The Truth Will Set Someone Free
Tiffany
Two Months Later…
Time flies when you’re having fun … or so they say. I believe time flies when you are busy. Work is great. Elodie, Susan, and Josie are like family, but Alex is an entirely different circumstance. We have been dating well over six months now, yet we have shared nothing more than a few chaste kisses.
When I’m with him, I feel like a piece of arm candy. It’s like being under my father’s wing again. The chemistry and spark have always been lacking, but his demeanor to parade me around at business events has gotten old.
We are at an evening cocktail event tonight, another country club affair that bores me to tears.
We are seated before I take notice of the place cards surrounding us. Then the bustling activity momentarily distracts me from the approaching couple until movement beside me draws my attention. There, in all their pristine perfection, is none other than my dad and Candice.
“Good evening, Tiffany. Pleasure seeing you here,” my father states with a knowing glint in his eyes. He reaches behind me to greet a now standing Alex with a handshake. “Alex, how are you this evening? The partnership is getting closer for you each day, it would seem.”
My upbringing in these situations calls out for me to plaster a smile on my face and trudge through, whereas the newly independent and strong woman inside me is screaming to be turned loose.
“Alex, what’s going on?” I ask, trying to calm my voice as my entire body begins to shake.
“Nothing, dear. We are attending a charity business dinner for my job, and Mr. King is my boss. I would introduce you, but it seems you already know one another,” he says all too calmly.
Part of me knows I have been played, while the other part of me wants to believe Alex is innocent. Either way, I need to escape my father’s presence. His continued leer is making my stomach churn.
“I need to leave,” I manage to get out.
I start to push my chair out, but Alex grips my arm firmly and uses his leverage to push my chair back in.
“Eh, eh, eh, not happening. Behave yourself, Tiffany. There is more riding on tonight than just our relationship,” Alex whispers in my ear.
Becoming numb, I settle in, at a loss for what to do. By the time dinner starts, my appetite is nonexistent, so I pick at my plate. My dad has been sitting stoically beside me the entire evening.
At dessert, he leans over toward me and whispers, “You could have it all again. No need to work for minimum wage for that small bakery. You could have the BMW back. Alex can provide for you in the ways that you are accustomed to.”
“That’s what this is about? You sent Alex after me to do what, exactly?” I’m trying to hold back tears as it slowly sinks in that everything has been a lie. Alex didn’t like me for me.
“Alex is to remind you what life was like before your loyalty to Matt consumed you. Matt’s dead, Tiffany. Why suffer by hanging out with his people when you could have your life back to the way it was?”
Seething in anger and sadness, I stand up. “Life the way it was? No amount of money will ever make me want to go back to that. You’re all hung up on presentation and material things. There is no genuine love or care. Matt, his friends, and the friends I’ve made since you took everything away are the only ones to ever love and accept me just as I am. I will gladly work minimum wage until the day I die in order to do something I love rather than spend one more second in your presence.” I grab my clutch and walk away, never once looking back.
I reach the courtyard before I hear Alex call my name. Turning to face him, I see the desperation in his eyes to make my dad happy.
“Fuck off, douchebag, and lose my number. Go be my dad’s bitch. You have no balls, anyway.”
I hop in the back of my dad’s town car, knowing Bill, his longtime driver, won’t refuse me. Once home, I get in comfortable clothes, grab the ice cream, and cry over the evening, over my life, and over everything.
I wish Harrison were here to comfort me, to make me laugh, to tell me it will all be all right.
I have sealed my fate now. My dad will never forgive my behavior tonight. That door is closed. Although another loss hurts, it feels good to know my future is completely free of him.
***
Harrison
Holding my niece for the first time is surreal. Dina and Ryder are now the proud parents to a precious baby girl. Lauren Renee Davenport captured my heart in a single breath.
They are all settled in at home, being showered with attention. My parents came to visit, Maggie has practically moved in with them, Kenna lives next door, and I visit daily.
Sophia has stayed away, and for the life of me, I don’t understand why. She’s avoided talking about her emotional state from that one night and still refuses to let me be slow and gentle.
