Broken

And with that, I feel the first day of the rest of my life appear. Me and Brandon will face the future head on, whatever it takes. Him with his family and new business venture, me with mine and my potential singing career. It’s going to be amazing!

Chapter 30 – Brandon

“Have you got everything together?” my dad asks me, sounding actually a little more nervous than I feel. “Are you sure you’re all prepared?”

I can’t help but laugh at his remarks. It’s funny, after all the years I spent trying to impress him, now that I’ve stopped we’re closer than ever. I think he actually has respect for me now. He sees me as someone worthwhile. “Yes, Dad, I’ve been preparing for this moment for over a year. Ever since I ran into Lola in that drug store. I’ve known since then that I want her to be mine forever. Now it’s just time to make that official.”

“It’s just a shame that she had the Valentine’s Day musical show case today, or you could have done this earlier. You could know now, either way.”

I don’t like the way he says ‘either way’ like the fact she might say no is an option, but I decide to let that slide for a moment. I don’t want to make myself even more nervous.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” I shrug in a blasé manner. “But I wouldn’t do anything to step in the way of her music career. She’s worked so hard for this. She deserves all these breaks.”

“She might not be our highest grossing performer but I am glad we signed her. She gets steady work and she always does what’s asked of her in a professional way. We never have any trouble with her. Not like some of the other singers that I don’t need to name.”

I smirk to myself as I think over all the stories that Dad has told me. I don’t know if he knew what he was getting himself in for when he dived into the music industry. Although I think at first he was only supposed to be a silent investor. He pushed himself further in.

“Well, I think that’s how Lola likes it, Dad. I think she likes to keep a lower profile because then she still gets to keep some of her own life. She can go back and check on her dad – not that he needs it much these days – and she can see how Tim and the other farm hands are doing. She’s happy with the level of success that she has.”

“Yeah, and she gets to spend time with you as well.” Dad nudges me and smirks. This weird friendship we have now is awesome actually. “That’s got to be a bonus, right?”

“Yeah, well it’s helped.” I half shrug as I answer him. “Especially in the beginning when things were tough, when I was setting up my business. It helped a whole lot then!”

My business that’s now going from strength to strength. It’s one of those markets that people didn’t realize had much of a demand in until I started working in it. Now it’s rolled out massively. I’m actually making more profits than I originally intended, but I put them back in to expanding it. It’s amazing how easy it is for me to get help now, it seems that everyone wants to give something back, even my dad. Working on this for myself, seeing the difference I’ve made to others lives, it makes me so happy and it also makes all the sacrifice worth it. I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else in the world.

“Good, I’m glad you’ve managed to find a good girl. It inspired me to find one of my own!”

The other big news in my life is my father and his new, unexpected girlfriend. That came out of nowhere and stunned me. Sure, she’s a little younger than him, but she’s fiery and she puts him in his place which is just what he needs. She also has her own money, probably more than him, so she definitely can’t be accused of being a gold digger. Seeing my dad care about something other than the business is wonderful. It makes him happier and me too. The fact that I helped him to see that falling in love isn’t something to be afraid of is awesome.

He’s now been with her for six months, which means they might as well be married in my dad’s terms. It’s pretty much forever.

“Well, that’s great. June is awesome… you just keep taking care of her.”

I glance around the room once more, just confirming that everything is where I want it to be. I’ve hired out the entire Italian restaurant where I took her for our first proper date for calzones, and I’ve got it so there’s just one table in the middle of the room. A single candle sits in the middle of the table, flickering away beautifully, and I have a trail of rose petals leading to the table and fairy lights twinkling above us like stars. I have also brought in a couple of those cans of cider we drank while sitting on those rubber tires at ‘the dump’ in Lola’s home town. I kind of want it to be a homage to all the things we’ve been through together, while being a promise of things to come.

“It looks good, son, stop worrying.”

“Dad, I have to be honest. You’re the one who has me worrying,” I laugh awkwardly. “Now I’m second guessing everything. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to help me.”

“You need me here. For so many reasons… oh!” He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket. “Yep, just like this one. I’ve just had a text, Lola is being brought here now.”

“And she doesn’t know?” I’m still so desperate for this to be a secret. I’ve done so well at keeping it from her so far, despite the fact that I’ve been planning it for weeks. Usually I’m crap at keeping things from Lola so this has been hard. “She’s still not aware?”

“No, the event guy just said he’s taking her to meet you and that you’re in a work meeting. You have nothing to worry about. It’s all going to plan.”

I breath in deeply and nod, trying to believe my father. After all the hardship that Lola has endured in her life, I really want this to go perfectly. She deserves it after taking care of everyone else her whole life. She needs me to take care of her now.

“Right.” Dad pats me on the back. “I’m going now. Leave you two kids to it. I have to pick up Lola’s dad from the airport then he’s coming to stay with me so we can all go out and celebrate tomorrow.”

“Great, great, that will be a nice surprise. I guess I’ll see you then. I’ll message you to let you know what happens though.”

Once my dad leaves, I’m alone and it all becomes very real. I have a ring in my pocket, all tucked away in a little box that I agonized over for absolutely ages, a

nd the room is all set up. Much as I want this to happen, now it’s really happening. Now the moment is really here. My heart is racing, the butterflies in my stomach have turned into birds, my throat is completely dry with fear. I don’t know if I’m actually going to be able to speak once the moment arrives.

“Hello? What the hell is going on?” All of a sudden, Lola’s voice breaks through the silence and I’m filled with a powerful warmth that can only come from her. “Brandon? Why are you having a meeting here? Isn’t this a little weird… oh!”

All of a sudden she comes into view and her hand claps across her mouth in shock. She doesn’t fully look like herself at the moment with all her stage make up on and her fancy sequined dress. Personally, I prefer her all natural, but I adore her all the same.