I was midway through typing something about bringing the situation to a wider audience, but he got in front of me. Maybe not for everyone. But I’m too big to be nobody… and too small to be ‘brought to justice’ as I’m sure you’re thinking about doing. The world is not going to get outraged at the high school deeds of one A. Bennett as if I’m fucking Bill Gates.
I thought I could see the hole. But you’re going to be bigger one day. He didn’t rush in to contradict me. That’s the whole point of this, isn’t it? You’re going to become the big guy around town, and when you do… maybe I’ll be waiting for you. No smart remarks still. So… maybe you’d better watch what you do to me.
You won’t be a bother to me by the time that comes around. I was still trying to come up with a comeback to that when his next response swept that discussion right off the table. So what’s your answer to my proposal?
Again, my answer wasn’t the flat-out no I thought a lot of people would have expected of me—what I would have expected of myself. That felt like something I should be worried about. Was I going to just roll over in the face of one of Lucas Starling’s bad boys like my friends had?
When I examined my impulses, I was sure it was more than that. Yes, Axel Bennett was attractive, and there was a certain feeling I was getting from the idea that he’d gotten so caught up on the idea of my body he was willing to take dangerous chances to see more. But more than anything I wanted to make a point to him. I wanted to show him that trying to make this thing between us personal in that way wasn’t going to throw me the way it might some other girls under similar circumstances. That might be the only way to really get rid of him.
I was pretty sure everyone including my dad would say I was being an idiot, playing a dangerous game. But when your opponent was willing to start that sort of game, I didn’t see that you had any choice.
But if I did this, I was absolutely going to make sure I ruined any enjoyment Axel could get out of the experience.
I’m willing to accept your terms. I had my next message typed out before I sent that one off, so I could give him no chance to interfere with my intended course of action. We’re going to sort out that meeting with my dad first, though. I don’t want you to blurt out something in front of him that he’s going to recognise as you being familiar with what’s under my clothes.
It was hard to tell, but the amount of time it took him to send back, Is he very familiar with what’s under your clothes then? suggested a bit of dismay.
We have an interesting relationship.
Well I’m happy for you two I guess. Are you going to screw me once we’re done with the patent business?
It was intentionally provocative wording, and I remained stubbornly innocent. I’m willing to go ahead with the deal as you see it.
Brilliant, nothing more needs to be said then. I’ll see what you have to offer me when I see you at school next.
And then he really did just stop talking to me. I lurked around the chats I was in for a while and spotted him trading jokes with a few people, complaining he had to go out with his dad and his dad’s new girlfriend to a restaurant he didn’t like that evening. Poor boy.
Well, it was the kitchen for me, specifically the microwave because I hadn’t had time to do a proper shop and Dad didn’t eat proper food anyway. We couldn’t all be so fortunate as to be destined for a shitty restaurant for dinner.
Chapter Ten
I brought up the subject of Axel over breakfast the next morning, a bright Saturday when I actually had the time to wait for Dad to shuffle out of his bedroom. His zen night had taken the edge off his rage over Marcia leaving, to the point where he just waved me off and said he didn’t want to talk about it. It seemed like the perfect time to get my own issues aired.
At first Dad took in what I had to say sitting stiff in his chair, too rigid to even continue eating, but he relaxed a lot when I started talking about money. If there was one thing I knew about Dad, it was that he had no issues being shameless for cash. He’d accepted financial support from the mothers of all his children in his time, after all. If I fired him up enough before arranging this meeting, he would make sure he got what he was owed.
Once he’d heard as much of the story as I was going to be able to tell him, he was surprisingly thoughtful. I hadn’t expected talk of the patent to snap him back into that frame of mind where he seemed like he could actually be functional.
“This boy, Aileen. Are you sure he didn’t steal my idea from my patent in the first place and is trying to scam the both of us?”
“Obviously it’s possible, technically,” I admitted. “But in my opinion, he definitely didn’t do that. It wouldn’t be his style, like he’d want to have the ego boost of knowing he was entitled to that idea and I don’t think he’d be able to convince himself without reason. It’s very important to him to be right.” I didn’t know exactly how I had all that insight into him, but I was certain it was correct. “Besides, I don’t know how he would even find that patent, let alone connect it to us. I don’t talk about it at school normally, never have.”
Dad frowned. “You don’t, huh… I always thought maybe you’d be proud of my having that.”
I’d just told him I had a classmate half his age working on actually starting a company, and he thought that. “It’s just too complicated to talk about it all over the place, Dad. Axel is the only person I’ve ever told who understood what I was even talking about.” Better than I did, no less.
“Great,” Dad said. “You know what, I’d love to talk to this young bloke. I bet I can teach him a few things about the entrepreneurial process. Some nuances you only really come to understand through years in the business.”
I barely managed to keep my grimace to myself. Dad was only going to be setting my project to put Axel in his place back, like, a hundred steps.
Dad was up and clearing up the table, even though he didn’t seem to have finished eating. “We should invite him around for dinner tomorrow night. Make a real event of it the way we used to when Marcia was here… start around five o’clock with canapés and build up to a sumptuous dessert.” He edged close to me so he could elbow me. “We won’t even have to fuss with getting the kids in bed.”
It set my anxiety off just thinking about those dinner parties we used to have. Marcia would take care of everything including the guest list—her friends would bring their husbands along so it looked like Dad had guests too—and Dad would start preloading at around three o’clock and take credit for all Marcia’s work, not that anyone was asking. I’d had Callie and Tamara over once but I’d been worrying the whole time they would see something that made me look like my life was secretly out of control, so I didn’t repeat the invitation. There was no way Dad would be able to do even a quarter of what Marcia had done for ten guests for one, and it was unlikely I would be able to step in and make up for it.
“Maybe something a bit simpler would be better, we’re talking about a guy after all. He’s pretty rich too, expensive tastes probably, so I’m not sure trying to show off will play so well anyway.”
“You think we can’t compete with what he’s used to, huh.” Dad fingered the moustache he didn’t have any more because it had been too much for him to keep it tended.
“I know we can’t. Let’s be realistic, shall we?”