One More Chance

His hand came down on my arm, but I wrenched away from his grasp. I grabbed my purse and clutched it tightly to me, hoping and praying the pregnancy test didn’t fall out. I scrambled out his front door and ran to my car, then jumped in and sped out of his driveway without even buckling my seat belt.

I drove home with tears streaming down my face, wondering what the hell I was going to do with the rest of my life.

Tyler

Present Time

I sat in my new office building, gazing out over my view of Los Angeles. Excitement bubbled under my skin as a grin crossed my cheeks. I was ready to get things going with my business. I was ready to take on the world as a trial lawyer. That may not have sounded exciting to some, but it did to me.

If there was anything I discovered in my years of law school, internships, and unpaid gigs, it was that I was good at two things: bringing criminals to justice and figuring out when someone was lying. Hiding something, withholding information, or outright lying had become easy for me to spot. My track record spoke for itself, and I hoped with the reputation I had already garnered in the community that my new business in Los Angeles would flourish even though I was just twenty-seven years old.

The office was empty now, but it wasn’t going to be by the end of the week. I’d tapped into some resources and gotten some nice deals on office furniture to fill up the place. I had the top four floors of the office building I was in, but my first financial goal was to buy out the building altogether. My business plan was already in motion, and by the time I was thirty, this entire space would be mine.

I looked at my watch before I gathered up my things. I had plans to meet my parents for dinner. On me, of course. I hadn’t seen them in a while. Four years to be exact. Law school had been rough enough, but making connections and drawing in residual income wherever I could had taken most of the time I would’ve spent coming home to see them. Which meant we stayed afloat as a family via video conferencing and traditional phone calls, sometimes the occasional email.

Walking into Republique, I drew in the familiar scent. All the restaurants I’d always gawked at as a teenager were now mine for the taking. I immediately saw my parents in the corner and they waved at me, standing to greet me as I walked toward them.

My mother was already stumbling in her heels.

“Son, it’s been a very long time,” my father said.

I embraced him and clapped his back before I moved to hug my mother.

“You look so grown up,” she said.

Her words were slurred, and I tried to ignore them. She hugged me a little longer than I figured she would, and I felt her lean into me, her body growing heavy. She was falling asleep on her damn feet as the alcohol coursed through her veins. I looked up at my father and he held up his hand, wiggled his five fucking fingers as I clenched my jaw.

Why the hell my father didn’t help her get her drinking under control was beyond me.

“So, Dad, how goes the accounting firm? Still doing your own thing out of the house?” I asked.

“You were always adamant about not talking about work. Now that we’re face to face for the first time in years, work is your first question?” he asked.

“I have an announcement, but I don’t want to be selfish,” I said.

“Well, what’s the announcement?”

“Could I get another drink?” my mother asked.

“I think you’ve had plenty, Mom.”

“A celebratory one, for your announcement,” she said.

The grin on her face was sloppy at best, and I looked at my father to step in. Instead, he sat there like a damn bump on a log, as if my mother’s disposition was just fine.

I was quickly being reminded of why I had left in the first place.

“To answer your question, Son, the accounting firm is going just fine. I’m still working from home, and it’s keeping us afloat.”

“Afloat? Has something happened?” I asked.

“Just your father’s terrible investments,” Mom said.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Nothing you need to worry about. I’ve got it under control,” he said.

“If someone’s taken advantage of my parents, I want to know about it,” I said.

“Really, it’s fine. The stock market is taking a nosedive right now and some of the riskier companies I took chances on aren’t seeing the kind of rebound I had hoped. No one has gotten swindled out of anything,” he said.

“If you want me to take a look at things—”

“I’m an accountant, Tyler. I know numbers. I’ve rebalanced our portfolio and we’re going to be fine. Now, I want to hear about this announcement of yours,” he said.