by Claire Adams
The back of my hand was shaking slightly in shock and I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. This was not something I was expecting, nor was I prepared for it in any way. I had gotten myself into a relationship without thinking too much about it, and I was only just realizing how deep I had managed to get myself in. She was most certainly waiting for me to respond to her confession with a very particular answer. I opened my mouth in an attempt to try to say it back, but felt physically incapable, so I closed it again.
Why was she choosing this particular moment to tell me she loved me above all else? She had so many other opportunities. Hell, if she really felt the way she said, perhaps that evening in my balcony when I had the whole place decorated for her would have been a more suitable opportunity. Yet, she had chosen now. Didn’t this mean it was entirely possible that she felt more gratitude than love, and she was merely confusing two separate positive emotions?
Had I not been paying her mother’s hospital bills – and had I not said what I had said about not worrying about her mother’s finances just now – would she have still felt that she was in love with me? In fact, would she have ever even given me the time of the day if I wasn’t paying her mother’s medical bills? If it wasn’t for the contract?
I remembered when I used to hit on her before the contract came into play; she always casually laughed off my advances – something that frustrated me endlessly – never even coming close to so much as going on a date with me. There was no way I could be sure whether her love was genuine, and until such a time, I could not bring myself to say it back. Or until a time at least when I knew for sure that my words were genuine, too. Instead, I just kissed her softly on the mouth one more time, looked at her earnestly and said, “Let’s go inside, baby.”
---
As we walked inside the tiny house holding hands, Aria’s mood had shifted slightly, perhaps because I hadn’t said ‘I love you’ back. I was determined to take her mind off it and have a decent evening with her and her mother.
When her mom saw us, she looked delighted. She was not as old as I had imagined in my head; in fact, she didn’t look very old at all, so she must have had Aria when she was young. Aria looked a lot like her mom, too. They were almost the spitting image of each other.
She ran to hug Aria, and they embraced for quite a while, in which time I surveyed the paintings on the wall. They all looked old and worn out. In fact, everything in this house looked like it was ready for a replacement about a few years ago. Perhaps I ought to have brought some presents…decorations for the house. If it was getting foreclosed though, then it hardly mattered. Maybe I could help her buy a new place altogether, but in Aria’s name.
After welcoming her daughter, Aria’s mother gave me a swift once-over without any expressions on her face, and then smiled heartily. “You must be Zayden,” she said, and then hugged me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. I wasn’t particularly programmed to accept random hugs, but I shrugged and let it happen.
“Nice too finally meet you, Molly,” I said, when she broke away.
“You too, Zayden!” she exclaimed. “I hope you are hungry! I have been cooking all day. Not sure if you’re a big fan of steak or—”
“I’m sure whatever you made is fine, and I can’t wait.” I smiled at her before she nervously babbled some more. “I hope you like wine.”
Chapter Four
Aria
I was glad to notice that thus far, this dinner hadn’t been a complete disaster, something I was extremely worried about, considering the rather strong personalities of both parties that were currently meeting. Other than that little voice inside my head that was worried that Zayden hadn’t said he loved me back when I had made my confession, there was practically nothing about this night that wasn’t pleasurable.
While my mom prepared the dinner table, I entertained Zayden with some of the Scrabble that I had promised, which my mom joined as the last of the roasted vegetables were finishing up in the oven. Naturally, my mom won the game, and Zayden had the least amount of points because of trying to spell things that were made-up words. The good thing was how eased and relaxed he seemed during the whole ordeal. It was something so simple that he never seemed to get a chance to enjoy, and I felt glad to be able to give him what was missing from his seemingly perfect life.
Once dinner was ready, we sat on the small four-occupancy dining table, which my mom had obviously bought since our last visit. Perhaps it was in exchange for our large mahogany table, which was glaringly missing. I felt an odd sort of a discomfort in my chest as I took my seat across from Zayden and tried hard not to catch anybody’s eyes.
My mom had put together an elaborate dinner for somebody in her economic stature. Enormous Porterhouse steaks that appeared grilled to perfection, a plate full of spicy and crunchy-looking shrimp, mashed potatoes cooked with Gouda – perhaps one of my all-time favorites growing up from all of my mom’s cooking – and an assortment of roasted vegetables. In addition, there was a whole side for dessert with various fruits, chocolate ice cream cake, apple pie, and cookie dough ice cream.
“Mom, you really went all out,” I gasped, and noticed even Zayden seemed to be impressed, which I supposed was her intention.
She shrugged, although her smile gave away that she was rather pleased with herself. “It was no big deal, really. Just threw some things together hastily. Eat up!”
As I started eating the delicious food, I forgot all about the pressure that was supposed to be present in the current situation, where I was introducing my boyfriend to my mother. For the first time since my high school prom date, I remembered suddenly. No wonder she had gone out of her way with this dinner. Or perhaps it was the little side fact that the guy was spending 60,000 dollars to help her out, I realized stupidly.
This wasn’t about meeting my boyfriend at all. This was about feeding a nice meal to the guy who was helping her out as a token of appreciation. For some reason, that made me feel sad, so I focused all my attention on the juicy steak that was filling all my senses.
