“About what? My life is dead boring,” I replied. “Take a deep breath and relax. You’re still drunk.”
“No, unfortunately your phone sobered me up really fast,” he replied.
“Okay, what the hell is all of this about?” I turned toward him and put my phone on the counter. “Just get it out, whatever it is you are looking to say.”
“I know what girl you were talking dirty to last night,” he said angrily. “It wasn’t just some random Ava. It was my Ava. It was my damn daughter.”
I turned toward the coffee pot and sobered up really fast. He had found my messages to Ava, and he knew I was seeing his daughter. This was bad, really, really bad. I turned back around to face him, and I could tell I had very little time to explain myself before this turned really awkward. However, as I stood there staring at him, no words came from my mouth. I had fucked up, and he knew I was sleeping with his daughter. When I’d thought about telling him about Ava, it was supposed to be the other way around where he found out she was working for me, and not that I was sleeping with her. But there I stood, faced with the reality that he got the worst of the news before I could even preface it with anything.
“Dean,” I said putting up my hands. “I can explain.”
&n
bsp; He gritted his teeth and shook his head, walking into the living room. But I really couldn’t explain, not in any way, shape, or form. I could sit here and confess my undying love for the girl, and he would still be absolutely livid. There was no easy way around any of this. I had fucked up, and now Ava was going to be so pissed, I was sure I wouldn’t ever have a chance to fix what I had done.
“I heard you talking dirty to some girl last night,” he said. “I was wasted and figured I’d do a little flirting with her, too, after you went to bed, so I looked up who it was. I can’t fucking believe you’re sleeping with my daughter.”
He stood up and walked over to the window, staring out into the city. He was shaking with anger, and I wasn’t sure how to diffuse the situation. There was only so much I could do without making everything worse. I walked into the living room and stood there, not sure whether to approach him or not. I took in a deep breath and walked over, putting my hand on his shoulder. Without realizing what he was doing, he whipped toward me, grabbed me by the throat, and pushing me up against the glass.
“You were supposed to be my friend,” he growled. “I trusted you, and the whole time we were making up, you were fucking my daughter. You didn’t think it would be a good idea to let me know that when I was apologizing for all of those years of anger and bitterness between us? You didn’t think that it would be a good idea to be forthright and honest with me?”
“Dean,” I said grabbing his arms. “At that time, we weren’t even sure there was anything between us. We still are trying to figure that out.”
He loosened his grip and shook his head, laughing. Suddenly he reared back and punched me straight in the jaw, sending me to the ground. He growled over top of me and turned, walking over to the couch and sitting down, his face in his hands. I shook my head, trying to loosen the dizziness from my vision. I guess I deserved that, no matter how much I wanted to lie to myself. I probably deserved a lot more than that. I pulled myself off the floor and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.
“How did that happen?” Dean sounded a bit calmer as he sat there.
I walked over to the other couch and sat down, resting my elbows on my knees and leaning forward. At that point, I needed to just tell him the truth, there was no place for any more lies. Ava and I had buried ourselves in lies since the first time we met, and it was part of the reason why we couldn’t seem to have a normal go at any sort of relationship.
“When Ava finished her internship, I hired her to work for the company,” I said quietly. “She felt it would give her a leg up in the business world. We didn’t plan for any of this to happen. It just kind of did.”
“So, wait, not only are you sleeping with my daughter, but the two of you have been lying to me about the fact that she works for you?”
“She wanted the opportunity to work on the merger,” I said. “She felt terrible for lying to you. It was eating her alive. When we became friends again, I thought that would give her a good way to tell you about her job, but she was afraid to hurt you.”
“If you think that’s supposed to make me feel better, you’re wrong,” he said angrily. “The only two people in my life that I felt I could lean on have been lying to me this whole time. Did you even want to be friends again? Or did you do it so that Ava could feel better about keeping me in the dark?”
“No,” I said firmly. “It was very important to me that we became friends again.”
“Well, you have a fucking funny way of showing it,” he said, standing up. “I feel fucking sick over all of this.”
Dean walked over to the table and grabbed his jacket, shoving his wallet and keys into his pockets. He smoothed down his hair and stood there silently for a moment. I knew I should say something, anything, but I had no idea how to handle this situation. This was definitely one of the worst ways he could possibly find out about everything. He turned back toward me, his face a mix of emotions.
“Stay out of my life,” he said pointedly. “And leave my daughter alone. She’s young, and she doesn’t need you messing with her head. She deserves someone so much better than you.”
With those words, he walked to the door and left, slamming it behind him. I sat there for a few minutes, feeling the pain of his fist surging through my face. Everything was a complete and total disaster. I grabbed my phone, knowing that Ava had no idea any of this was going on. I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want to start her Sunday the same way she started her Saturday but she needed to know. I dialed her number and held my breath.
“Hello?” She sounded tired but awake.
“Ava,” I said, shaking my head. “Your father knows.”
“What?”
“He looked at my phone last night after hearing our drunken conversation,” I replied. “He put two and two together. He’s mad, real mad. I told him about you working for me. I had no choice. He wanted to know how the hell we ended up together, so I told him.”
“This isn’t good,” she sighed. “This is worse than that. This is terrible. He is never going to forgive me for what I’ve done.”
“He loves you,” I whispered. “Of course, he will forgive you.”