“I love you," I whisper. Then I lean over and give him a kiss.
“Love you too.”
Please let everything go well in there. Don’t let Brian have to choose between his family and me. I don’t want him to ever regret his decision.
I really don’t want to do this, but I need to know why my dad’s trying to cause problems between Donna and me. He’s always played by his rules, not caring who he hurts in the process. He needs to know there are finally going to be consequences for his behavior
“Oh, hey, Brian and Donna. What’re you guys doing here?” my mom asks when she answers the door.
“Hey, Mom. Is Dad around?” I say, not answering her question.
“Yes. He’s in his study. Would you like to go in there and talk to him, or would you like me to get him?”
“Please go get him. You both need to hear what I have to say.” I hate being so rude to her, but I need to get this done and over with.
“Is everything all right?” she asks, her gaze darting between Donna and me.
“No, but it will be as soon as I talk to Dad.”
As my mom turns to leave, Donna leans into me and says, “I know you’re hurting, but you don’t have to be so rude to your mom.”
“I know I was a dick, but I want to get this over with.”
As my mom walks away, all I can think is that I’m about to shatter her world. She knows that my dad cheated before, but she thought he stopped, so I hope this doesn’t kill her. I have a feeling she’ll blame me for the fallout between us all.
“Hello, son. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” he asks, giving me a slap on the back.
“Well, Donna and I wanted to talk to you about what was happening in my office on Thursday around lunchtime,” I say without any preamble.
“What are you talking about? Why would I know anything about what was going on in your office?” he replies.
Okay, so he’s going to play dumb—exactly as I thought he would.
“Someone named Brian was in my office, and I’m trying to figure out why. Any ideas, Dad?
“Son, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Quit beating around the bush and come out with what you have to say.”
“Fine. Let’s go into the theater room. I have a video I’d love to show you all.” I grab Donna’s hand and lead her toward the room, hoping he’ll admit to what he was doing so I don’t have to play this video in front of my mom.
“Are you sure this is the best way to go about this?” Donna whispers in my ear.
“Yes. There’s no other way. Dad will keep trying to play dumb, and I don’t have the patience to deal with that right now.”
“Son, what do you so adamantly want to show us?” my mom asks.
“Oh, you’ll see, but you may want to prepare yourself, Mom. I only made it through about three seconds when I watched it.”
She’s going to be heartbroken when she sees this, and I have a feeling Dad will be livid that I dared show this in front of her. That’s on him though.
“What are you up to, Brian?” my mom asks with a shaky voice.
“Probably doing the worst thing I can, but I can’t stop now. I have to start living my life. Mom, I want you to know I love you, and I hate to do this, but I need to know why Dad is messing with my life. Unfortunately, it seems he doesn’t want to confess to anything, so I’m hoping, after he sees this, he’ll answer one question. Why?” I turn and hit play, not looking at the screen, as I already know the awful sight in front of their eyes.
“What. The. Fuck!” my dad yells. “Turn this off now!” His face is bright red.
“No! Brian, you promised me you were done with your whores!” my mother screams.
Watching my mom drop to her knees and sob while her eyes are transfixed on the TV, unable to turn away from the image that’s breaking her, kills me. I wish I didn’t have to hurt her, but she needs to see what my father is doing. What an ass he is. He will never change and that makes me feel sorry for my mom.
“Holy shit,” Donna says.
She’s seeing more of the video than I showed her the first time. Tears are streaming down her face, and I want to go to her, but I need answers first. They’re all talking at the same time. I don’t believe that anyone thought it’d be this bad, but I knew it was, and it should get me some answers.
“Turn this shit off right now!” my dad hollers again.
I hit stop then turn to look into my father’s face. I’m still afraid to look at my mother.
“Why, Dad? We all know it was you in my office with Janice on Thursday, but why did you want Donna to think it was me? I thought you wanted us to get married, that it was best for both families?”
I’m beginning to think he won’t answer, but then he looks me in the face and says, “Oh, I wanted you guys to get married before her mom happened.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” What does Jolene have to do with all of this?
“Donna needs to go because she’s nothing more than a stupid cunt, just like her mother. Her mother came on to me a couple of months ago at a charity event and then ran home and told Bill I came on to her. I told Bill it’s been happening for years. I won’t let Jolene’s lies ruin me. She’s the one who came on to me and got pissed when I told her I couldn’t do that to Bill.”
I don’t know that I believe that. I can’t picture Jolene ever cheating, let alone with my asshole of a father. There has to be more. Before I can ask anything, he continues spewing.
“In reality, I denied her and she didn’t like that. Jolene’s nothing but a slut who wants to ruin my life. Like mother, like daughter. It’ll only be a matter of time before Donna does the same thing. I was trying to save you the hassle of dealing with her stupid ass later on down the road. I was doing you a favor, son. Plus, if you don’t get married, then she can’t take the company back once I steal it out from under her dad’s nose.”
What. The. Fuck is he talking about? Taking the business away from Bill? How can he even do that? His reply is infuriating. Punching him would definitely get that smug look off his face, but I need to get to the bottom of this and let him know I have the upper hand here.
