by Perrin Briar
Cassie pursed her lips and drank some of her cherryade. She looked at Zoe over the edge of her glass.
“So, how did you two meet?” she said.
“Well,” Zoe said, flapping her napkin as if preparing to tell an exquisite story. “We met when your father asked for an appraisal on a piece of land he was thinking about acquisitioning. You see, there’s this process of digging for minerals called fracking. How you do it is to aim a high-power hose at the land and blast through it with high-pressure water…”
Cassie ate her meal, keeping her eyes on her food and never once looked up.
“Cass,” Bryan said. “You should pay attention to someone if you ask them a question and they’re polite enough to answer.”
“It’s all right,” Zoe said. “I’m sure fracking isn’t exactly what a teenager would like to talk about.”
“No, go on,” Cassie said. “I’m listening. I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
“Okay…” Zoe said. “Well, it’s been in all the newspapers lately that fracking is dangerous to the environment and that it can cause sinkholes and earthquakes and all kinds of things.”
Cassie kept her eyes on Zoe, nodding, and cut at her food, never letting her eyes drop to her plate. She stabbed at a slice of chicken with her fork, making a screeching sound. Then she raised it up in front of her face and aimed it at her mouth, but missed, and touched her cheek. She tried again, and missed, this time dabbing some of the gravy on her nose. Still, she kept her eyes firmly on Zoe, who by now had noticed what was happening.
“Uh, you have something on your face,” Zoe said.
“On my face?” Cassie said. “Where?”
“On your cheek,” Zoe said.
“On my cheek?” Cassie said, reaching over with the fork, and poking herself on the wrong cheek.
“Now you have it on both cheeks,” Zoe said.
“Really?” Cassie said. “It’s hard to see without being able to move my eyes.”
“Cassie,” Bryan said. “How old are you? Four?”
Cassie smiled and wiped the sauce off her face.
“I’m just playing,” she said.
“You’re too old to be playing with your food,” Bryan said. “Sorry, Zoe. Why don’t you carry on with what you were saying.”
“No, it’s okay,” Zoe said, pointedly not looking at Cassie.
Bryan glared at Cassie, who had a small smile.
“How about you, Aaron?” Bryan said. “Do you have any favorite subjects at school?”
“History and biology,” Aaron said.
“Ah, a history buff, ay?” Bryan said. “What are you studying at the moment?”
“The civil war,” Aaron said.
“One of our key moments in our history,” Bryan said.
“And our bloodiest,” Aaron said. “Did you know an estimated seven hundred fifty thousand people died during that war? Back then it was about twenty percent of our whole population.”
“Freedom and development has its costs,” Bryan said.
“I’m not sure if there was much development,” Aaron said.
“What do you mean?” Bryan said. “We had to force ourselves out from under the yoke of King George III, to a king that had never visited our shores and never would. Why should we be beholden to anyone but ourselves?”
It was clearly a passionate subject for Bryan. Aaron didn’t bat an eyelid. He was too busy trying to recall the crazy comments he’d memorized from the web.
“I admit the Constitution was a big leap forward, but look at us today,” he said. “Capitalism has hijacked our society.”
“Capitalism leads society,” Bryan said.
“There’s a bigger rich/poor divide in America than many developing countries,” Aaron said. “How do you explain that except for capitalism? The rich get richer, the poor get poorer.”
“You’re a child,” Bryan said. “When you grow up and start working, I’ll happily have this discussion with you.”
Zoe laid her hand on Bryan’s arm. He pulled away, scratching his eyebrow with his thumb. He didn’t touch his food again.
Cassie put down her fork.
“I’m stuffed!” she said.
“Stuffed?” Bryan said. “You’ve hardly eaten anything.”
“It’s very filling,” Cassie said. “Help yourself, if you want.”
Zoe looked at the plates of wasted food and wrinkled her nose. Cassie smiled. It was a strike. Zoe, like Bryan, detested waste, for her with food in place of time. She was a great humanitarian, who sent a good percentage of her pay check each week to far flung nations populated by hungry people.
Aaron tossed his fork down on his plate too.
“I think I ordered the wrong thing,” he said.
Bryan rolled his eyes.
“What wrong thing?” Zoe said. “You like lasagna.”
“Yeah, but I wanted the Bolognese,” Aaron said.
“You said you didn’t want it because you had it the other day,” Zoe said.
“You can have some of mine, if you like,” Bryan said. “I know it’s not Bolognese, but if you close your eyes when you chew on the meat you can pretend it’s a meatball.”
“I’d rather have real Bolognese,” Aaron said.
“What are we supposed to do with your lasagna?” Zoe said.
“You can have some of Cassie’s food,” Bryan said. “She’s got plenty to share.”
“None of it’s Bolognese though…” Aaron said.
Cassie reached for her drink, but her hand was greasy with gravy and it slipped out of her grip, smashed on the table cloth and spilled over Zoe’s dress.
Zoe stood up, pushing her chair back, and bumped into a waiter, who was carrying a silver tray full of meals. He fell forward onto the table behind them, onto a pair of female diners, the food staining their expensive dresses. The women erupted into screams. The other diners arched their necks to see what was happening.