We are all going to Jake and Kenna’s for dinner, Sophia included. Baby Lauren will be there, so Sophia will have to come out of her self-induced shell. Who can resist being happy with all that chubby baby goodness around?
Dinner begins relatively quietly. Lauren is sleeping in her carrier, content to be surrounded by love. We all chat amongst each other. When Lauren begins to fuss, a cute whimper that quickly becomes a raging wail, Dina and everyone else at dinner is so focused on the baby’s new eruption they miss the look that crosses Sophia’s face. I don’t, however. Her next statement doesn’t surprise me, either.
“Harrison, I’m not feeling so well. Can we please leave?”
“Sure,” I respond simply.
The ride to her apartment is done in silence. Sophia is lost in her own thoughts, but I plan to change that. Something is going on, and she needs to let me in.
At her door, she tries to send me away, but I’m having none of it.
“Okay, Soph, what gives?”
Without warning, she lets loose.
“I told you my heart belongs to someone else. My son!” she almost yells. “Yes, Harrison, I have a child. I was fifteen, and I haven’t seen him or his father since just after he was born.”
Stunned by her omission, I stand there as she sobs hysterically. I never saw this coming. I can’t imagine the pain she has carried for years.
“I told you I have no future with you. He’s thirteen years old. I have five more years to wait. Once he’s of legal age, I hope he will understand what happened. Until then, my life is stalled. No one can love me, and I can love no one beyond him.” She stops as the sobs overtake her. “My heart aches daily for the little boy I never got to hold.”
I reach out to hold her, comfort her, provide solace, but she pushes me away.
“No. No more, Harrison. You’ve been a great distraction, a way to pass the time these last four years, but it’s over. Hearing baby Lauren cry brings back my reality. I must remain diligent and focused in having my life together for him.” She steps back, putting more space between us, and I fight the urge to reach out and grab her to hold her close.
“I’m here for you, Sophia.”
“I dropped out of school, gave up on everything but art after his grandfather took him from me. Since my mother lost her job in all this, I used my art to help support us after the payoff ran out.”
At the word payoff, I gasp. My reaction sends her into a tailspin.
“Yes, Harrison, a fucking payoff! My mother is an illegal immigrant. She came to America to make a better life for me. What did I do? I thought I was in love with the son of her boss, so I lost my virginity to him and got pregnant. When his dad found out, he threatened that, if we didn’t sign over custody of the baby, my mother and I would be deported. The papers were drawn up and signed before I even knew what exactly I agreed to.
“I had two days in the hospital with my baby right down the hall, unable to see him. Then we were gone, and he was gone. They fired my mom, but they had given us enough money to relocate from Texas and set up a follow-up job. We moved around a lot until we got to Charlotte, and I was able to really have a solid clientele. For thirteen years, I have survived with not a day going by that I don’t miss my child.”
I sink down onto her couch, speechless, unable to complete a thought. “Sophia, there are people who can help you. I’ll help you. You don’t have to wait five more years.”
“Yes, I do, Harrison. I have a no contact order. I’ve saved twice in the past to have lawyers look at my case, and even had a friend who hired a private investigator. The papers I signed, even as a minor, hold tight. I promised myself I would not allow my heart to any man again until I met my son as a young man. I promised I would not allow myself to be cherished or loved until I had the other half of my soul with me. Until I have my son, until he knows what happened, I can’t be with you.
“As much as you bring my body pleasure, my heart and mind never leave my son. You’re a great man, Harrison. You deserve a woman who can give you everything. I can’t. Do you understand that now? I don’t even know how I’m going to handle being around Dina now.”
Recognizing that this is it—Sophia really can’t be with me—I don’t feel as hurt as I thought I would. More so, I feel pain for my friend, for the loss she has to face every single day.
I miss Matt every single day. He was my brother. I know he can’t come back to us, though. What would it be like to know someone you love is out there, but you can’t be with them?
Slowly, I make my way toward the door, conscious that Sophia is ready to let me go. She needs me to go. This is what she’s determined for herself, and there is no convincing her otherwise.
At the door, I lean down, hold her close, kiss her forehead, and then leave.