“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
I glanced up at my father and then quickly looked back down to my chic sushi lunch. I must have been too quiet because it was rare for him to notice when I was off-kilter. I decided on the straightforward approach, and figured I would just spit it out all at once.
“Well…”
“Something up with school?” he asked. “You know you don’t have to worry about your GPA at this point. You’ve got the job.”
“No, nothing like that,” I said, trying to reassure him. I took a deep breath, but I still couldn’t find the words.
“I should warn you,” Dad said, “Vanessa has already begun making preparations for your graduation luncheon. She said she didn’t expect you to prepare a speech, but you might want to think about saying a few words. You don’t have to deliver a dissertation. Nothing more than thanking everyone for their support and all.”
“I’m sure I can do that.”
“Graduation in order and job secured, so what else could you possibly be worried about?”
I opened my mouth, but no words emerged. So much for just spitting it out. I could get through this—I had to. I couldn’t continue to hide Ethan from my friends and family. It wasn’t right, and I had promised Ethan I would come clean to my father today. I wasn’t going to go back on my word to him, so I had to find my voice.
“It’s just…well, I’m seeing someone.” My heart began to pound and my stomach went into a free fall. The words were out, and now I was committed to the dreaded conversation. I squared my shoulders and gripped my chopsticks tightly.
“Are you now?” Dad raised an eyebrow and gave me a little grin.
“Yes.” I took a long, slow breath, trying to calm myself.
“Does he have a name?” Dad glanced around the cafeteria as if he were looking to spy the family of the man I might be dating.
“Of course he has a name.”
“Do I get to hear what it is?” Dad leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the table.
“Well, yes, of course.” I paused and stared at my California roll.
“Spit it out, Ash.”
I took a deep breath. I couldn’t delay this any longer, and there was no taking it back now. With one last, deep inhale, I spit it out.
“It’s…it’s Ethan Ramsey.”
Dad went completely still for a moment, and then his eyes narrowed and his fingers clamped down on his chopsticks. All of a sudden, he slammed his chopsticks on the side of his plate and stopped chewing. He was staring at my mouth as if he thought some other words were going to pop out of it instead. His carefully sculpted moustache twitched.
“You are seeing Ethan Ramsey?”
For a moment, I could have sworn the entire lunchroom went completely silent. I think even the cafeteria employees stopped talking.
“Yes.” My voice sounded a lot more unsure and timid than I had planned.
“For how long?”
“Not long at all,” I said. I felt beads of sweat starting to collect on the back of my neck below my hairline. “We met a few weeks ago, so it’s a recent thing.”
“Well, cut it off now,” Dad said. He picked up the chopsticks once more and shoved another salmon roll into his mouth. A bit of wasabi got stuck in his moustache, which he wiped away with a beige linen napkin. The gesture was dismissive, and it pissed me off.
I gritted my teeth and stared straight into his eyes.
“I’m not going to cut it off, Dad.”
“Like hell you’re not,” he said. Though his words were angry, he kept his voice low and calm. “Aside from the fact that he’s still in high school—”
“He’s not,” I said. “He graduated.”
“Regardless,” Dad said, still keeping his voice low, “he’s way too young. Besides that, Ethan Ramsey is completely off his rocker. He’s got brain damage, and he turned into a complete freak after his parents died. I don’t know what he’s told you—”
“He told me all about that,” I said. “I know what’s he’s been through.”
“Did he tell you about coming to see us to withdraw $100,000 in cash so he could pay off a shady attorney to emancipate him? Did he tell you about coming in here, to the executive offices, and having a complete and total breakdown, which resulted in his hospitalization for a month? Did he tell you about buying his friends’ apartment building a few weeks ago at twice its market value just so he could lower their rent? I’m not even going to go into the ridiculous tattoos and piercings and whatnot. Bryson Ramsey is probably rolling over in his grave over that boy’s behavior. If his parents hadn’t been such valuable clients, I might have asked him to move his investments elsewhere.”
“You would not,” I said, trying to ignore all the disturbing information my father had provided. Ethan bought that nasty old apartment building? A breakdown resulting in a month in the hospital? I pushed those thoughts aside. “You’d never let a $3.2 billion dollar portfolio walk out of the door.”
“At least you did your homework on him.”
“Dad, please.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. No matter what I did, my heart continued to pound relentlessly. “This isn’t exactly easy for me, but I really like him. I know we have our differences, but I think we’ll be able to work them out. I want your support.”
“What happened to that Cole guy you were seeing last year?” Dad inquired with a lame attempt to divert the topic. “He came from a good family, and his brain was intact.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I mumbled. I reached up and absentmindedly rubbed the tiny scar under my bottom lip and loosely debated telling him exactly what had happened with Cole but decided against it. His parents were still clients. “Cole was definitely not right for me, Dad.”
“What about that other guy, the one you brought to Vanessa’s Christmas dinner?”
“Justin Marks?” I was surprised my father even remembered the guy. He was at the university on a full scholarship, and Dad wouldn’t even give him a second look.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“We only went out once. He’s dating one of Zoey’s friends now.”
“Well, there has to be someone.” Dad rose halfway out of his seat and actually started looking around the Draganov Financial cafeteria as if he were going to find my perfect match, ordering from the surf and turf station.
“Dad, I like Ethan,” I said as strongly as I could. I knew this was going to be bad; I just knew it. I was hoping Ethan’s family fortune would have been enough for my father to at least give him a chance, but I hadn’t known about his other encounters with Ethan. He already had his opinion, and nothing I said was going to change his mind.
“Forget it.” Dad stood and tossed his napkin over his plate. “I know you have schoolwork to do, so we’ll just cut this short. I’ll see you Sunday for golf. If you have a suitable date, feel free to bring him along to Vanessa’s luncheon. If you can’t find someone appropriate, I’d be happy to find someone for you!”
He marched off and left me sitting there with my mouth open. I fumed for a moment, trying to keep the hot tears from falling from my eyes. I took a couple of deep breaths and stood up a little shakily. Leaving my tray on the table, I made my way to the parking garage, mindlessly smiling and waving at various employees as I escaped the building.
Right about the time I reached my car, my phone beeped with an incoming text message. I almost ignored it, assuming it was more harassment from my father, but when I finally looked, I saw it was from Ethan.
I know you have schoolwork, but I wanted you to know I’m at Gibbs Park in case you can stop by this afternoon. Miss you. Ethan. PS Faith wrote this for me.
I couldn’t help but smile, and all thoughts of my overbearing, controlling father vanished from my head as visions of Ethan’s sparkling eyes took their place. I imagined a lush, green park full of trees and a pond full of ducks. A quiet walk in the park actually sounded like a fantastic idea. I had never been to the one he mentioned, but I found it on my GPS when I got to the car. I drove past a few abandoned warehouse buildings until I finally pulled into the little parking lot indicated by the woman’s voice on the GPS.
As I looked around, I realized Ethan and I had different definitions of a park.