Monday morning meets us scrambling to get my belongings to the car. Ma is the only one awake, after a quick greeting and kisses to my cheeks, I hurry down to the car to wait for Brandon. He seems testy, he didn’t kiss or hug me good morning. For now, I am keeping mute, I have no intentions of ruining the memories of yesterday, our lazy day.
Operation Reassure Brandon is still in the works but my head is empty, idea tank dry. How do I convince my husband he deserves the best life has to offer? I tug on the sleeve of the woollen sweater Ma handed to us, my eyes droop and I struggle to stay awake.
The door opens, I shoot up and relax when I see Brandon. “What took you so long?” He flashes a grin that should have appeased me, I scowl. “Why do we have to leave early?”
“Your mother. She wanted to talk to me.”
Sleep disappears from my eyes, my head snaps in his direction and he starts the car. I know Ma no longer holds a grudge against him yet his reply makes me uneasy. “About?”
“She wanted to apologise for slapping me.” I run my fingers over the dashboard, a smile curving my lips. Brandon’s voice lowers. “I almost thought she wanted to hit me again.”
Clutching my stomach, I shake my head. Ma is a pacifist, the slap must have come as a surprise to even her. We pull out of the parking lot, I turn on the radio to a pop song playing, heart swelling with pride at Ma’s actions. My head rests on the window, I wrap my hand around the seatbelt, coughing to get Brandon’s attention and he glances at me.
“What about your parents?” He got along fine with mine. Once the awkward dinner was over, everyone mingled, laughed like old friends reuniting. “You never talk about them.”
The road is empty, the sound from the radio pierces the silence that settles over us. I sneak a glance at him, his lips press into a line and my palms grow clammy. Street lights illuminate our path, making it hard to tell what time of the day it is but a peek at my phone poking out of my pocket shows we have less than twenty minutes until six o’clock.
Uncomfortable by the silence stretching into a suffocating quietude after I shut off the radio, I shift in my seat and say, “You don’t have to talk about them if it annoys you.”
It might have escaped me if I didn’t turn to him at that moment, the slight trembling of his arms right before his palms closed tight over the steering wheel. I itch closer to him, trailing the open skin above his knee. He needs to keep all my shorts, they look better on him. His hand comes over mine to give it a small squeeze, I plant a kiss on his knuckles.
Tension rolls off him in waves, the car slows as we approach a deserted bridge.
“They are fine.” At the sigh that escapes me, he says, “They were not the best parents, El. I cut them off as soon as I got my inheritance.” His tone invokes my interest. “I don’t talk about them because there’s nothing to say.” Holding my gaze, he murmurs, “The end.”
Not the end for me, that has only piqued my curiosity and I intend to get the answers to all my questions. Tilting my body in his direction, I remain calm when the car stops.
“What did they do?” I ask.
“Everything wrong.”
Sometimes, it is easier to get information out of a rock than from my husband. Casting a long glance at his rigid form, I brace myself. “At what age did you get your inheritance?”
To my surprise, he replies in record time, “I became in full control of the company here at twenty-seven. But I already got the hotel in Paris and a few other places before then.”
Five years.
It has been five years since he last saw or spoke to his parents. A lot can happen within that period. What if they die or get sick? How will he know? How will he know if they are better if he refuses to keep in contact with them? If he hates them so much shouldn’t he distance himself from the company and everything that has to do with them?
“The company must stay in the family,” he says. I place a hand over my mouth, I must have spoken out loud. “The role of CEO is passed to the first male child of the house.”
He chuckles, a hoarse sound that has me wanting to plug my fingers into my ears.
It makes sense and it doesn’t. What happens if the first child is a female? Or God forbid, they give birth to an only female child like my parents? What happens then? Does she get anything? Is she cast aside until a miracle baby boy appears? I unfasten my seatbelt.
“What if there are no males? Or a female comes before a male? Will she get nothing?”
Pushing his seat back, he pats his laps and I scurry to make myself comfortable there. He nuzzles my neck, sniffs me. I moan, allowing him to kiss his way up to my ear as I squirm on his legs and sink my nails into my old yoga pants. This is the most information he has ever volunteered about his family, I will not allow my hormones to get the best of me.
“There has never been a female CEO.” I gasp, he chuckles. “Don’t get me wrong.” I purse my lips. “There are enough positions to go round, everyone is entitled to something. But we all know the CEO position is reserved for the firstborn male.” He shakes his head when I mention the possibility of having only females. “There’s always a male child.”
