Andrew smiled. “It appears I have nothing to do for the rest of the day.” He refilled Nick’s glass.
Nick took a deep breath and started from the beginning. Andrew mainly listened, only inserting brief reactions to the story. He smirked at Nick’s ignorance of Kalilah’s position.
He frowned at the accusation of an affair simply stating, “Your mother is the only one for me.”
Nick almost laughed at the expression on his dad’s face when he told him he had been a virgin and about his mission to lose his virginity. Andrew beamed when he heard the advice from Kalilah that prompted the makeover.
“That’s my girl.”
He told his dad the parent equivalent of everything, omitting the office sex and the crazy amount of sex in San Francisco.
Andrew blew out a low whistle. “Wow, Nick, this is a lot to take in.” He took another sip of his whiskey before continuing. “I knew there was something between you two because both of you are terrible at being inconspicuous. I had to suffer every week watching you two making eyes at each other across the table. I often wished I had something hard with which to pelt both of you.”
Nick smiled. He couldn’t believe he was having a heart-to-heart with his dad. It warmed him as much as it could with the massive hole in his heart. He didn’t know how he would continue if he couldn’t see or talk to her again. The last six months were the best months of his adult life. Now, he couldn’t stand to be in his house. He had to check into a hotel near work just to try to get some sleep.
Andrew smiled. “I knew you had it bad for her since the first day you saw her, but you never
tried. I thought your makeover and ownership of your responsibilities were solely for Kalilah, but thank you for considering my position, even if you had to hear it from her.”
Nick frowned. “I changed for both of you. I thought you knew.”
Andrew nodded. “I do now, and I appreciate it. I knew you could be this person. I just didn’t know how to reach you. It’s like you were under a fog. I was never disappointed in your potential or who you were. I was disappointed with the lack of faith you had in yourself.”
Nick watch the play of emotions on his dad’s face. There was a hint of sadness in his gray eyes. Nick wondered if it had always been there and he was just too wrapped in his self-pity that he hadn’t noticed.
Andrew took a sip of his drink.
“Honestly, son, I feel like you settled, and you were showing up only because you had nothing better to do. When you graduated college, your dreams were bigger than this. I know I wanted an empire, but we all know Deidre is the only one that wants my spot.”
Andrew sat forward and looked Nick in the eyes.
“Why are you here?”
Nick frowned slightly confused. “I love my job.”
“You just started doing your job. You love technology. You don’t have to be here to love it. I thought you wanted to go in a different direction.”
“I thought you wanted me here,” Nick admitted.
Andrew shook his head. “Not if it’s not your passion. I didn’t fire you only because, like I said, I thought you didn’t have anything to do.”
Nick felt the sting of his dad’s admission. He really was the office recluse. He’d allowed the loss of a friend deter his desire to start a firm.
“Why did you tell me it was about time at my first meeting?”
Andrew laughed. “It was about time you pursued Kalilah. I was starting to wonder if the Sinclair genes somehow skipped you. Of course, your hesitance makes since now.”
Andrew shook his head at the surprise of Nick recently losing his virginity.
“It was obvious to me that she was the main reason why you were there. And, I’m sure Greg got the memo as well.”
Nick smiled. Greg was far more careful with his eyes since Nick’s first meeting. The sadness returned with force. His dad knew and didn’t care. He could have been with her openly the entire time. He could have taken her to his party.
“All you had to do was say something, Son,” Andrew said as if reading his thoughts. “Your poor mother was sad because she thought you were scared we were racist.”
Nick laughed and shook his head.
“I was trying to respect the fraternization policy,” Nick admitted.