“Are you sure that’s all? It has nothing to do with the files I saw Janice hiding?”
“What are you talking about? I told you it has to do with Jolene wanting to ruin mine and Bill’s friendship. She wants me gone from the company. She’s spiteful because I turned her down.”
“Bull-fucking-shit!” How can he continue to lie to me when I know that’s not the reason? “I saw what was in that file, and that’s more likely the cause. You think, by hurting Donna, that Jolene will forget about that case and tend to her daughter’s broken heart? Have you even thought this through? You’re supposed to be some smart lawyer, but all you’ve done is fuck everything up. I now have the proof Jolene needs to have you charged with all of those sexual harassment cases. I also can tell you that, by hurting Donna, it would have only fuel the fire for Jolene to come after you.”
“Don’t take that tone with me, and don’t be spewing shit that isn’t true. Think about what these lies are doing to your mother.”
He’s said the one thing that may stop me from doing what I need to do, but I can’t let him put his crimes on me. He is responsible for doing this to my mom, not me.
“What I’m doing to Mom? I’m not the one who can’t keep it in my pants. I’m not the one who is being sued by multiple women for sexual harassment. You’re the one who is breaking Mom’s heart.” I may have played that video when I shouldn’t have, but I’m not the one who has treated her like she means nothing. “And I believe you did come on to Jolene, and now, you’re trying to make us believe you’re innocent. I know you’ve slept with a lot of your secretaries and you’ve come on to even more of the females in the office. You’ve always thought you were God’s gift to women, and you don’t take rejection lightly. You’re an arrogant ass who needs to be taken down a notch or two.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. There aren’t sexual harassment charges against me.”
“You can keep playing it that way if you want. I don’t care. I’m so done with you and your lies. You’ll get what you have coming to you, and it’ll be sooner rather than later. I’ll help Jolene and Bill with whatever they need.”
“Well, I see I’m going to have to pull out the big guns to keep you in check.”
I want to walk away, but those words out of his mouth stop me in my tracks. Please don’t let him say what I think he’s going to say. It isn’t true, but in a way, part of it is. I don’t want to hurt Donna, but if this comes out, I know it will.
“No, what you need to do is admit to your faults and let me live my life the way I want to live it. Let me be with who I want and stay out of my business. Also, you need to man the fuck up and take care of all of these claims.”
“I’ll never stay out of your business. I don’t want you around Donna and her family anymore. They’re trying to steal the company away from me. If you marry her, she’ll get your portion. I won’t let them take what is rightfully mine. Son, one day, you’ll thank me for this.” With a smug look on his face, he turns to Donna and says, “By the way, ask my son where he really was on his eighteenth birthday when he was supposed to be with you but cancelled.”
I don’t want to look at Donna and see any pain. I have to remain strong until we have time to talk about this later. I won’t have that talk in front of my parents.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about losing the business to them because I quit! I don’t want anything to do with you or the business if you’re involved. As far as I’m concerned, you can sell it when you retire. I don’t want anything from you. That’s if Bill doesn’t take it from you, which I hope he does.”
I’m fuming mad right now. He has no right to be doing this. He’s not only hurting himself, but everyone around him. He’s willing to risk Bill’s part in the company. Bill is like a dad to me. I grew up being in their house a lot in the summer.
“How can you be so callous? You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You don’t care that you’re destroying Bill and Jolene. With Bill being part owner, he could lose everything too. His only saving grace is that you’re named the sole perpetrator on all the sexual harassment cases. He was pissed when Jolene brought them to his attention. What were you going to do? Try paying off the women? It’s a good thing Jolene found out about them when she was helping Janice catch up on her workload. On top of all of that shit, you’ve never cared for Mom the way you should. You continue to sleep around when, really, you should come home and be with her. She doesn’t deserve to be treated this way. I don’t know why she stays with you and puts up with this shit. Now, you’re trying to ruin my life with Donna. I don’t know how I can ever forgive you for this.”
“That’s fine, but if you walk out that door, you’ll no longer be our son, and you’ll no longer be welcome in this house,” my father says with an evil laugh.
He thinks he’s won. He doesn’t believe I’ll walk away from it all, but he’s wrong. I’ll never walk away from Donna, but I sure as hell will walk away from him and from the business.
My mom starts crying. “Son, don’t leave yet. I will not let your father make the decision for me. He is not in control of me anymore.” Then she turns to my father and says in a voice I’ve never heard her use on him, “Get the hell out of this house. You’re no longer welcome here. I don’t care where you go. If you don’t want to leave quietly, I will gladly call the police and have you escorted off the property.”
I’m so proud that she’s finally standing up for herself. She has always let Dad make the decisions for her.
“You can’t kick me out of my house. I pay all the bills here. No cop is going to make me leave my own house. If you want me to leave so fucking bad, then you should take your own advice and walk the fuck out of the door. I don’t need your lazy ass around anyways. I’d be better off without you. Then I wouldn’t have to waste so much money on hotel rooms.”