My heart skips a beat, his arm lingering on my stomach gains sudden weight. I try to push it away but it comes under my breasts. His certainty causes a painful tightening in my belly, I avoid his gaze. Who’s to say our babies won’t be females? I don’t care if that’s the case and I hope to God he also doesn’t. His family can keep their CEO principles.
“The Starks are a bit conservative.” I scoff, a passerby might think him an outsider on hearing this. “Joshua would have gotten the role if I left, I could not allow that to happen. I worked too damn hard for it. It is all I have ever wanted as a child. CEO or nothing.”
His head dips and my lips meet his halfway for a kiss. I whine when his hands slide into my sweater to cup my breasts, ignoring the discomfort caused by our position. My lips tingle from the kiss, heat shoots to my core and I pull away to run my index finger over his bottom lip. Our eyes lock, my fingers weave into his beard and my grin broadens.
“CEO or nothing,” I mutter. He nods, a proud smile lifts his lips and I bask in the warmth of his smile. “And you got it, baby. See, you also deserve good things, don’t you agree?”
He laughs, I laugh. “Maybe.”
In a whisper, my hands cupping his chin, I ask, “Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to ever see them?” He replies in the negative, I bite my lip. “Even once? Baby. They will be grandparents and they don’t even know you are married.” He starts shaking his head, I say, “Please. Give them another chance. It has been so long, they might have changed.”
Taking my hands, he replies, “I highly doubt that.”
When Brandon nibbles on my fingers, I blank out and focus on the sensations coursing through me. I want more. I need to have more. But the voice in my head is quick to set me on track and my eyes jerk open. I regretfully tuck my hands between my laps. He says nothing, I clear my throat and look out the car to the bridge. To the small river.
“Where are we?” His reply has me nodding, his excitement evokes a giggle and I stop him from opening the door. Palming my belly, his hand moves on an upward slope to my breasts. “If the first meeting doesn’t go well, I promise never to bring them up again.”
He sighs, I murmur, “Say yes. Please.”
A gust of wind sweeps into the car, I reward Brandon with a scowl for opening the door without notice and he shrugs. He didn’t lie, he is an ass. “If it will make you happy, yes.”
The soothing air from the river evaporates at his overly enthusiastic reply, my mood takes a dip. But I still ask, “What about you, will it make you happy? Just one more chance.”
“No. No.” His arms circle me to prevent my escape, he pecks my temple. I shouldn’t be upset if he refuses my help. It is his parents, his life. “I understand your Messiah compl-”
“Ouch.”
“-complex but you cannot save everyone, Elna,” he finishes in a stern voice like he didn’t hurt my feelings and I stop thrashing in his arms. That hurt, he could have kept shut.
I am no Messiah and I have no desire to be one. If I didn’t care about him, we won’t be having this conversation. He was happy to sit with Pa and Ma, excitedly chatting about topics that would bore me. I love them but sometimes, I can’t stand some of their jokes.
For his stay in our house, he cooked all the meals with Ma. I caught him staring wistfully at us while we conversed in our dialect. It is obvious he misses his parents and wants parental love, I get it, I will be nowhere, no one without their love. But he is too arrogant to admit his need. I don’t mind being the one to reach out to his parents. He is my baby.
“El, not everyone is meant to be saved.”
This time, he doesn’t stop me from getting out of the car. I turn my back to him, taking in the beautiful scenery. At least he has the good sense to bring us somewhere serene. The sound of the waves crash over me, I let my feet carry me forward, stretching my hands. I stiffen when his firm arms wrap around me from behind, he kisses my neck until I smile.
“You are so tactless sometimes.”
He chuckles. “I’m being honest.”
“Cruel,” I correct and he snorts with laughter which hurts my feelings more than his first remark. “Honesty without tact is cruelty.” I tilt my head as the kisses he litters on my neck grows urgent, my hands cover his. I whisper, “I am not trying to save everybody, baby. I just want you to have a good relationship with your parents like I do with mine.”
“But I don’t want to.”
“As you wish.” His attempt to spin me is futile, our movements cease when the morning sun rises over the river. A perfect calm envelops us, the brilliant pinks, oranges and red hues steal my breath away. “Wow. It’s beautiful.” Why is he not freaking out like me?
“I know.” His hand sneaks inside my sweater to feel my stomach, love spreads all over me. I rub my cheek against his arm, he brought me here to see this. “Only one meeting.”
I grin. “Thank you.”
~~~
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