Stephen
*Thursday afternoon, 1 day earlier*
"Hellooo. Anyone home?" Loud knocking on my front door abruptly jars me from my nap.
Who the hell is at my door.
The knocking persists, waking me fully. "I hear you, alright! I'm coming!" I bellow while walking into the foyer.
Opening the door, a smile makes its way onto my face as soon as I see who's on the other side.
"There he is. My darling son." She says as she reaches up and out to grab my face.
"Mom." I try to say while she grips my jaw and examines me.
"Look at you. Tisk tisk. It's just as I thought. You haven't been eating properly. Look at how thin you've gotten." She continues to prod, giving me s disapproving look.
I reach our and grab her hands, stopping her from any more fussing. "It's great to see you too, mom." I prompt.
"Oh. Of course, of course. It's wonderful to see you, dear. Come, give mommy a hug." I pull her into my arms and relish in the comfort it brings.
Only then do I notice the other person behind her.
"Father." I greet him briskly.
"Stephen." He replies, in the same tone.
I loosen my grip around my mother and usher her into the penthouse. My father, unfortunately, follows.
"What are you guys doing here?" I ask as I fetch everyone a bottle of water.
"What kind of question is that? You're our son, and we haven't seen you in months. Is that not reason enough?" My mother retorts.
"Ah. I guess it is."
I take a seat on the couch.
"So, how have you been?" She asks once she gets settled.
"I've been fine. A bit busy with work, but nothing out of the usual." I tell her.
"Really?" She asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Uhh. Yes?" I reply, unsure where this is going.
She continues "Nothing interesting has happened lately?"
"No?"
"Are you sure? You haven't made any new friends? Binge watch a new show on Netflix? Run into an old girlfriend, perhaps?" She smirks.
How did she find out about that?
"Who told you about that?" I question a little too quickly.
Her smirk grows wider. "Oh. So it's true then?" She laughs.
"I actually ran into Krystina on the way here. She was at the grocery story when I stopped to get dinner. She told me that the two of you are actually kinda working together."
My father stiffens at the sound of her name, reminding me of the talk we definitely need to have.
"Yeah, it's true. She works for an advertisement company, and she just so happens to be working on a project with us."
"How wonderfully coincidental. Do you know if she has any children? I thought I saw her talking to the most adorable little boy."
"Uhh. No. I-I'm not sure. We haven't talked about our personal lives." I stammer out, floored by the knowledge.
A kid. She has a kid? Does that mean she's married as well?
"I see." She puts down her water. "Darling, could you show me to the guest bedroom? I'm beat, and I'd like to take a nap before starting on dinner." My mother breaks me out of my internal conversation.
"Absolutely." I jump out of my seat and proceed to help her and her things into the guest room.
I put her bags into the closet and turn to see her sitting idly on the bed.
"I know there are some things you'd like to talk to your father about. You sounded quite upset when you asked to speak with him the other week. I'll give you an hour. Then, I need to start on dinner if we want to eat at a reasonable time. Ok?" She asks, patting my cheek gently.
"Thanks, mom." I kiss her cheek and leave the room.
Walking back into the living room, I head toward the cabinet in the corner. Opening the gilded door, I pull out a bottle of aged scotch and two tumblers.
"Scotch?" I offer as I make my way back to where my father is sitting.
"Certainly."
We sit and drink in a tense silence. I keep my eyes on him, my gaze conveying the loathing I feel for the man in front of me. Finally, my father speaks up. "If you have something you want to say Stephen, spit it out. I don't have time to entertain your adolescent behavior."
"Fine. I'll spit it out!" I yell, my anger getting the best of me. "I want you to admit it! I want you to admit that you paid Krystina's father to lie to her and tell her that I was having an affair with some mystery woman. I want you to admit that you played on a weakness and let your prejudice get in the way and ruin my relationship. I want you to admit that you were a shit father who tried to control my life and mold me to your expectations, but when you saw I was straying from the perfect plan you had for my life, decided to take matters into your own hands. I. Want. You. To. Admit. It!"
He nonchalantly leans back into his seat, amusement in his eyes and an arrogant smirk on his face. "I'm not sure how you figured it out, but I won't deny it. I did it. And I did it for your own good." He puts down the tumbler, continuing at my bewildered expression. "Did you really think she was good enough for you? Ha, I didn't take you for a fool Stephen. I guess I was wrong. I did you a favor, and quite frankly you should be thanking me. I exposed that family for what they really were."
"And what was that?"
"A money grubbing family full of failures from the wrong side of the tracks!" He stands. "How would it have looked? Huh? How would it have looked for you, the heir to a multi billion dollar corporation, to marry a girl who's parents never even finish a semester in college? You would've been made a joke. I saved you, I saved your reputation, I saved the future of my company, and I will not apologize for it." He ends calmly.
"You never approved of hear." I weakly voice my realization.
"Not really." He says, lighting a cigar from his pocket. "She was a pretty thing, well mannered. But her family history was against her. I couldn't let you stoop that low." He blows out a ring of smoke. "It was her mother, by the way."
"What?"
"You said I lied to her father, that's not true. It was her mother who answered the door that day. She agreed that you two needed to be separated, said you'd probably leave her daughter for a white woman when you inherited the company." He chuckles.
"We shook hands, and I wrote her the check. You and Krystina both left town, and that was the end of that." He finishes, a wide grin on his face.
"You say it like you're proud of what you've done." I insinuate, taken aback by the tone in his voice.
"I am. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing." He blows out another ring of smoke.
"Not one thing."
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Hello ALL! You know, I'm not even going to apologize for the lack of updates. I'm in college, I think that's excuse enough.
ANYWHOOOOOO
How's life been?
How are your grades?
Are your relationships holding strong?
Did you pass your midterms?
Did you, like me, cry when your found out that the President- elect is a racist and misogynist cheeto?
Let's not dwell on that...............
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