AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sterling,” Callan whispers, and the way he says my name hits me like a ton of bricks. The pain in his voice sounds sincere, and I want to believe him.
“I’ll stay at the penthouse, but I need time.” I hear him sigh with what almost sounds like relief. I’m half tempted to hang up the phone, but I wait for his response.
“I’m sorry, Sterling. Please call me when you’re ready.” And then the phone clicks to silence.
The tears hit relentlessly, attacking my face all at once. It’s too much. The feelings are too much, I just want to shut them off.
At least he didn’t lie about one thing.
He did ruin me.
thirty-three
Callan
Ihavecancer.
The words played on an aggressive loop in my head as I drove down the winding, snow packed road. Speeding. Drunk. Pissed.
Who the fuck springs those words on someone over the phone? I know who, my father. He’s the true definition of asshole. He acts as if he’s so professional and such a “family-man” for an audience, but behind the curtain he’s an inconsiderate, cowardly prick. And now, an inconsiderate, cowardly prick with cancer.
I was just leaving a company party when he called. We were celebrating a record-breaking year, my first year as owner of the dealership. When I stepped outside to take the call, he didn’t even give me a chance to be eased into the news. Just casually dumped it on me, like it was a weather report.
He might as well have said, “Oh hey, son. So, tomorrow’s weather is going to be a bit snowy with some light wind chill. Oh, and a one hundred percent chance of me having cancer.”
And to say that I walked my ass right back into that party, accepted my award and then downed a whole bottle of Don Julio, would be an understatement. I wasn’t expecting that phone call. But then again, I’d never expect anything less from him.
I knew I needed to get out of there, I didn’t want my business partners to see my drunken meltdown.
I traveled down the winding road that led from my dealership to my penthouse, speeding, drunk, pissed. I wasn’t thinking straight. My head felt fuzzy and even though the buzz numbed some of the emotion, I was still filled with confusion and anger as I kept driving in the raging blizzard.
Next thing I knew...
Headlights.
Then a crash.
The sight of snow and smoke blurred my vision as I struggled to get my seat belt unbuckled. My Aston Martin took the collision head on, but my vehicle wasn’t nearly as bad as the other’s.
I panicked. I was so wasted I didn’t know who else to call and before I could decipher what I was actually doing, my dad’s voice answered the phone.
“What’s going on, Callan?” His annoyed voice stuck in my head proving how much of an inconvenience I was to him.
“I just got into a fucking wreck.”
“A what?”
“A car accident you dumb ass!” I yelled at my dad.
“Watch your tone with me, son.” His voice was stiff and tense, his poor attempt at speaking like a man with power.
“What the fuck do I do? It’s bad. It’s really bad.”
“How many others?”
“Just one, I think.”
“Are they breathing?” he had asked.
