AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I see you got a new desk,” I said, pointing at it. “And it’s Italian, I expect.”
“Have I told you how I met your mother?” he said, still looking outside the window.
“I don’t think you ever did,” I replied.
“She was the prettiest woman I ever laid my eyes on. She had this amazing smile that melted my heart. Her father was a business tycoon, owning several companies throughout the country, but his biggest was the pioneer biotech company in San Francisco. Luck was on my side the day I met her. I was a waiter at a huge restaurant and she was one of the regular customers,” he said as he turned to face me. “She came every Friday with her friends. We made eye contact every Friday for two months without saying a word to each other. I was finally able to muster the courage to talk to her about something other than taking her order or presenting the bill to her. I knew she was wealthy. You had to be wealthy to eat at that restaurant and because she did it every week, that was quite amazing to me as a young man.” He poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bar cart in the corner. “Her visits to the restaurant increased when we started to get friendly. I remember the first date I took her on…”
“Why are you telling me all this?” I quizzed.
“I’m the reason your mother left, Daniel.”
I had always suspected that, but why was he telling me this now? Is there something he wanted me to know? I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, but I had planned to reconcile with my father, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
“Of course. I am very sure she didn’t leave because of me,” I said.
“You are your mother’s son,” he chuckled. “Your mother’s father blessed our union and gave me wealth beyond my wildest dreams. He made me a director at his biotech company. It grew under my leadership and I had all I could ever ask for; a beautiful wife and a lot of money, but that wasn’t enough. You were still a toddler when the news of your grandfather’s illness hit us. It took a huge toll on your mother as her love for her father was very deep, and as the state of his health worsened, his companies followed suit. The directors of his biotech company considered him a tumor that had to be cut off,” his voice trailed off.
“We voted him out of his own company. It was only made possible by the influence I had on the company. I was pushed by greed and I thought since the old man was already on his deathbed, I could take over from him. The company got renamed and here we are. Your mother rightfully hated me for it, and as time passed, she couldn’t stand being in the same house. At one point, we barely talked or saw each other. She wanted to take you with her, but I couldn’t let that happen, so she was forced to leave without you,” he said as his voice faded away.
“I’m sorry, Daniel, but I couldn’t look at you the same way after that. I know I was a monster. Your mother saw that and every time you looked at me, I always felt like you saw it, too. There was probably a huge part of me that felt that guilt that my proud ego never let me acknowledge.” He coughed. "I want to sincerely apologize to you, Daniel. I messed up because I wanted to have everything for myself, and, in the process, I lost everything that really mattered. Your mother is my biggest regret. Treating you the way I have all these years is another one. I can't make it right, but I want you to know, that as I see my own mortality staring me directly in the face, I now more fully understand what I did and how it's shaped the rest of my years. I don't want you to make the same mistake and be the monster that I was."
I never saw my father as a monster. The way he ignored me was something I just couldn’t understand, so I did the only logical thing. I ignored him back. Now he was telling me all this, and I honestly had no idea how to feel or what to do with the information.
Chapter 37
Amy
Danielleftmeherewith his enthusiastic sister who made fun of everyone in the house. Everyone but Damien. She told me as much as she could in the time that we had, starting with her childhood. She was young, almost a decade younger than I was, which explained her bright spirit. The amount of alcohol she had drank helped loosen her conversation and made her super hilarious. I had a good time and she and Daniel had made sure of that. I blushed at the thought of him and what we had just done in the bathroom.
“Amy!” Damien called out. “What a lovely surprise,” he said, as he stretched his arms out and hugged me.
Thank God Daniel wasn’t here to see that.
“Florence,” he said as he crossed his right arm and bowed his head toward her like an English gentleman.
“Damien, I uh… I have to go and see my uh… yes, my brothers. Please excuse me,” Florence stammered as she scurried off.
“What was that about?” he asked as he shot me a puzzled look.
“I think she likes you,” I chuckled.
“Nah, she’s my sister,” he responded.
“Step-sister,” I corrected.
“That's disgusting, Amy,” he laughed as he shook his head. "So, are you and Daniel dating?"
“Oh, um…”
“He brought you to a family dinner. That’s a big deal, if you ask me.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Damien,” I said as I moved down the hall. We could hear his mother call out his name in the distance.
“Well, I have to go." Damien tilted his head and thumbed in his mother's direction. "I’ll see you at work.”
I had a strange feeling about family that night. Seeing how Daniel's family interacted and how they each played a part in the quilt that made up their family was, in a way, quite beautiful.
I walked through the hallway and found Florence staring at a family portrait that hung on the wall. She was shaking her head.
