Page 83 of Imperfections Seduced
“Baby, don’t cry. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I can’t bear the thought of you with anyone else. I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to walk out of here, and we go back to the way we were before you walked into this room.
“Promise me you will meet me tonight so we can talk. We can figure this out together. You’re not going to be alone. I’m with you. Stop running from me. We can work this out, and we will find a way.”
I nod my head, unable to speak without crying again.
“Remember, friends first and foremost, you and me.”
Nick
“Dad, you wanted to see me?”
“Come in.”
“I have a meeting I have to get to in twenty minutes.”
“Then I’ll get to the point. How are you doing? Imean, we work in the same building, you’re my son, yet I haven’t seen or spoken to you directly in over two months.”
“I’ve been busy, you know my work schedule.”
“Yes, I do, that is why you’re one of the best young lawyers I know. When you’re in the courtroom, you know when to push and when to hold back. In cross examination, you sympathize, make them feel like they can almost trust you, then you slowly move in for the kill, piling on fact after fact, poking little holes of reasonable doubt into the opposing counsel’s case, until it falls apart like a tattered piece of paper. You plant the seed of doubt into the jurors’ heads. I love to watch it; it’s an art.”
Of course destroying someone’s credibility and or life would be a form of art to my father. He and I don’t agree on many things. Our relationship has always been rocky. After my mother and he were divorced, it was worse. He’s a powerful man. He didn’t get to where he is by making friends with everyone he meets and giving second chances.
To get to the top, sometimes you make deals, cross a few people, and make a few enemies along the way. If you want to stay on top, you always watch your back for the enemies you’ve crossed and never go back on a deal you’ve made. That will be your downfall, unless it’s going to save your ass. Those are his words. I’m not proud of it, but I have lived by those words in my career as a lawyer.
“Son, I want you to fly out tomorrow and handle the Paxton merger.”
“I can’t.”
“They like you, they trust you.”
“I can’t. Send someone else.”
“Why not? You’re my number one.”
“I already have a pressing merger on my plate tonight. It’s shaky and could fall apart at any minute. It has top priority over everything.”
“They asked for you personally; they want to see an Alexander.”
“Send Paige, they like her. She was with me the last time I met with them. That’s her specialty, mergers and acquisitions. The only reason I was there was to make sure everything went smoothly.”
“Fine. I heard you’re not seeing her anymore.”
“You heard right.”
“Shame, you would have made a hell of a powerhouse couple. Damn fine looking gal, too.”
That’s my father. “Do you remember Catherine Reed?”
“Cute little girl you and your friend Chris used to hang out with?”
“That’s her, she’s Chris’s sister.” I don’t know why I’m telling him this but I am. “She’s not a little girl anymore.”
“I liked that little girl.”
“Me too. I like her even more now.” I smile to myself, remembering the way she looked standing in the middle of my office with the sun shining down on her through the window.
“She must have turned out to be a real beauty to put a smile like that on your face. Shit, I haven’t seen a smile like that from you since you were a kid.”