“Mmm,” I heard Zayden moan, telling me that he was equally impressed with dinner, which was an accomplishment given that he had an international superchef at his beck and call 24/7.
“Let’s open the wine, shall we?” Mom’s voice pulled me out of my foodgasm.
“What?” I felt a little disoriented for a moment.
“The wine your boyfriend so nicely bought for me, shall we open it, then?” She smiled.
I looked at Zayden, who seemed as blown away from the dinner as I was, and he nodded. “Sure, if you would like. It’s yours to do with as you please.” He smiled.
By the time she returned with the freshly opened bottle of wine, we had managed to help ourselves to third servings of everything on the table.
“Molly,” Zayden sighed at last. “You don’t suppose you would be interested in a career as a chef, would you?”
I knew immediately what he was suggesting, so I gave Zayden a stern look that was meant to read, “Not another word!” But Mom just giggled, thinking of it as just a stray compliment.
“It’s nothing. Aria is a really good cook, too. I’m sure you’ve had her cooking plenty of times. The mashed potatoes and Gouda, at the very least!”
I looked intensely at the marks on the new dining table, aware of Zayden’s amused gaze. “No, actually,” I heard him say from beside me. “I have not quite had the pleasure of eating Aria’s cooking just yet. But if tonight is any indication of what I was missing, then I have to say I am very disappointed you never invited me for dinner.”
My mom looked at me reproachfully. “Sweetheart, that’s not very nice, especially since you told me he made you dinner the other night.”
“He grilled,” I said automatically. Feeling kind of guilty I added, “Yes, he did, and I was planning to invite him over this weekend, but then we decided to come see you instead. Would you have rather we not?”
“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “I am happy y
ou guys decided to pay me a visit. I was going crazy all by myself. This wine is amazing, by the way,” she added, sipping on the red in her glass. “The best I have ever had. Is it foreign or can I find it locally?”
I glanced at Zayden, who looked slightly uncomfortable and unsure how to answer. “It’s…it’s a special kind of wine that I got directly from the vineyard. Limited edition, they only make it this time of the year and you have to be a member to—”
“Wow, that sounds really fancy,” my mom said, looking at me quizzically.
“It’s no big deal.” Zayden shrugged. “I can get you a whole case. It might take a couple of weeks though. I was going to bring a case tonight, but wasn’t sure if you would like it.”
“Just out of curiosity, Zayden,” my mom said, still looking at me as though searching for some kind of an answer. “What exactly do you do for a living?”
Zayden opened his mouth to answer, but before he could produce a sound, I chimed in, “He works with me, Mom. I told you, remember?” I smiled nervously and then looked at Zayden, hoping he could pick up on my cues.
“Yes, of course I remember,” my mom chuckled. “But don’t be silly, Aria. You work in a pretty large branch of a huge bank chain. There are certainly many, many things to be done there. I am just curious as to what exactly working with you entails there?”
Grabbing the opportunity of Zayden chewing, his mouth too full to speak, I immediately jumped to answer, “He’s a loan officer!”
From the look of perplexed curiosity in Zayden’s face, to that of looming anger in my mother, I realized that this dinner was starting to get closer to what I had imagined it would be like in the first place. I wanted to carve a hole under the table and disappear forever.
“Since when do we lie to each other, Aria?” my mom asked after a few minutes of maddening silence.
“I’m not lying! He works with me at the bank.”
“I believe that. But somebody who rides over here in a limousine with a driver and talks of exclusive memberships to fancy vineyards and can produce an entire case of better wine than I had ever tasted in my life, is not a loan officer. It would be nice if you gave me the slightest bit of credit, Aria. I know I got us into a big pile of mess financially, but I am not stupid.”
“You didn’t,” I said, starting to feel guilty. “You were not the one who got us into this big pile of mess, Mom. And I don’t think you’re stupid. In my defense…you weren’t supposed to see the limo,” I finished lamely.
“Why don’t you answer this time,” she said looking away from me and smiling at Zayden. “What exactly do you do for a living, Zayden?”
He finished chewing and swallowed, as I felt my heart thump faster and faster across my chest.
“I am the CEO of South National Bank,” he said simply.
I did not dare look at my mother. Or him. Or anybody. I simply continued to stuff mashed potatoes into my mouth, hoping that nobody expected me to speak for a long time, unable to quite think of anything rational to say.
“I see,” my mom said in a voice that did not sound entirely like her own. “So you’re her boss, then? You’re everybody’s boss?”
“In a manner of speaking. It’s really not a big deal, though,” he added hastily. “I have and always will, consider Aria an equal. Your daughter is brilliant, Molly. Especially for her age.”
“I know she is,” I heard my mom say mechanically. I was still glaring at the table in front of me. “But when you say ‘for her age’ I do wonder, are you much older, then?”
“I will turn 33 in February.”
“Wow, I am surprised you aren’t married, then. A handsome young man like yourself. Surely somebody rather suitable must have grabbed your interest before our little Aria did?”
“I was married once, but she wasn’t the right woman for me,” he said, beginning to sound increasingly more uncomfortable. “And I am glad it didn’t work out or I would have never met Aria. She lacked your daughter’s intelligence. Most women do, Molly.”
