My Boyfriend's Dad

by Amy Brent

  Shit.

  This wasn’t good.

  “Mr. Tucker.”

  “Yes?” I asked.

  “My colleagues and I will need a couple days to think on this contract. Can we take it with us?” they asked.

  That was business speak for “we want to look it over with our lawyer and change things to match our due date.” But I wasn’t going to compromise the well-being of my entire staff because they dragged ass on negotiations.

  “Of course,” I said. “Take however long you want.”

  We all shook hands before I footed the bill. Then I stood there and watched them leave. Doug stood beside me, his hands in his pockets, and I knew exactly what he was about to ask.

  “Before you say it, we need drinks,” I said.

  “My thoughts exactly,” he said with a sigh.

  The two of us moved over to the bar and sat at the corner of it. I leaned back as I swirled the amber liquid around my glass, my mind wandering off again. If Kylie was really sick, she didn’t need to be working. Her job would be there for her when she got back. But if she wasn't sick, I wanted to know why she was avoiding the office. She was keeping up with everything, so I couldn’t call her as an angry boss. If anything, she was making strides to make sure nothing that was happening impeded on her work.

  It only showed me the value of having her as a corporate employee.

  “Can I ask now?”

  I sighed and nodded my head before taking a long pull from my glass.

  “What’s going on with you and Kylie?” Doug asked.

  “Honestly? I don’t fucking know,” I said.

  “What’s got you all tied up? You were hanging on in that meeting by a damn thread.”

  “I did it just fine. But I’m not too sure about taking them on as clients any longer.”

  “Trust me, we won’t at this point. They’ll push that date some more, we’ll decline, and they’ll go elsewhere and pump out a subpar game. It’s fine. We’re still on top. And we’ve got two more prospective clients to wine and dine next week.”

  “Oh goody,” I said flatly.

  “So spill on Kylie. What’s going on and why hasn’t she been in the office?”

  “I really like her, Doug.”

  “I know you do, which is why I’m trying to figure out what you did.”

  “Why do you think it’s something I’ve done?” I asked.

  “Because you’re a very direct man. It makes you a great businessman but shit at romance.”

  “This coming from the man who won’t even take a woman out to a proper dinner.”

  Doug just stared at me without a word, and I sighed.

  “All I did was ask Kylie how she felt about me. Then I told her I needed an answer by the end of the week so I could stop hanging on her string.”

  “Yeah, probably not what you should have done,” he said.

  “I really do like her. And I know she’s struggling. But I’ve got better things to do in my life than sit around and wait for a twenty-something-year-old girl to figure out whether she wants me or my son.”

  “Is that really what she’s doing? Or is that what you think she’s doing?”

  “I don’t know what she’s doing, and this is the frustration with younger women. They don’t open up. They don’t talk. They coop everything up and try to be strong all the damn time because they think that’s what being an adult is all about.”

  “Have you asked her how she’s doing?” he asked.

  “Of course I have.”

  “Without the context of you.”

  “What?”

  “Have you asked her how she’s doing without bringing yourself into the mix?” he asked.

  I took another sip of my drink as a grin slid across Doug’s cheeks.

  “I hate to admit it, but Adam is your son—which means he has picked up some of your traits.”

  “I’m nothing like Adam. That boy treated that woman with so much disrespect.”

  “It comes in different forms. They yelled and fought. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t coming at this with your own selfish motives. You’re pinning this woman to a wall, trying to force an answer from her she doesn’t have. And instead of asking her what she’s thinking and reassuring her that what she tells you has no bearing whatsoever on the two of you—or even her job—you give her a damn ultimatum. A deadline, for emotions.”

  “I’m not playing her games, Doug.”

  “I’m not telling you to. But I am telling you to turn off the business mind and tap into the protector mind for a second. You know, the family-man mind. The good-man mind. The one that isn’t so preoccupied with whether a woman is about to screw you over and is a little more in tune with the emotions of the people around him.”

  “I’m getting too old for this shit,” I said flatly.

  “You’re not,” Doug said. “And neither am I. You want an answer she can’t give you because she’s hurting.”

  “Why? What’s the point in grieving over a relationship that was dead in the water for months?”

  “Why did you grieve the loss of Adam’s mother even though that had been dead in the water from the start?”

  I clenched my jaw and polished off my drink before I signaled for another.

  “Kylie is wrestling with a lot of things right now, and since you’re not doing anything but giving her an idiotic ultimatum, she no longer feels she has someone she can talk to. Remember all of that opening up she did with you when she and Adam were spiraling?”

  “I remember it fondly.”

  “All you have to do is be that open and willing to receive what she has to say in regard to you. Because it might not make sense at the time, and it might take her a few months to sift through it.”

  “I don’t have a few months,” I said.

  “You’ve had forty-nine years. You go to the gym twice a day. You've got plenty of months. What you don’t have is patience. And for a good reason.”

  “Because I’m getting too old for this shit?”

