“Well, yes. Why not?”
“No! I can’t work for you. I would be dating my boss; that is so unethical. Not going to happen,” I blurted out without even thinking.
“Honey, it’s okay. I have many businesses. You will start at the bottom like anyone else would. I’m not saying I am going to make you a CEO of one. Just an employee, if you wish.”
“Not happening.”
I was furious at this point. That was the first I’d heard of that grand idea. I could find a job myself. I didn’t need him to give me one. We continued the night with his parents as if nothing upset me. After we ate, drank, and talked some more, I was ready to go home. I just wanted to run a hot bath and relax. Finally, Alexander was ready to go, and we headed home.
“Honey, are you okay? You seem angry.”
“I’m just a little upset with the fact that you planned on hiring me. I can find a job on my own.”
“I have no doubt that you can. I never once said that you couldn’t. I just figured I would help you. It was just an idea. Nothing was set in concrete. I know you can get a job yourself.”
“Good,” I replied, furious. I just didn’t understand why he thought I would need to use him to get a job. I didn’t. I’d been doing pretty good by myself before I met him.
Chapter Thirty
ALEXANDER
Today was going to be a long day. Ella and I were sitting down for breakfast before I headed to work. I was trying to figure out if I should tell her about my dad calling me. It happened while we were broken up or she would already know. Ever since he called me, I had been having dreams about him. Last night, my dream consisted of my whole life being different. My mom and dad were both alive and old. They had been together and raised me. The crazy thing was it felt so real.
“Ella, I want to tell you something.”
“What, honey?” she asked, not really seeming like she was in a conversational mood. Honestly, I didn’t care at this point. It was something she needed to know about, and she was the only person I could talk to openly about it. I sure the hell couldn’t do that with my parents.
“My father called me last week.”
“So, I’m sure he calls you all the time,” she replied.
“No, I mean my father. The one that I have never met.”
Her face immediately did a double take. She started asking me all kinds of questions.
“How did he get your number? What did he want? What did you say? What did he say?”
I explained to her exactly what was said in the conversation. I wasn’t sure what to do with my dad. Ella wasn’t sure what I should do either. She thought I should at least meet him. She didn’t want me to regret it later. I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I felt like after abandoning me, he didn’t deserve to meet me or see the man I had become. He had no part in it. On the other hand, I was kind of curious about what he was like, and I wanted to know why he abandoned me. Did he even have a good reason? Probably not. I finally came to the decision that I was going to meet him. I found his number and sent him a text.
Me: Where do you live?
Him: In Baltimore
Me: Would you like to meet up tonight?
Him: Where?
Me: Cavella’s at 8 p.m.
Him: I’ll be there.
I might regret meeting him, but I figured I might as well do it. Maybe he had a legitimate reason why he hadn’t reached out to me for all this time. I might as well try. Ella thought I should meet him at least once. As the day went on, I started to get a little nervous. After attending meetings all day, I finally got a chance to tell Shawn about my dad.
“Bud, how am I just now finding out about this?”
“So much has been going on lately.”
“How do you feel?”