I thought we were going to talk like adults, but instead I found myself being locked in his bedroom. He took my clothes, he really took my clothes and my purse, leaving me with just my phone.
“Call your dad, let him know you’re okay.” He slammed the door and locked it. I heard voices and guessed he was giving instructions to the chef who was the only other person in the penthouse when we showed up.
What a chameleon. He gave no hint that he was going to do this. Not even when he pulled out of me once we were done in the backseat of the limo. And not when he covered me with his jacket and walked me into his private elevator.
He hadn’t even mentioned anything at all when he walked me into the penthouse. In fact I was beginning to think he was already over his mad, and now this.
I didn’t waste my time pounding on the door. I needed to talk to dad in the worst way. I’m sure I heard him call Jonas by name, but I hadn’t told him anything about us.
“Dad, what’s going on?” He answered on the first ring like he’d been expecting my call.
“Oh, you finally pieced it together huh.”
“Dad, start talking. How did you know I was seeing Jonas?”
“Did you really think I’d let you run amok in this filthy city without keeping tabs on you? Now don’t go getting upset, I wasn’t invasive.” I bet.
“I just had a few men on you for your dear mother’s peace of mind.”
“Nice try dad. So this has been going on the whole time I’ve been here?”
“They were on the plane with you little dove. Now as to this Jonas person. That damn Wanda has been giving me hell these last few days. Both me and your mother. Apparently she’s got it into her head that you’re in love with that boy.”
Only my dad would call a six foot three man with arms of steel a boy. “Carry on!” I’m going to skin Wanda alive the first chance I get. I had no idea she was even still in contact with my parents except for holidays and birthdays.
“Well, she seems to think that I’m holding you hostage with the company and that the reason you won’t let yourself fall in love with the boy is because I expect you to come back home and run things. Tell me that’s not true little dove, is it?”
“Well, dad…”
“Did you really think that I would sacrifice your happiness so that you could run the company? The company is yours if you want it, but if you don’t, if you’ve decided to go your own way, then I will support you. I just wanted you to know that you have something that’s yours for the taking when the time was right.”
“But, according to Wanda, you’ve been holding back because you don’t want to disappoint me. That’s why in these past almost five years I’ve been keeping up with you business wise and I know that there were times when you balked when you should’ve signed on the dotted line.”
“I didn’t know then that you were doing it because you were worried about my reaction when I learned that you don’t want to run the company.”
“But dad, that company means everything to you. It’s all you ever talked about when I was growing up.”
“Yes, it’s a company I started from scratch with my bare hands. Something like you’re doing here. How could I not be proud of you for following in my footsteps?”
I was already in tears and then he had to go and make me bawl even harder. “All I’ve ever wanted for you my little dove, is for you to be happy. So are you happy?”
Stephanie
I told him about the weekend and what happened when we went to visit Jonas’ home.
“And how did the young man react to this?” I told him some, but not all of Jonas’ reaction, leaving out the more lascivious points of course.
He listened well, the way he always does, before giving his verdict. “I can tell you that when it comes to children, parents have tunnel vision. Just as I wouldn’t be happy with you being with the wrong boy, his mama doesn’t want him to be with the wrong girl. It has nothing to do with what you look like little dove.”
“I’m not sure dad. I’ve done some research since we met and he’s always dated thinner women. I know it’s silly, but most people don’t associate someone my size with that kind of wealth. It’s like they don’t think us big girls deserve to be loved by someone that wealthy.”
“That’s their ignorance and should have no bearing on the decisions you make. If his mother persists in her ways, that’ll only make it better for your mother and I because it would mean us getting all the holidays and the grandbabies wouldn’t have to choose when they come…”