  “No,” he said with a chuckle. “Because you watched the slow demise of her in a relationship that was unhealthy for her, and you want to fix it. You want to fix her. You want to make her smile. You want to make her happy. And she isn’t allowing you that because she’s trying to plant her feet after her breakup. How long did it take you to plant yourself after your divorce?”

  “Not the same. I was married for an obscene number of years.”

  “And she dated your son for an obscene number of years. It’s Adam we’re talking about. He’s not easy on a weekly basis,” he said.

  “I was decimated after my divorce,” I said.

  “And she’s decimated right now. So, what was the number one thing anyone gave you during that time?”

  I looked over at him as a smug grin crossed his cheeks.

  “Exactly,” he said. “Space. Time to think. Time to process. And then? You came out of the woodworks and spoke your own truth. And you did it with me because I gave you all those things. Had I not, it would’ve never happened. This isn’t a game, Ryan. This is Kylie’s life. And right now? Hers is spiraling out of control and she feels alone.”

  “She isn’t alone. She has me.”

  “And the fact that she’s calling out of work but still working from home should tell you she doesn't believe that. Not anymore,” he said.

  His words were sobering, humbling, and frightening. Because he was right at every single turn. I didn't want him to be right. I didn't want him to know Kylie and me this thoroughly. And even though his advice should’ve made me feel better, it only made me feel worse. The answers I now had showed me that I’d become part of the problem, part of the reason she was struggling as much as she was.

  And if I didn’t change my tune, she’d put me in the same column as Adam and I’d lose her forever.

  That was something I wasn’t going to tolerate.

  Kylie

  I woke up Thursday morning and reached for my phone. I had every
intention of calling out again until my rational mind woke up. I couldn't keep calling in and hiding. Eventually, I’d have to go into work and turn stuff in. Get stuff done in-house. Sure, there was plenty of work on my computer desk at home to keep me busy through the weekend, but there were also things I couldn't access from home that I needed. Like physical receipts to scan into the system and the software to create calculations and graphics investors were waiting on for updated projections.

  So, I rolled out of bed and got ready for work.

  I had kept my nose buried in work throughout the entire week at home, which meant I was still unsure what to do about everything. That fun little weekend deadline was looming over my head, and I wasn’t sure if I’d have a job if I didn’t give Ryan the right answer. But nothing would get solved if I kept staying home and avoiding him. And avoiding Adam and my own mind.

  Adam and I had a long relationship, and throughout the entire thing we had grown so much together. We had shared so much and made so many memories that would stick with me forever. Vacations and camping trips and celebrations and birthdays. Christmas presents and surprise parties and long lovemaking sessions that made me limp to class the next morning. But our personalities were a stark contrast to each other, and it always got us into fights. One of us always rubbed the other wrong eventually.

  There were things about us that didn’t click. I was a documentary fanatic and he hated them, so unless I wanted to watch them alone, I didn’t watch them at all. He was a sci-fi freak, and I couldn’t see the point of it. He’d get on a tangent about some Doctor show or BBC or Star Trek—or Wars, or something like that—and I’d have no idea what he was talking about. And the action movies. Ugh. They made me roll my eyes. They were nothing but explosions and subpar plots at best.

  Adam never tried watching any of my favorite movies, so when something came out that I wanted to go see, I usually ended up going alone.

  Unless I bribed him with sex after.

  I also struggled to enjoy his filmmaking. I knew it was his passion, but I didn't give a rat’s ass about it. He wanted me to be this integral part of his team, and I wanted nothing to do with it. He wanted to rope me into his company and be this colossal team that took on Hollywood and stuck it to the big man, and all I wanted was for him to shut up about it.

  All those things were just as pivotal as the good things we shared.

  My head began to hurt as I debated the pros and cons of our history.

  I grabbed my things and headed to my car. I ventured into work and made my way to my office. I shut my door and locked it, signaling that I didn’t want to be bothered. But when my mind started wandering about Adam again, I figured I could use a break. I closed out my computer and locked everything up, then headed to the break room for some coffee. Maybe I’d grab an apple or a doughnut or something from the vending machine.

  I grabbed the largest Styrofoam cup there was and filled it with the scalding, decadent liquid.

  I reached into the fridge and grabbed the caramel coffee creamer. It was my favorite, and it was always stocked. I dumped some into my coffee and began to stir, my mouth watering for the caffeine to fill my veins.

  But the shadow that loomed over my body caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.

  “It’s good to see you back.”

  I brought my coffee to my lips and turned around, looking up into the face of my boss, the illuminated face of Ryan.

  “Look, I know I only have until tomorrow to make my decision, but I can’t help how I’m feeling,” I said. “So if you really are sticking to some deadline, you’re probably not going to like my answer.”

  “I understand,” he said.

  “So, yeah. That’s it,” I said.

  “Leave town with me.”

  I paused with my coffee at my lips as I furrowed my brow.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Leave town with me. A weekend in California on the beach. No strings attached, no sex required, no commitment necessary. I think the two of us getting away from all this might do us some good.”

  “I can’t jet off to California with you. I have work to do.”

  “Not this weekend. Your boss is making you take it off.”

  “I told you I would make up those hours, Ryan.”

