Page 37 of One Last Time?
Vanessa was the first in his arms. She was the baby so had always gotten more attention anyway. Even at twenty-four, she still rushed to his arms like she was five. I would too if he spoiled me rotten.
Next was Abby, the Daddy’s girl. Then Mia, the girl who loved Daddy’s credit card.
She was the one who was always asking for more money, and he always gave it, while I, on the other hand, had worked from as early on as I could. At sixteen, I’d worked in my friend’s mom’s hair salon, and there I stayed until I went to college and started taking my career in PR more seriously.
“Are those for me, Dad?” Abby gushed.
“No, these are for Taylor.” He looked over at me, who’d hung back in the corner watching them.
I had to admit I was completely surprised because the last time Dad had given me flowers was for my birthday, and that was six months ago, while the other girls got them weekly.
“Me?” I asked.
He nodded and came over to me, handing me the flowers and chocolates.
“I know you girls are baking cookies, but do you think we could have a little chat?” he asked.
“Sure?” I glanced at Abby, who was smiling at us. Out of everyone, I spoke to her the most. She was the sister who was more like a best friend so she knew how surprised I was right now.
Dad pointed outside, out to the terrace.
We went out there and sat on the wicker chairs. I set my flowers and chocolates down on the table and brought my hands together, waiting. Waiting to see what he had to say to me.
Waiting and trying to block out the angst I felt resulting from our last meeting, and definitely while I was in the closet with Dylan. I may have been thinking earlier that I had no qualms about being with Dylan. However, I didn’t think those would have been my thoughts if Dad had caught us together like that.
I would have died instead of faced him if he’d caught us.
Again, I pushed the thought out of my head.
“Thanks for the flowers and chocolates. They are beautiful.” I thought I should speak first since he seemed to be just looking at me.
“I’m glad you like them. They’re long overdue. Taylor, I haven’t seen you in days. Not since the meeting,” he said, bringing his hands together too, mirroring me. “I knew I’d been too hard on you when you didn’t turn up for work, and until today, when my secretary told me you called in, I feared you wouldn’t be coming back.”
“Feared? Why would you fear that? It feels like that might have been a good thing. That way, you wouldn’t have to worry about telling me I couldn’t run the company.”
“No, Taylor it wouldn’t have been a good thing. I don’t want you to leave like that, thinking that was what I wanted. I don’t want you to leave at all.”
I pressed my lips together. “Dad… then why are you so hard on me? Why would you bring in a consultant to assess my business performance when you know I give my heart and soul to the company?” Grateful as I was to know Dylan, truth was truth, and I wanted to get down to the core of it. Dad either trusted me to run the company the way I saw fit, or he didn’t.
He looked down at the tight knots on the table, then looked back to me.
“Taylor, out of all the children in our family, you’re different. You’re like me. At one point, I never thought I would have so much wealth in my life, but I kept the belief that I could. You see how your mother and I live; we don’t overindulge, and that’s because we don’t see the need to. Whereas your uncles and their kids do. I’m hard on you because I see myself in you, because I see you working hard, and I don’t want you to lose that ethos of working hard to accomplish something you really want. I carried it too far over the last few weeks because the PR company is the last business I set up. It’s new, and it will need the care I put into everything else.”
I was listening. I was absolutely listening, just the way I always did.
“And I will do that, Dad. You just have to trust me.”
“I know. I know I do. I see you, and I don’t treat you like the others because I want you to be tough. I want you to have the balls to take charge and run the company ruthlessly knowing that your decisions are always a hundred percent correct. Taylor, I want you to be strong.”
I nodded, understanding. “I am, Dad, and I will do all of that. I promise. But you have to allow me to be this woman you’re describing. You can’t just keep me on a leash all the time and expect me to stay.”
“You’re right. That’s why I thought I’d come by and let you know that if you don’t want to work with Dylan anymore, you don’t have to. I have big plans for that guy, and I can move him on to that, to somewhere he needs to be.”
A ripple of panic shot through me, and I had to hold back answering too quickly.
“No, I want to. I’ll continue to work with him. I want to hear him out and see if we can continue as we are.” I smiled. “Plus, I think it would give you more peace of mind. Right?”
“Is it okay if I say yes?”
