Reece
The grand opening of the Dallas store has been a huge success. I’m really glad that I was a part of the store’s opening and was able to take part in every aspect of helping the store run smoothly.
I was about to take a picture of a Cadillac being detailed when I saw my parents coming toward me. My mom gave me a hug while my dad looked around at all the cars being serviced.
“This is such a huge turnout. We’re really proud of you, Reece.” My mom said.
“We really are. You should had been the owner, though. It looks like you could have handled it.” My dad added.
I smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll leave that to Vanessa and Mark. I’m fine just being on the sidelines.”
“We see that you are. I’m sure you took some amazing photos.” My mom said.
“I did, but it wasn’t hard to do. The cars that are coming in are simply exquisite. They’ll go perfectly on the store’s website.”
“We definitely going to tell our friends to come here.” My mom said.
“Vanessa and I appreciate it. And I appreciate you two for coming. Thank you.” I said as I gave them both a hug. It felt good to have the two of them support me in something that I love. The relationship between us wasn’t easy, but I’m thankful that we have a chance to rebuild it.
Once I pulled away, my mom gave me a stern look. “Have you talked to Troy?”
I shook my head. “Nope, and I don’t plan to.”
“Honey, don’t you think you should? I know things were rocky between y’all, but I really think you two should work things out. I mean, look at how our relationship is.”
I smiled. “I know, but I lied to him, and he’s not letting that go.”
“Well, he should. It’s not like you decided to take the business. You turned it down.” My dad said.
“It’s still the idea that I lied. He’s not going to forgive me for that.”
I looked around to see Paul standing near the bench, watching us. My parents looked in my direction and my mom looked away.
“What is he doing here?”
“I kind of figured he would be.” I said. This was a heavily promoted event, so I knew he would show up. I just wished he hadn’t.
“I’m going to warn him to not even think about coming over here.” My dad said as he was about to walk, but I stopped him.
“Don’t make a scene, Dad.”
It was too late, Paul was coming toward us. I sighed, hoping there wouldn’t be an altercation. Since my parents found out what happened between Paul and me, they haven’t talked to him. When they confronted his parents over the issue, they weren’t much help. They said that it was none of their business about what happened between the two of us. I guess his parents condone his behavior, which is just sad.
“Hi Reece; Mr. and Mrs. Palmer.”
“Paul,” my mom retorted.
“No one wants to talk to you, Paul, so just walk away.” My dad said.
“I know you all are upset with me, and you have every right to be, but please, can I speak with Reece.”
“I’m working, Paul.”
“It’ll just take a minute, that’s all.”
I told my parents it was okay then I led Paul near the front of the store. I took a deep breath as I prepared myself for this conversation.
“What do you want, Paul? I didn’t want to talk to you the last time we saw each other.”
“I know, and I want to apologize for that. I shouldn’t had come at you like that. Honestly, I kind of deserved to get my ass kicked by your boyfriend.”
“Yeah, you did.” I mumbled.
“I know this is a little too late to say, but I do apologize for what I’d put you through when we were together. At the time, I was young and stupid. I didn’t know how to be in a relationship, and my parents weren’t much help in that area. I saw what was going on in my home environment, thinking it was okay to do it with you, when it wasn’t. I shouldn’t had treated you that way; I should had took my frustrations out in another way.”
“Why didn’t you just talk to me or someone to help with your anger? I know it was your parents that were pressuring you.”
“They were, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have. You really messed me up, Paul.”
“I know I did. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I know now.”
“Why you know now?”
“Because I’ve been in relationships that weren’t great. I realized that I’d lost a lot of women due to my stupidity when I should have done what I could to be in a healthy relationship.”
“It’s not too late to do that. At least you know what to do the next time you do get into one.”
“Thank you for listening.”
I nodded. “I really need to get back to work, so have a great day, Paul.”
Before he could say anything else, I walked away from him. I couldn’t stand around and talk to him much longer. I’m glad he could see the error of his ways, but it doesn’t change the things he has done to me. I could forgive him, but I can’t forget.
I went back to my parents, who were watching the entire scene and my mom gave me a hug.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He wanted to apologize for what happened in our relationship.”
“A little too late, isn’t it?” my dad replied.
I nodded. “It is, but at least he finally realized what he was doing was wrong. That’s a step in the right direction. But let me get back to work. That conversation took up some of my photography time.” I said and smiled.
My mom patted my back as I looked over and saw someone that looked like Jamarcus talking to an employee in detail. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it was indeed him and he saw me and waved.
“What the hell.” I said.
I told my parents I would be back as I went over to him. He immediately pulled me in his arms for a giant hug.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I pulled away from him.
“You didn’t think I was going to miss the grand opening, did you?”
“Thank you for coming. Did you just arrive?”
“About twenty minutes ago. I had some issues finding this place.”
“You drove down here by yourself?”
Jamarcus gave a hesitant look and that made me nervous. “What’s going on, Jamarcus?”
“I didn’t drive down here. I actually flew here with someone.”
“What?”
“You might want to go inside, Reece.”
I looked confused, wondering what was going on as I went to the entrance. I pulled on the door, shocked at what I was seeing.
“Troy…”