I don’t even have a chance to defend my mom because she walks up to him and slaps him.
“I don’t know how I stayed with you and put up with you for so long. I thought I was doing Brian a favor by letting him have his father around. I can now see that that was the biggest mistake I could’ve made. I can only be thankful he had Bill to look up to and didn’t turn out a sleezeball like you.”
“You stayed with me because you were a money-hungry whore who didn’t want to have to work for herself. You’re a lazy bitch. You couldn’t have provided for yourself and Brian.”
I can’t believe he’s talking to her this way. I’ve never heard him speak this way before. Yes, he cheats, but he’s never been this nasty.
Without any warning, Mom grabs the phone. “Brian, we’ll fight over the house in the divorce, but I’m asking you to take your lying, cheating ass out of my house now. I won’t hesitate to call the police. You have one minute to turn and walk out that door.”
“Mom, I can’t stay and watch that man treat you this way any longer. Just call the police and let them come deal with his sorry ass. He’s not going to leave willingly.”
“You’re all a bunch of worthless pieces of shit. You’ll get what’s coming to you. I’ll make sure you end up living on the street, Marianne. Brian, you’ll lose all of your trust fund. You’ll both end up with nothing. Don’t think this is the last you’ll hear from me.” He grabs his bag and walks out the door.
“You’ll get your comeuppance, and hopefully that’s a jail sentence for being a creep and thinking you’re above the law,” my mom whispers to his back.
I don’t think she intended for anyone to hear her.
I sigh in relief. I really thought my mom would have to involve the cops to get him to leave.
“Mom, are you all right?” That’s a stupid question to ask right now.
“I will be. I have a lot to take care of tonight before your dad ends up stealing all of our money.”
“I’m sure my dad will help you, Marianne,” Donna says. “He won’t hold what Brian Sr. has been doing against you.”
“That’s who I was planning on asking for help,” she whispers.
“Would you like us to stay with you tonight? I don’t want you to be alone if you need someone.” I don’t know what else to do for her.
She looks like her world is shattered and nothing can be fixed. I hope she’ll finally get the peace she needs. It’s been a long time coming.
“No. I’m going to call Bill and see what he suggests I do. Then I’m going to head to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day with getting the bank accounts frozen so he can’t take all the money. Plus, I need to finally file for divorce. I also want to see what Jolene needs me to do about the sexual harassment cases. I don’t know if he’d keep anything in his home office or if I could even hand that stuff over or not. But that’s not something I want to deal with now. Why don’t you and Donna head home, and I’ll be in touch with you guys tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I say as I walk over and hug her. “Please don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything tonight. I’ll be here for you whenever you need.”
We haven’t had the best of relationships, but that’s because I couldn’t handle watching her let my dad walk all over her. I’m hoping we can finally have a stress-free relationship.
“Goodnight, Marianne. I’m sorry about all the pain you had to go through tonight. Let me know if I can do anything for you. I love you,” Donna says as she hugs my mom goodbye.
“Goodbye, sweet girl. Please don’t go too hard on Brian tonight. He didn’t have a choice on his birthday. His dad threatened him if he went out with you. Give him a chance to explain.” Mom kisses her on the cheek. “Love you too, beautiful,” she says and walks u
s to the door.
“Brian, are you all right?” Donna asks as we get back to the car.
That was not the first question I was expecting her to ask. Which only means one thing: I am so fucked.
“As good as I can be. I was prepared for the worst, but you can never prepare for how it feels to be the one to tear your mom’s heart out. I’m hoping, with time, she’ll get stronger and we can have a healthier relationship, but for now, I have you, I hope, and that’s all I need.”
Donna, Frank, and Shawna are family enough for me. And, one day, we’ll have kids and they’ll build our family. I know that my mom will eventually find happiness. She’s going to need time to heal and learn who she is as a woman.
Why I didn’t ask him the question burning in my mind, I’ll never know. I’m not sure I want to know what his dad was talking about, but I need to know.
Marianne told me to give Brian the benefit of the doubt, so I will. I really don’t think it’s as bad as I’m imagining. I’m sure it was a ploy by Brian Sr. to deflect attention from himself and onto his son. I might as well get it over with so I know what we’re dealing with.
“Brian, I know you’re hurting, but I need to know what your dad was talking about. I can’t sit here and wonder any longer. It’s killing me, thinking of all of these things that could’ve happened. I know you said you never cheated, but that’s all that’s running through my head right now.”
He wouldn’t. Please, please, please don’t let that be the case.
“Donna, you have to know I was young and I wanted my dad to be proud of me. Plus, I didn’t want to lose my car. Then I wouldn’t have been able to see you all the time. He wanted to make me a real man. He knew I was waiting for you to get home so we could spend the evening together. He knew I wanted to be with you and only you. He said, for me to be able to please you, I had to have experience. I didn’t want experience—I wanted you. The night of my eighteenth birthday, he and some of his friends hired strippers to come to a hotel. They were going to enjoy them while one of them took me back to a room and showed me how to pleasure a woman, and . . .”
First Love (Complicated Love Book 1) Page 7