“How about children? Did you father any with this unintelligent woman you speak of?”
“None that I know of,” he said in an attempt at humor, but it had obviously been the wrong move, because I chose that moment to look up at Mom’s face, and it was glowing red hot.
“I’m sorry, Zayden – Mr. Zayden Sinclair, I mean – would you mind excusing us for just a little bit? I need to have a word with Aria. Family matters to discuss, you know? Why don’t you help yourself to more of that pie and ice cream in the meanwhile?”
Say no, Zayden, say no, say no, say no. I looked at him and nodded, hoping he would understand but he remained completely clueless. “Sure, go ahead. I don’t mind at all.”
Shit. As my mom lead me towards her bedroom, my heart started thumping even louder than before. What was she going to do? I wish I hadn’t lied to her! The thing was, there was no way she could exactly back off the deal now, so she had to learn to be okay with whatever was happening. If only I hadn’t lied to her to begin with, perhaps this whole thing wouldn’t have turned into the scary ordeal that it had become.
When we entered the room and my mom closed the door behind her, I crossed my fingers, even though I wasn’t sure what that would accomplish.
“Your boss?” my mom asked, not in an angry, but disappointed, tone. “Your boss, Aria? Of all the people in the whole world, you decided that you were going to sleep with the owner and CEO of South National Bank!”
“What does the bank have anything to do with it?” I asked, confused by where her focus was geared.
“Shhhh,” she hissed immediately. “Let’s keep our voices down, shall we?”
“Okay,” I whispered. “But Mom, seriously, this is not what it must look like.”
“I love you Aria, and I really appreciate all the things you have done in order to help me out. It’s just…I feel like I let you stoop too low for my sake, and right now I can’t help feel like I’ve done an altogether terrible job of being a mother by letting you do this for me. Your boss has been paying my medical bills! I can’t imagine the kind of requests he must have in return. He is so much older than you too, and you’re so young and naïve.”
“I’m not stupid,” I snapped, starting to get annoyed. “Yes, I am younger than him but I am not an idiot, Mom. And I will admit that yes, this whole thing kind of started in a manner that might seem less than classy. He made me sign a contract that said he would make monthly payments to your bills for as long as I dated him. That was it though, just dating! There was nothing crude on there. I can show you the contract!”
She sighed. “I believe you, sweetheart. But obviously, it seems that this has gone beyond the contract now, has it?”
“I love him, Mom,” I said earnestly, hoping she would understand. “It started out as all games and tricks, but we just grew to really care for one another. Everything you have seen tonight between me and Zayden, it was all real. He is my boyfriend. Yes, he is older and he is also my boss, but I have honestly never felt this way about anybody in my life before, and that’s not something you ought to be ashamed of!”
I was quite surprised with the eloquence I had just employed in a situation where I was almost too afraid to function. My mom’s reaction, however, wasn’t quite what I expected. She looked neither mad nor happy nor pleased. She looked horrified.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Oh Aria, I am sorry,” she said covering her face in both her hands.
“What are you sorry about? You have nothing to apologize for!” The atmosphere in the room had suddenly gotten bizarre, as though I had walked in on the middle of a very dramatic scene in a soap opera. “What’s going on, Mom? Why are you so upset?” She was crying, trying hard to hush her sniffs - so that Zayden wouldn’t hear, I presumed - leaving me completely perplexed. I walked over to her uncertainly and placed a hand on her right shoulder. “Mom, talk to me, is everything okay? Is it the house? You know you can always come live with me.”
/> “No, Aria,” she said, finally looking up. Her face was red and blotchy, her eyes swollen to almost twice their size. “Are you sure you love this guy?” she asked in even softer tones than before.
“Yes,” I said without even considering it for a second.
“Then I really do owe you an apology. You know when your dad filed for bankruptcy?”
“How could I ever forget?” I shrugged.
“Well, before he filed that, he was obviously in a lot of debt. He owed huge sums of money to a lot of different people, but most of all, he owed 500,000 dollars to a particular bank.”
My heart started shaking again as I was beginning to understand where my mom was going with this. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t possibly be that my father—
“The bank was South National Bank,” my mom finished.
I threw my body onto her bed in shock.
“So, you’re telling me,” I said very slowly so that there would be absolutely no confusion on this matter. “That this man is paying 60,000 dollars to help out our family, after our family robbed his company of eight times that amount already?”
“Don’t put it like that, sweetheart!” my mom gasped. “You couldn’t have known now, could you? When you first took a job there, I felt a little uncomfortable given our shaky history with the company, but I didn’t want to say anything because it was just a job. What could go wrong? As I learned in the span of the past hour, apparently a whole lot.”
I covered my whole face with a pillow and tried to let this sink in. I had to think straight here. There was no way Zayden would ever find out about this connection, was there? Unless I told him, of course. And while a voice in my head was egging at me to do so, I did feel that it was not necessary for him to know everything about my family history.
However, I knew what the right thing to do was, and it was to tell him. If he ever found out any other way and knew that I had known all along, it would be much harder for him to forgive me.