Page 32 of One Moment in Time
‘I get that. I guess I was just looking forward to a trip with just me and you. We haven’t done that in years. It’ll take me a minute to get my head around the new plan, but it’ll be fine, don’t worry.’
He’d spent the next two and a half hours feeling smaller than the packet of pretzels that came with his beer. It wasn’t helped when his dad sat back down on the other side of him, leaned in and said, ‘Good move, son. If your mom calls it a night early, I’m up for hitting a couple of clubs.’
The man didn’t help himself, he really didn’t.
Fear that he’d say something else stupid had made the flight feel twice as long as it actually was, so now it was a relief to have checked in and be heading for their rooms.
As he’d requested, they were all on the tenth floor, overlooking the fountains. Aiden and his dad were sharing a queen suite with two double beds and a sitting area, while his mom was next door in a king suite.
‘I’m just going to grab a quick shower,’ his mom said, when they got to their doors.
‘Want some company, Eileen?’ his dad offered, thinking he was hilarious.
His mom delivered a deadpan retort of, ‘Not even if I were drowning and you were the only one that could save me.’
Aiden was pretty sure he could feel his inner soul curl up and wish for a quick death.
In the room, he rounded on his dad. ‘What are you doing? Are you trying to provoke Mom, or have you just generally lost your mind?’
Before he got an answer, the doorbell went, and he let in the concierge, who had brought up their suitcases.
His dad went to the minibar, pulled out two beers and tossed one to him.
Aiden tipped the bellman and then went back to his original question. ‘Well?’
His dad put his hands up. ‘Look, I know. I get it. I hear this stuff coming out of my mouth and I want to punch myself in the face, I really do.’
Aiden sat down on the orange velvet bucket seat by the window and put his feet on the matching footstool. ‘Why do you do it, then? Because honestly, Dad, it’s not landing well with Mom, and nothing is getting better while you’re coming out with crap like that.’
He felt bad going in on his dad like this, but it was warranted. If his mum called it quits and left early because she couldn’t put up with his nonsense, then they’d have achieved nothing and the whole purpose of the trip would be blown.
‘I think…’ His dad went quiet and for a moment Aiden thought he was going to come out with some profound theory of self-reflection. ‘I’m just trying to make her laugh.’
‘Really? Because I’m pretty sure she isn’t next door splitting her sides right now.’
His dad lay back on the bed, one arm behind his head, his beer balancing on his taut abdomen. Aiden had no desire to inherit his pop’s sense of humour, or his self-awareness, but he wouldn’t mind his abs.
‘She used to find me funny. Back then. Before the divorce. And don’t even say it, because I know that was on me too.’
‘What was? What actually happened? You’ve never told me and I guess I didn’t want to rock the boat by asking.’ Aiden couldn’t contain the urge to understand the details of their split. Sure, he knew there were allegations of infidelity, but nothing had been confirmed and he’d never learned the ultimate reason behind his parents’ divorce. They’d just shown up at college at spring break, sat him down and said they were calling time on their marriage. Irreconcilable differences, they’d said. When he’d tried to delve deeper, his mum had just insisted that they’d grown apart and that was all she’d ever said about it. He respected that she didn’t want to bad-mouth his father to him, or force him to take sides, but at the same time, it would help him to broker a resolution to the cold war between them if he actually knew the specifics. His dad wasn’t for giving them up then or now though.
‘We were going through a rough patch, I didn’t handle it well, did something that I shouldn’t have and that’s all I’ll say about it. But that was almost ten years ago and I’m still paying for it. I guess I think that if I come out with the stuff that used to amuse her, then maybe there’s a chance—’
Woah. What? Aiden sat forward in his chair. ‘A chance of what, Dad? Are you saying you want you and Mum to get back together?’
Shit, this couldn’t be true. His dad had positively embraced single life. There had been the holidays, the flash cars, the long stream of girlfriends twenty years younger. He had never given the slightest hint that he regretted his divorce. In fact, the opposite. He acted like it was the best thing that ever happened to him.
His dad shrugged. ‘No! At least… no. I don’t think so. Okay, maybe. Sometimes. Yes. Making a right arse of it though.’
‘No arguments here. What about Mitzy?’
‘Yeah, she’s great, but come on… do you think she’d be with me if I had zero in the bank? I’m not naïve, son.’
‘So why stay with her then? Why not look for someone who loves you, not the lifestyle?’
‘She keeps me young and shallow as it is, I like having a beauty on my arm. Mitzy certainly gets us noticed and if I’m not with your mum…’ he let that trail off, with a shrug. ‘Look, son, I’ve no idea what I’m doing. There’s this fallacy that you get to my age and you have it all sussed out. Utter bollocks. Your mum cut me dead after the divorce, so, yeah, like a right tit, I’ve probably been trying to get her attention. The jokes. The women…’
‘That was to make her jealous?’