Bryan was up on his feet in an instant, apologizing to the female diners and offering to pay for their meal as well as to replace their dresses.
Cassie and Aaron, the only ones not standing, shared a smile and tucked into their meals.
15
THE ATMOSPHERE in the limousine was somewhat less jovial than the one on the way to the restaurant. Bryan opened his mouth several times to initiate a conversation, but was each time shot down by a frosty glance from Zoe.
The car pulled over to the side of the road and Zoe opened the door, not even waiting for Rosetta to come around the side.
“Good night!” Bryan said.
“Night,” Zoe said, closing the door behind Aaron.
Bryan watched as Zoe and Aaron entered their house.
Rosetta returned to the driving seat. She lowered the partition window.
“Home, sir?” she said.
“Yes, Rosetta,” Bryan said. “Home, please.”
The partition window rose back up into place. Bryan looked at Cassie, who looked back.
“What?” Cassie said.
“Why?” Bryan said.
“Why what?” Cassie said.
“Why tonight?” Bryan said.
“Is this a guessing game?” Cassie said.
“Why did you order all those meals?” Bryan said.
“I was hungry,” Cassie said.
“Why did you speak on the phone when you knew how important tonight was to me?” Bryan said. “You took this evening away from me. After you promised you would try your hardest.”
“I did try my hardest,” Cassie said.
“Yes, to ruin it,” Bryan said.
“What do you mean?” Cassie said.
“You deliberately antagonized Zoe,” Bryan said. “Making her defend her opinions on vegetarianism, wasting all that food.”
“If you have an opinion you should be able to defend it,” Cassie said, folding her arms.
“I was ashamed of you tonight,” Bryan said.
“I was ashamed of you when you told m
e you wanted to replace Mom,” Cassie said.
“You said it was a good thing I was seeing someone new,” Bryan said. “And I’m not trying to replace your mother. She’s been gone seven years. That’s long enough to declare her officially dead.”
“I suppose with Mom out of the way we can carry on with our lives in peace,” Cassie said. “Once that particular problem has been solved.”
“Is that how you honestly think of me?” Bryan said. “That I want to forget about your mother? We were married for seven years before she disappeared. I’ve spent a small fortune trying to locate her. But she’s gone. Slipped off the face of the Earth. Tell me, should I be alone for the rest of my life? Waiting for someone who will not come back?”
“I didn’t think you were alone,” Cassie said. “You have me.”
“What happens after you leave for college and I’m here by myself?” Bryan said. “What will I do then? I’ve found someone I really like. I just wanted you to get along with each other. You don’t have to love each over. I just…”
He hung his head, resting his elbows on his knees. Cassie had never seen him look so defeated before.
“You’re grounded,” Bryan said.
Cassie couldn’t believe her ears. She’d always been treated with respect before, as an individual. Bryan trusted her to be sensible, and she had never betrayed that trust. This was the first time he had ever treated her as a child.
“I’m grounded?” Cassie said. “What for?”
“You know what for,” Bryan said.
Cassie pressed her lips together, turning white.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” she said. “You can’t punish me just because tonight didn’t go as well as you’d hoped.”
“Give me your phone,” Bryan said.
“Why?” Cassie said.
“You got a phone call from a friend,” Bryan said. “I want to see which friend. I’m betting it wasn’t a friend at all, but you making your cell ring yourself.”
“No!” Cassie said.
“Give it to me,” Bryan said.
“No,” Cassie said. “It’s my privacy.”
“I’ll check your phone records,” Bryan said.
“You can’t do that!” Cassie said.
“I pay your bill,” Bryan said. “I assure you, I most certainly can.”
Cassie’s mouth hung open. She couldn’t believe this was happening.
“If I’m wrong, I apologize,” Bryan said. “But I won’t stand for lies and deceit. Especially not from my own daughter.”
“You can’t do this!” Cassie said.
“I’m your father,” Bryan said. “I can do whatever I want. You’re going to live under my roof for the next four years. You’ll do as I say until then. And if you want me to pay for your college education, you’ll do what I say then too.”
Her father had entered his business negotiation phase, and he was in a position of greater power. There was no getting through to him when he was like that.
They sat in silence until the limousine pulled to the side of the road.
“You forced me into tonight,” Cassie said, eyes blurry with tears. “You forced me to do this. The next time you make plans for your life, make sure I’m not a part of them.”
She threw the door open, making Rosetta start back, and then ran down the path to their house.
“Is she all right?” Rosetta said to Bryan.
“She’ll be fine,” Bryan said. “It’s me I’m worried about.”
He selected Zoe’s number on his cell and called her. The phone rang and rang. Bryan began to think Zoe wasn’t going to answer when the phone clicked.
“Bryan, I’m tired,” Zoe said, her voice full of sorrow. “I need to go to sleep.”
“I know,” Bryan said. “But we need to talk.”
“Not now,” Zoe said.
“No, not now,” Bryan said. “But soon. Are you free tomorrow?”
