Dad came home just as Mom and the girls were getting dinner on the table. He shook my hand when he saw me before depositing his briefcase into the office. We all sat down to eat, and he focused his attention to my pregnant sister. He seemed to grudgingly accept the pregnancy but was clearly pleased with the father. Dad had nothing good to say about him. All I gathered from the entire conversation is that was a great worker for the family business. I hoped he was a good man since he was with my sister, but I couldn’t tell from what my father said. He nodded with pride when Dan told us about his busy day, making me feel like I was in for it when it was my turn.
His dark eyes took me in silently for a moment as he chewed a carrot.
“Are you prepared for school to end?” His question was direct, and I blinked as I felt my mom looking at me.
“Yes, sir. I am looking into law school now and deciding where I want to live.” I told him as his face darkened. We’d had this talk before, but it felt like my whole family hoped that I’d forget all about it.
“I was hoping that you’d move back home and help out with the family business. There’s actually a woman I’d like you to meet in the office. She’s the sister to Callie’s Jacob.” His eyes warmed slightly as I dropped my fork, holding my hands up.
“No. Not me, Dad. I am not ready to settle in life that way. I have other things that I want to do. I’m not Callie.” My voice was angry as my sister gaped at me. I longed to tell him that I was friends with Rosie that I was sleeping with her.
“What does that mean?” She barked as I pushed away from the table, reaching into my pocket for the keys to my car. I walked outside and started it, taking a long drive around before stopping at a friend’s place to calm down. I might have fucked up this entire visit now, but I couldn’t just roll over when he tried to plan my life for me. I was a goddamn adult.
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Rosalind
I wanted to crawl under the table as we settled in for dinner. Rich was across from me as I stared at my plate, waiting for the food to be passed around. Luckily, the kids were chattering and keeping everyone’s attention as I stabbed random food and tried to eat.
I met Rich in high school because his father was a colleague of my father. They worked together in a few deals and got the idea that their kids belonged together. Rich was attractive, and I dated him for four months before I couldn’t take it any longer. Dad was so pushy with him and Rich was clingy with me. He wanted to spend every moment that we could together. My heart broke when I saw him walking into the house, knowing that my father was trying to be a matchmaker again.
I felt his eyes on me as I chewed a piece of noodle with gooey cheese and sauce. It was normally one of my favorites, but it merely sat in my stomach tonight. I glanced up to see Rich staring at me and reached for my wine. I played it off like I wasn’t affected by it or else they’d cut me off. Wine was for savoring with dinner and company, not escaping any situation that I might be in. That might make me look like an out of control alcoholic. We all knew that my grandfather had been a functioning one, but it was never spoken about. I’d seen my own brothers drunk a few times in their younger lives to the point of being sloppy. Now, they sat with their wives and kids and looked the part of the successful adult. Both women were starting to show in their pregnancies and already close, so it seemed perfect.
Not that I wanted that. I took birth control religiously even though I was only sleeping with one man. I should probably be more careful in that situation given that it was Sterling. He just felt so good coming inside of me. If there was a pregnancy, my family might disown me. Nobody was ready for that.
The subject of school rolled around, and all eyes were on me. I expressed my excitement to graduate and begin the next chapter of my life though I was vague about what was next. I didn’t want to move back home to this oppressive house and live this life. It felt too good to escape when I did.
My major allowed me to live anywhere, assuming that I was successful. It had nothing to do with business or numbers like my father wanted but it was my life. Dad asked me if I had any ideas for work in a dubious voice and I forced a smile to my face.