ve finally found a career that I love, that I’m good at and that I make a good living at. It allows me to take you both out to fine meals such as this.” She sipped her wine again. “Neither you nor Mama’s principal salary ever afforded you this luxury.”
“Don’t you look down on your mama and me,” her father reprimanded as he pointed his finger at her. “Education is a noble profession. We are helping today’s youth. What are you doing? Helping rich people buy even richer real estate? How is that helping the world?”
“It actually stimulates the economy,” Angela replied. “I believe I learned that in economics class.”
Stunned, her father looked away, busying himself by tearing off a piece of bread and buttering it.
For once in her life, she’d finally silenced them. But why did she have to? She just wished her parents could support her half as much as they did Denise. She’d thought that today she’d finally lived up to the high ideals they’d set forth, but once again she was wrong.
