His cheeks flush. "You really are making fun of me? Are you enjoying yourself at my expense?"
I shake my head. “I swear, it’s the truth. I should have been more open with my feedback. I held off because I wanted you to run my company with me. I wanted you by my side, Isaac, and I was ready to do anything to get you there."
"I would have sucked at it. I never wanted to work with you, Dad. No offense."
A hot sensation twists my guts. He called me Dad. He stopped calling me that when he was five. And now, thanks to her, I have my son back.
I close the distance and hug him. He stiffens but doesn’t pull away. In the way of most kids, he seems to suffer from my hug until I release him and step back.
"I know that now. I’m sorry I wasn’t upfront about your talent earlier. I’m sorry for how bad I let things get between us."
He jerks his chin. "Can’t say I‘ve forgiven you completely."
"How can I make it up to you?"
He tilts his head as he studies me. "Are you serious about that?" he asks.
"You bet. I’ll do anything. Anything to wipe the slate clean and rebuild our relationship from the ground up."
"Hmm…" He strokes his chin. "Now that you mention it, there is something…"
53
Lena
“Hey, Mom!”
“Hey, Dinky.” My mother’s sweet yet strong voice comes through the phone.
She still prefers to call instead of FaceTime, and thank God for that. I’m not sure I want to see her face when I confess the thing I’ve been meaning to tell her for so long. I’ve been putting it off, so much so, I haven’t even gotten on the group chat since I moved out of JJ’s place a week ago.
To be fair, I’ve been busy getting settled into my new place—which is in close proximity to Summer and Karma’s place—while continuing to work at Kane Corporation. At least I haven’t seen JJ since that day. He’s only communicated with me through email and his personal assistant, which was good, even though I really don’t enjoy interacting with Karen. Only, I miss him. More than I’d care to admit it. I’ve been trying to work out my feelings toward him, and I’m still unclear about what I’m going to do about it. I wasn’t going to talk to my family in the midst of it. Also, what was I going to tell them? That I had a threesome with JJ and Isaac?
“I had a threesome, Ma.” I squeeze my eyes shut.No, no, no, I didn’t just say that.My ma’s quite broadminded. She knows and accepts Isaac’s bisexuality. She even asked me if I was in a three-way relationship with Isaac and Ben, and actually seemed disappointed when I said no.
She comes from a conservative Indian background, but her sensibilities are very much that of a hippie flower child of the sixties. Still, it’s not every day you confess something like that to your family, especially in a telephone conversation. That’s part of the reason why I haven’t said anything in the group chat or called any of my family, knowing once I did, I wouldn’t be able to stop the truth from coming out. And I can’t even blame it on them. When it comes to my family, I just don’t have a filter.
There’s silence on the other end, then, “You know I’m not going to judge you for anything you do.”
“Yeah.” I blow out a breath. “I know that, and I should’ve told you something earlier, but I’m still trying to work things out in my head, you know?”
“Was it with Isaac and a friend?”
“It was with Isaac and his father.” She can’t see me, but if she could, she’d see me trying to hide from her gaze. Again, praise God for giving me a mother who refuses to use FaceTime.
“Oh.”
Not much fazes my mom, but I think I succeeded this time.
I swallow. “Umm, Mom, you okay?”
“Areyouokay?” Her tone is worried. “It’s not something you got coerced into, is it?”
“You mean by Isaac?”
“By his father. He must be quite a bit older than you.”
“He’s twenty-six years older than me, Mom.”