Page 50 of One Last Time?
“Dad, look… I’m sorry. We just happened.”
His nostrils flared. “What do you mean, you just happened? That’s bullshit, Dylan. Absolute bullshit. This is beyond unprofessional. And what am I supposed to do when the shit hits the fan and you decide to dump her? Why would you do this? Why would you do this to meagain?”
“She’s not the same. Dad, Taylor isn’t the same as the others. She’s different, and I want to be with her.” I’d never voiced my decision out loud. Not even to Parker, or Taylor for the matter. Here I was, telling the person I’d never expected to tell, and he looked at me like he didn’t believe a word I said. He had reason to. He did, and I understood why he would react this way.
“Dylan, you don’t know what you want. Clearly, you never did, and the fact of the matter is, you’re a grown man. I can’t tell you what to do. I can’t tell you how to live your life or who you should be with. What I can do is this… treat you the same as I would any employee. You are messing with my livelihood, and I lost millions the last time this shit happened. Millions, Dylan. I don’t even know how I managed to pull things back together, but I did, and I won’t go through that again. If you want to continue working for me, you stop seeing her, or you leave.”
I clenched my fists, and my lips parted. This was the ultimatum. He was doing it. He would actually fire my ass.
“Dad, that is ridiculous. I just told you I want to be with her, and you do this?”
“Saying it is not enough, Dylan. I know you, and I won’t put my trust in you. Not this way. Not this way, son. Year in year out, I see you with one girl after another. You only slowed down some after Tommy’s death. You’ve never been serious about anyone, yet I’m supposed to believe you on this occasion? No. Peter is the next level for the company. He’s the next step that I never imagined. I doubt he’ll want us anywhere near him or his company if you screw things up with his daughter or treat her the way you do all the other women you hook up with. So, choose. Choose.” He shook his head at me. “Tommy would have never done this to me.”
Yes, I had to agree.
The perfect son wouldn’t have done anything wrong at all. What a shame fate decided that out of the two of us who got to live, it chose me.
“Tommy would never have done this to me, or the company,” Dad continued. “But you, you think you should make it some kind of mission to screw with me when I need you most. I allowed you to take charge, and in such a way that your skills landed us this deal with Peter, then, with the same hand, you want to take it away. Crush me most when I need you.”
Dad walked away, not giving me a chance to answer.
I wouldn’t have known what to say. I wouldn’t have known how to answer becausehehad crushedmethe moment he compared me to Tommy, like I needed the reminder that I wasn’t him.
I watched Dad head to his car and drive away, never looking back. He’d dealt his blow and confirmed my fears.
Tommy would have never done what I did to him. Not just with Taylor, but everything. Tommy would never have done anything to put the company in jeopardy. Not the way I did.
Choose…
This was my life. I’d worked so hard to show Dad I could take charge and be responsible. I’d worked so hard to show him I was capable of being the man Tommy was. I knew Dad needed me because he wouldn’t have said so otherwise. He wouldn’t have said it.
But… what did that mean for me?
Me and Taylor. Dad had freaked because he thought I wasn’t serious about Taylor, and he didn’t believe me when I said I was. He didn’t believe me.
The whole thing plagued my mind all day and all night. It was the first time since I’d known Taylor that I’d lost sleep, and it wasn’t because I was with her.
By morning, I still felt conflicted about the choices laid before me.
Stay with the company and work for Dad, live out my dream to work with him and excel. Or leave… and be with Taylor.
Was it that simple? Was the latter that simple? I was serious about her, but what if we didn’t work out?
It was late in the night when I went to her place like we’d planned, except I’d gotten to her later than I hoped because I didn’t know what I would say.
She was sitting out on the terrace with a notebook, looking better than I remembered, and it was just yesterday that I’d seen her.
When she saw me, her face brightened. It lit up like I was the best thing she’d ever seen, and my girl flew straight into my arms.
It didn’t take a minute for her to realize that I wasn’t my usual self.
She saw straightaway that something was wrong.
“What’s wrong with your face? It’s not smiling.” She chuckled.
I’d never really stopped to appreciate all the things I loved about her. Like the way she talked and how she said certain things.
“Taylor… my Dad found out about us.”
