My Boyfriend Is A Geek ✔️

41: He never did anything to hurt me

***4 years ago***

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“Hey, sweetie.”

“Hi, dad,” I answered, mirroring the smile he had on – although mine was a less bright version of his. A lot less.

But if he minded, he definitely didn’t show it. “So,” he was now saying. “Did you enjoy your birthday?”

“Yeah, it was alright. It was fun.”

For a moment there, I was tempted to give in to the urge to go all in; to give him a detailed description of just how much fun it was. I wanted to tell him what Shay and Beck did at the party, and to tell him of Kent’s silly, yet pretty sweet present, and of mom’s…

That last part was just what my brain needed to snap out from its wishful thinking, and return to reality. And in that reality, I was reminded of just how I was supposed to feel about this person on the screen.

So, with that in mind, whatever urge that remained to tell him anything else, was soon to disappear.

“That’s great,” he mused, to which I simply gave a small nod, not bothering with a smile this time around.

What followed was an awkward silence. Well, at least until…

“What’s that?”

I followed his line of sight to the package that was resting on my large, white bear – Fluffy.

“Oh, that’s from Uncle Nate. I just got it this evening; apparently, there was some kind of delay with the delivery.” I felt my lips curl into a small smile just thinking of how nice it was of Uncle Nate to send me a present even though he was at the other end of the country.

But that was just Uncle Nate for you. He was always so caring, so spirited – he was a lot like my dad in that regard. Well, a lot like how my dad used to be.

But yeah, Uncle Nate was always so much fun to be around, which was why I couldn’t help but be downcast when he decided to move out. And it was particularly sad because he moved out at almost around the same time that mom did.

He moved out two nights before mom and dad broke the news of their divorce. He didn’t even say goodbye; I just woke up one morning and he wasn’t there anymore. It was almost like he disappeared or something.

When I tried asking about him, dad got really upset, and asked that I not mention Uncle Nate’s name to him ever again. Later, though, when dad wasn't around, Carla told me dad and Uncle Nate got into a big fight over some business deal gone wrong.

Although, even as she told me, I found it all a little hard to believe. For one, dad and Uncle’s Nate’s relationship was basically sibling goals – the both of them were really close. And second, sporty, artistic – that was Uncle Nate. But business minded? That didn’t sound like him at all.

But then, one could never be too sure. Besides, I noticed he’d seemed a bit secretive through those past months when dad was away on a business trip.

So, with that in mind, I concluded that it made sense that his acting that way was because he was working on a business venture. And Carla did say it was a business deal gone wrong. It sounded a lot like Uncle Nate to be so carefree to the extent of messing the deal up.