I scowled at her, watching her tilt her chin up like she was proud of herself, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to hit a woman.
“You can forget about that happening, Sandra,” I said, my voice hard. “Also, you better stay away from me from now on. I won’t be held responsible for my actions if you come near me again.”
She frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re upset about this?”
Not just upset, I was beyond livid because suddenly a lot of things made sense. Like why Angela started ignoring me and why she was hesitating to talk to me. It was because Sandra had blackmailed her.
If this was the problem, then there was only one thing I could do. I had to see her dad and explain things to him; then maybe he could help me talk to her. I called Mom as I walked hurriedly toward the dorms.
“Hello, Mom? Where are you?”Chapter Twenty-Two
BenI sat at a restaurant across from Winston Kane. It was just the two of us since I’d insisted on Mom not being present for this. I would tell her later or let Winston tell her, but I didn’t want to waste time getting Mom to understand. It would be enough to get her father to listen to me and take me seriously.
“Your mother told me you wanted to talk to me about something important, Ben,” he said with a slight frown. “Are you against the wedding?”
“No, of course not,” I said quickly after a surprised pause.
It made sense, though, that he would think that way. He didn’t know that I knew about Angela yet, or the history between us, and since I didn’t invite Mom along, he wouldn’t assume I was trying to bond with him. While there would be kids that had something against their parents moving on, I was too independent not to allow Mom the same right, so I honestly didn’t need to know anything more about him besides the fact that he made my mom happy. After all, I wasn’t going to be living the rest of their lives with them. As soon as I graduated, I planned to get my own place where I didn’t have to depend on anyone else or live by their rules.
“Then is there anything else I can do for you?” He asked, clearly confused about why I’d wanted to meet with him.
I took a deep breath. “Actually, Winston, I wanted to talk about your daughter.”
He looked surprised, and rightly so.
“I know I was going to introduce her to you and your mother, but she’s away from the city at the moment, and I can't say when she’ll be back.”
I nodded impatiently. “She’s Professor Kane, right? Angela Kane, from my university.”
“Yes, it is,” he said slowly. “How did you know? I told your mother I had a daughter that worked at your school, but I didn’t give her any details.”
“I know Angela because she teaches my class. She’s also the only professor at the school with the surname Kane. Also…” I took a deep breath for this part. I was feeling nervous, folding my hands together as I faced him. “Angela and I… had a relationship. But I think she might have found out about you and Mom getting married and panicked about it.”
That might not totally be the case, though. Initially, after I made the realization, I thought it was why she ran away, because besides being a professor and student, we were also going to be step-siblings. I thought that way before Sandra told me what she did, and I wondered if it wasn’t a mix of both.
Winston was surprised, but it quickly wore off. I wasn’t sure exactly what I expected from him. I just told him I was in a relationship with his daughter, but I was also younger by more than a decade. Would he be angry? In disbelief? This time, I was the one that got a surprise, because, underneath his shock, I almost thought he looked amused. I didn’t know what was amusing in this situation, though.
“Could it be why she ran away, then? It surprised me when she told me out of nowhere that she was taking a vacation from school and taking a short vacation. Angela has always been very responsible, so it was unlike her. I thought it had something to do with the wedding…”
“Sir…” I started, then hesitated. I cleared my throat and firmed my expression. “I really care a lot for your daughter. I’ve been trying to get her to talk to me, but recently, she won't take my calls, and she won't tell me where she is. I was wondering if you knew because I want to talk to her.”
He didn’t reply to me immediately. Because I didn’t feel like eating, I’d only purchased a drink, but it sat untouched on the table. Winston grabbed his glass of water and drank some, before facing me.