  “And you did that by remoting in all throughout the week and knocking things out. You’ve more than pulled your weight,” he said.

  “Ryan, if this is some tactic you’re using to sway—”

  “Your decision can wait, Kylie.”

  I almost dropped my coffee down my blouse.

  “Really?” I asked.

  “It was an idiotic thing for me to ask of you. Your emotions don’t work on a deadline. And I understand the pain you’re going through, the emptiness you feel. The confusion you’re experiencing. My divorce sent me through those same things.”

  “This is hardly a divorce,” I said.

  “But the foundation is the same. You had a lengthy relationship and it ended on a dime and left you feeling like your future had been robbed. I had a lengthy marriage and it ended on a dime and left me feeling like my bank account had been robbed.”

  I giggled into my coffee and watched a smile slide across his cheeks. I’d missed that smile. I’d missed that dazzling look in his eye.

  “A weekend away does sound nice,” I said.

  “I figured it might,” Ryan said.

  “And if my boss is forcing me to take the weekend off, then I would be free for it.”

  “He sees your worth, Kylie. He knows how hard you work for his company. He also wants what’s best for you, no matter what that means for him.”

  I reached out for his chest and patted it, and he wrapped his hand around mine. He didn’t bring my fingertips to his lips to kiss and he didn’t bend down to try to take control of the moment. He simply graced me with his touch and held my hand over his heart so I could feel it beating.

  Deftly.

  Rapidly.

  Hard.

  “A weekend away sounds lovely, Ryan. I’d love to go with you.”

  “Then we leave in the morning,” he said.

  “Wait. We aren’t working tomorrow?” I asked.

  “I’m giving most of the company the day off actually. We’ve been working almost around the clock here in all the departments, and I think everyone could use a long weekend. We’re all strung a little too tightly right now.”

  “Has something happened?”

  “Nothing bad,” he said. “But I do think the time away will do us both some good. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure we have separate accommodations.”

  “You don’t have to treat me like a pariah, Ryan. I just have to sift through some things. That’s all.”

  “So if I booked us a penthouse suite with a Jacuzzi hot tub on the private balcony, the fact that it would have two separate bedrooms would be enough?”

  “That’s very specific for a hypothetical,” I said with a giggle. I brought my coffee to my lips as his eyes danced between mine. “That’s fine, yes,” I said.

  “Perfect, because I booked it this morning. Pack for a beach weekend. My jet leaves with us in it at eight in the morning. I’ll pick you up around seven thirty so you don’t have to worry about docking your car anywhere.”

  “How long did it take you to plan this?” I asked.

  Ryan released my hand, and I slid it down his torso before wrapping it back around my coffee cup.

  “Less than two hours,” he said. “I woke up this morning and figured we could both use the time away.”

  “What if I said no?”

  “Then I would’ve gone alone.”

  “That’s not fun, going to the beach alone,” I said.

  “Then it’s a good thing you said yes.”

  He winked at me, and heat creep up the back of my neck. He backed away from me before turning around, then slid his hands into his pockets. I watched him walk away, his long legs taking giant strides that carried him toward th
e door. He looked wonderful in his suits. No matter the color or the style, they fit him in ways I’d never seen a man fill out a suit before. I cocked my head to the side and watched him walk around the corner, disappearing down the hallway.

  I sighed deeply before I brought my coffee to my lips, savoring the strong, caffeinated taste.

  A weekend with Ryan sounded a lot more appealing than attempting to reconcile a relationship with Adam.

  And I figured that was a decent step in a solid direction emotionally.

  Ryan

  I looked over at Kylie on the plane and she smiled at me. Every once in a while, I’d catch her knee-deep in the book she was reading. I took a peek at the cover to see what kept her so entranced, and I smiled when I saw it. I should’ve known Kylie would’ve been reading a memoir or nonfiction of some sort.

  Man into Woman, written by Lili Elbe and published posthumously in 1933.

  I was excited to get away with her and spend some time outside Portland at her side. All the stressors from back home were getting to us, especially when we kept running into my son. I gazed out the window with my leg crossed over my knee, trying to give Kylie some privacy while reading. Taking in a book and getting lost in it was an intimate thing, something not every person was privy to. In some respects, it was the most vulnerable thing someone could do around another person besides sleeping.

  I peeked back over at Kylie and grinned at the sight.

  Her leg was curled up to her chest and she gnawed on her nail bed. Whatever she was reading, it must’ve been a good part. Her eyes darted along the pages erratically, reading and rereading, like she couldn’t believe what she was taking in.

  “Oh my gosh,” she said in a whisper. “No.”

  I wanted to interject, to ask a question and pick her brain. But it was the most vulnerable and the most emotional I’d seen her in days. I studied her. I took her in. I committed the scene to memory. I’d had a delicate conversation with her as we had boarded the plane. I had wanted to let her know I wasn’t bribing her in any way to choose me or to commit to me. I simply wanted what was best for the both of us. She had told me she understood. She had told me she really wanted to go on this trip with me. So, I had settled in for the flight ahead of us with a soothed soul and a light heart.