“Yeah, that makes sense. Then again, if you make this whole work from home thing a permanent shift, maybe you could get one.”
He laughed and took another long sip of coffee. “Yeah, like my dad would ever allow that. Though, funny enough, he’s the main reason I have been taking my work home with me this week. He’s just been driving me up the wall. I was this close to losing it on him Tuesday morning, and after that, I thought it might be best to get some space. I was worried that if I saw him in offices again this week, I wouldreallygo off on him.”
“Would that be so bad?” I asked.
He furrowed his brow and looked at me. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s none of my business, but it seems to me like your dad doesn’t respect you as the leader of this company. Maybe it’s time youmade himrespect you.”
He scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not a Becker. This is more than just office politics, Lily. This isfamilypolitics, and that shit is messy.”
“Surely your dad is capable of separating his professional life from his personal one.”
From the smile that smacked across his face, I knew I had said something that David foundveryfunny, even before he started laughing. But once he did start, he didn’t stop. He threw his head back and laughed and laughed until tears were streaming from his eyes, and I was sitting there annoyed and waiting for him to explain just what was so hilarious.
“Oh, Lily,” he said. “You must get along well with your parents. Let me guess, your mom and dad are still together, they love each other, they’ve always supported you and told you to follow your dreams, and your dad…” He squinted at me. “I’m thinking he worked when you were a kid but still was always home in time for family dinner.”
I hated how accurate this description was. My parents were happily married, they had always supported me, and while my dad didn’t make it home in time foreveryfamily dinner, he sure as hell tried his hardest to be there when he could. He never missed one of my piano recitals, that much I remember. I must’ve given away how mad I was by my expression because David finally stopped grinning at me and sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not trying to be an asshole, it’s just that this is something someone like you is never going to understand. Maybe one day I’ll deal with my dad head-on, but right now, I’m fine just getting my work done and ignoring him. That’s what he did to me when I was younger, so it’s only fair I return the favor.”
I leaned back in my chair and tried to decide just how angry I was with David. Sure, he had offended me by laughing in my face and then attempting to read me like some sort of open book, but he was also clearly going through something. He said his dad had ignored him when he was younger, and while that didn’t surprise me, it was sad to hear him say such things out loud.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your dad,” I said after a short silence. “But it sounds like I might not need to be in that much of a hurry to do so.”
He smiled at this. “My advice? Put it off for as long as you can. Especially since he vehemently disagrees with your decision to go after Mark in court. He thinks we should settle, and in fact, that was the reason we got in an argument on Tuesday in the first place. So really, this is all your fault.”
I laughed. “Oh really? You think so?”
“Yeah.” He laughed too. “I do. If anyone should be having to slink off and work from home, it should be you.”
“Oh God, please no. My apartment is way too small. If I started working from home, I think I would lose my mind in… oh, I don’t know, maybe four days? I’d last a week at most. Speaking of the case though, maybe an update will help cheer you up. I have everything ready for Monday morning. I’m going to crush this guy, so you don’t have to worry about a thing. We are going to get Mark and prove your dad wrong in the process. It’s gonna be great.”
“And you’resureyou can win this.”
I nodded. “Absolutely,” I said. “And I will be coming in over the weekend to get even more work done, just to make sure there is no loophole for him to squirm his way out of this one.”
“Working over the weekend? So, you won’t be going out, grabbing a beer with friends?”
For a second, I was unsure why he was asking me this, but then I remembered that we saw each other last Friday night at the bar. I smiled. “Not this weekend. But maybe next Friday night, assuming everything goes well with this case. I will want to celebrate. I’ll probably go back to the same place… in case you were interested in dropping by as well.”
He smiled back at me. “That depends, are you going to bring that gorgeous friend of yours? The one with the long brown hair?”
Rosa.
Of course, he has a thing for Rosa.
“Rosa has a boyfriend.” I wasn’t exactly sure why I said this. As far as I knew, Rosa was single, or at least, she had never mentioned a boyfriend to me. But for some reason, I wanted David to know she was off-limits. Even if she wasn’t.
“Bummer,” he said. “Although—” He cocked his head to the side. “It wouldn’t be the first time I hooked up with a girl who was seeing someone else.”
I drew back and narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s awful.”
“Oh, c’mon,” he said. “Everyone does it.”
“No.” I stood up. “Not everyone cheats. A lot ofgoodpeople would never dream of cheating on someone. Like me, for instance. I’ve never cheated and I never would. I’ve only ever been the victim, but I suppose you don’t like to think about that. You don’t consider the people you may be hurting in the process.”
“Wait, Lily,” he said. “I was just kidding.”