Chapter 42: Chapter 7: Giving Me No Choice

Mason

“He does a good job. He works hard,” my father stated.

“A good job?” I shook my head with a chuckle.

“I like Eoin, but there’s more than a handful of typos on this page alone. We shouldn’t have to keep him on just because he’s family.”

“I think we owe him that much after everything he’s done. He was the one that stepped in when you weren’t around. Remember?”

“I bet it was such an inconvenience to his life,” I replied sarcastically.

When my father didn’t reply, I rested back in my chair with a sigh. “It’s your choice if you want to keep him on. You’re the boss here.”

“When the time comes, the business will be passed on to you. It’ll be good to keep some people around that you can trust.”

~Trust. Not likely! I don’t do trust. I’m just not a guy that puts his trust in others. That’s never been me. I’ve never been that man.~

“Anyway, change of subject. How are things going with our little Penelope?” My father asked.

It’s clear to me that he’s been itching to bring up the subject.

“Just like you would expect when a kid doesn’t know who her father is. I’m a stranger to her. She’s a stranger to me too. I don’t know anything about her.”

“You can’t change the past, son. All you can do now is focus on the future and make up for the months you missed out on.”

“If Jamie allows it. I can’t even see my own child without her being present. It’s clear that she doesn’t have any trust in me as a father, but that’s what I expected from Jamie. She’s still angry at me.”

“Jamie raised Penelope alone for the first months of her life. You need to build that trust with her.”

My father sighed. “She’s a good mother to your daughter. She needs time to get used to you being back too.”

“I’m in her life whether she likes it or not. I’m not going anywhere.” I stood up from behind my desk and grabbed my suit jacket from my chair.

“Where are you going now?” he asked.

“I have something I need to do.” I walked toward the open door of the office.

“We have that lunch meeting at three, remember?” my father called after me from behind his desk.

Sometimes I wonder if he has doubts that I’m capable of taking over the company after him.

I ended up somewhere I didn’t think I would ever be: a baby boutique. It didn’t pan out too well, and I ended up at the nearest bar not twenty minutes later.

My efforts at being a good dad had failed. I didn’t even know what size clothing to buy her. It wasn’t something I’d even thought about before arriving at the store.

~Does she wear a diaper? I don’t know the first thing about kids.~

“Another,” I said to the bartender. It was my second drink in a not-so-busy business bar at three in the afternoon.

It was a not-so-busy bar because all the business folk that usually come here were deep in paperwork and meetings at this time. I knew I should be too.

My drink was placed in front of me. An hour later, it was still sitting in the same spot, untouched. It turns out I wasn’t up for getting blind drunk after all.

I looked down at my phone as it vibrated with a call from my father.

I’m guessing the meeting isn’t going well.

I picked up my phone and answered it. “Yeah?”

“Where the hell are you?” my father asked impatiently. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago. This is your account, remember?”

“I got caught up in something.” I picked up my glass and looked at it. My father’s tone had now made me more eager to get drunk in the daylight.

“It’s not the first time I’ve heard that one.” He sighed. “I can cover this one, but I’m going to need you to handle the dinner tonight.”

“Fine.” I scowled and looked out the window of the bar. That’s when I noticed her walking by, her dark curls blowing in the light breeze. “I gotta go.”

I hung up the phone and walked out of the bar quickly. She hadn’t gotten far, and I noticed that she wasn’t alone.

“Jamie,” I called, and she turned around.

She didn’t say anything, just looked at me as I walked closer to her.

“I saw you walking past the window.”

She looked at the bar I had just come from. Of course, it didn’t look good that I was in a bar at four in the afternoon. As if her opinion of me wasn’t bad enough already.

“How is Penelope?” I asked.

“She’s good. Um, she’s with my mom right now. I just finished up at the hotel.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked at Carmen.

“Did Brent call you?” Carmen asked, trying to break the awkward tension between us. “He mentioned that he was going to give you a call about his bachelor party.”

“No, I haven’t heard from him.”

“Oh, he probably just got caught up in something and forgot. I’ll get him to give you a call.”

She smiled and then looked in Jamie’s direction. “So, we should probably get going. I have to be back in twenty.”

“Can we talk?” I asked, looking at Jamie. “In private. I would like to talk to you about Penelope.”

“Um.” She glanced at Carmen. “I really should get going.”

“I just want to talk. I’ll make it quick. We can go anywhere you want.” I was practically on the verge of begging, and I thought she liked it.

She liked having me at her mercy. She was the only one who could ever have it that way.

***

With hands in my pockets, I walked alongside her, but her attention had been on the sea creatures behind the glass since we set foot inside the aquarium.

“The aquarium. I thought maybe a coffee shop, but never here.”

“I like it here. Penelope and I come here most weekends. She likes the fish. Well, all animals, actually.”

“Especially dinosaurs. It’s probably the only thing I know about my daughter, and that’s a problem for me. I want more time with her, Jamie. Alone. I can be trusted watching her without you there.”

She released a sigh, and by that, I knew the answer that I was going to get wasn’t going to be a good one. “Mason, she—”

“I don’t want to take you to court, but I will if it comes to it,” I interrupted with a tone. “Don’t you think I’ve missed out on enough time already? She’s my kid too.”

“Whose fault is that?” She glared at me. “I don’t have an issue with you getting to know your daughter, but you have to understand that this is at her pace and not yours.

“Plus, I need to have some trust in you as a father before I leave Penelope alone with you. You’ve held her once. You’ve never even changed a diaper before.”

“I’m sure I’ll manage.”

We were standing in front of each other, a whole lot of anger in the air between us. I didn’t want to do this, but she’d given me no choice.

“I can’t believe you asked me to talk with the intention of threatening me with court.” She turned around and looked at the glass.

“Come on, Jamie. You and I both know that I can get what I want when I want it. My lawyers would be ten times better than yours.”

She turned around and looked at me.

“I think you’re forgetting that I have a few of those in my family. Good ones too. But there’s no need for that. You can have what you want. I’m giving you a chance. Don’t screw it up.”

She had so little faith in me that she thought that was an option. ~She doesn’t even realize how much I want this.~

Jamie walked past me with not another word said. I couldn’t help but be turned on by her anger. However, I think a bigger part of me was pissed at how she was going about things.

“You never told me when I’m going to get her,” I shouted.

“I’ll call you,” Jamie shouted back but continued walking.

She was pissed, so much so that I’m sure she felt like another second in my presence would kill her.

~She’s just going to have to get used to me being a part of her life. I’m here whether she likes it or not. I’m not going anywhere.~