16
BRYAN SAT at the hotel bar. He had a glass of untouched whiskey before him. Zoe entered and he waved her over.
“Would you like anything?” Bryan said.
“No, thanks,” Zoe said, unwinding her scarf.
“Windy today, isn’t it?” Bryan said.
Zoe didn’t reply. Bryan nodded to his cell and smiled.
“Phone’s switched off,” he said.
“Can we make this quick?” Zoe said. “I’ve got a busy day.”
“Sure,” Bryan said, a little hurt by Zoe’s cold indifference. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Zoe said.
“I think there is,” Bryan said. “Cassie behaved very poorly toward you. I’m sorry for the way she treated you.”
“Aaron was a little off too,” Zoe said.
“But he wasn’t as disruptive as Cassie,” Bryan said. “I swear, I brought her up to have better manners than that. I only hope that it hasn’t affected our relationship.”
“You know what, I think I will have a drink,” Zoe said.
“Have mine,” Bryan said, sliding his whiskey over to her.
Zoe threw her head back, downing the whiskey in one go. She hissed through her teeth.
Then they sat in silence, Bryan looking at Zoe, Zoe looking away.
“This is what I was afraid of,” Bryan said. “Things have changed between us. Now we know we can’t become more, our relationship has become finite. We can’t go back, can we?”
“C’est la vie,” Zoe said.
“So the first attempt wasn’t great, but so what?” Bryan said. “The next dinner date will be better.”
“What next dinner date?” Zoe said.
“We’re going to meet with the kids again, aren’t we?” Bryan said.
“I can’t see the point,” Zoe said.
“So, that’s it?” Bryan said. “Quitting after the first hurdle? I thought you had a lot more gumption than that.”
“What do you want me to say?” Zoe said. “It was a nice idea, but it didn’t work out.”
“You know what they say,” Bryan said. “If at first you don’t succeed…”
“It’s not going to work,” Zoe said. “The next date couldn’t be much worse.”
“Exactly,” Bryan said.
For the first time since she entered the hotel bar, Zoe smiled. It was small and lackluster, but it was still there.
“There she is,” Bryan said. “The woman I want to be with. In business these kinds of problems always happen.”
“This isn’t business,” Zoe said. “It’s family.”
“A business can do everything we can,” Bryan said. “This is just a rough patch, that’s all. Things will get better and easier.”
“But Cassie and Aaron aren’t going to change,” Zoe said. “Is it right to force them into this?”
“Maybe we’ve both sheltered them a bit,” Bryan said. “It’s what happens when you try to bring up a child in a single parent family. You try to take on the responsibilities of both parents. It’s tough.”
“I’m a stranger threatening to take Cassie’s father away,” Zoe said.
“But you’re not taking me away from her,” Bryan said.
“No, but she thinks that way,” Zoe said.
“How’s Aaron?” Bryan said.
“Aaron’s fine,” Zoe said.
“But he’s still clearly not thrilled about having me in his life,” Bryan said.
“Who would be?” Zoe said.
Bryan smiled, enjoying the brief moment of levity.
“Thanks,” he said. “It was the first time we all met. Things can only get better from here on out.”
“I hope so,” Zoe said. “I don’t much relish the idea of living tonight over and over again every day.”
“So, you’re open to trying again?” Bryan said.
Zoe thought for a long moment.
“Yes,” she said. “But I don’t want to just go on a date next time.”
“What then?” Bry
an said.
“I don’t know,” Zoe said. “I haven’t had time to think about it. At least last night was a memorable evening.”
“It was certainly that,” Bryan said.
“I’m sure in a few years we will look back on this and laugh,” Zoe said. “It’s just not happening right now.”
Bryan’s eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Did you see the look on the two female diners’ faces?” he said, grinning broadly.
Zoe covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.
“They looked like the world was going to come to an end!” Bryan said.
“To them, it probably was,” Zoe said.
“Maybe we could go to the batting cages on our next dinner date,” Bryan said. “Work out some of our aggression.”
Zoe shook her head.
“We need something where we can spend more time together,” she said.
“We can’t think of it now,” Bryan said. “We need something to help stimulate our little grey cells.”
“What do you suggest we do?” Zoe said.
Bryan raised two fingers. Pinched between them was a key card with a number printed on it.
“Make up sex is some of the best sex there is,” he said.
Zoe took the key.
“Give me ten minutes,” she said.
“You’ve got five,” Bryan said. “I’ll never be able to wait ten.”
17
BRYAN LAY in bed with the sheet twisted around his waist. He blew out a circle of smoke from his cigarette and sighed with content.
“Smoking’s bad for you, you know,” Zoe said.
“Really?” Bryan said.
“There were a few adverts about it a while ago,” Zoe said.
“I must have missed them,” Bryan said, taking another drag. “It helps me to think.”
He offered it to Zoe. She gave him a flat stare.
“If you think I’d ever do that you mustn’t know me very well,” she said.
“I can always hope,” Bryan said. “It’s nice to unwind.”
“I thought that’s what we just did,” Zoe said.
“True,” Bryan said. “This is more a case of relaxing after all the effort.”