She nodded, not giving me more than that as she submitted her order. It bothered me that she never talked about her family. She talked about Italy and her travels a fair amount. She seemed to be very well-traveled which seemed to confirm that she came from money, not that it mattered either way to me. But nothing about her family specifically. It was starting to make me think she was hiding something from me.
I’d been trying to be patient and give her time to tell me when she was ready, but for whatever reason she was secretive on the matter. It was strange. I needed to know if I was just being paranoid or not and there was no time like the present.
“So tell me about your family. You don’t talk about them much. I know you have two brothers, one of which used to go to our college, but that’s about it.”
She shrugged and she seemed to get a far-away look in her eyes as if she were trying to formulate the story that she wanted to tell me. “There’s not much to say. My father is a businessman. Does a lot of importing and exporting of stuff, I honestly don’t get too involved in that. It seemed boring to me. My mother is a housewife. My brothers both work for my father. My youngest brother Alonzo is back home, just working at my father’s side. My older brother is on Helka Island.”
“Helka Island, isn’t that the island in the Caribbean that’s for the elite? The crème de le crème of society.” I chuckled at the way I worded it, but that was the impression I’d gotten of the place. It was certainly above my pay grade.
She shifted in the chair, looking slightly uncomfortable. Why? “I don’t know, I guess.”
“What does he do there?”
Sophia shrugged. “Manages some of it, I guess. I don’t pay much attention to what he does. To be honest, he’s a conceited asshole and I really don’t get along well with him.”
“Have you been there? From what I heard it sounds like a dream come true.”
“I have, a few times. It’s okay. Nothing special in my mind. Honestly, I did grow up in a wealthy family. We had a big house and everything we could ever want. I guess I just don’t like talking about it because it feels like I’m bragging or something. My father’s and brother’s success aren’t my success – it’s theirs. I want to make my own way in life without leaning on any of them.” She crinkled up her nose at me. “Does that make sense or sound stupid? My father is very overbearing, he thinks he can rule everyone, my mother and I included. I just needed to break away.” She reached across the table and took my hand. “And be with people who treat me as an equal, not a possession.”
I genuinely considered her question. My family had been very supportive of any and all decisions I made. I couldn’t imagine having a family who wanted to keep me down and not build me up. Maybe it was just a cultural difference? It sounded like she had come from a very traditional family setting. There was so much more that I wanted to know, but I’d let it go for now. She’d given me at least something. It was a start. She’d tell me more when she was ready.
Sophia
Zack gave my hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance that made my heart swell. I had to be the luckiest girl on earth.
I needed to tell him the full truth about my family. Our feelings for each other were growing by leaps and bounds each day and I was beginning to think that it wasn’t just lust, but that I was falling in love with him. So there had to be a point where I finally pulled the trigger and confessed, but the problem was that the longer I waited the harder it was going to be to confess everything. I just needed to ensure that he wasn’t going to bail the moment he found out who my family really was.
“You know that I think you have a sharp and inquisitive mind. The sky is the limit for you here and I know that you’ll achieve anything you want regardless of what it is. And I’ll be there with you every step of the way. I promise. For as long as you’ll allow me to be.”
My heart swelled. How could I have gotten so lucky as to have met him? That was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever said to me and if I had any questions on how I felt for him before that moment I didn’t have any doubts now. I was indeed falling in love with him and God help me I was terrified that when I laid out all my cards he’d never want to see me again.