Chapter Twenty-Five
GAVIN
Vinny walked into the kitchen just as I grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet and set it on the table. He dropped his bookbag on the floor while I got the milk out of the refrigerator. “Dad?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Um. You just gave me a box of rice and a gallon of milk.”
I focused on what I placed on the table. “Sheesh, I’m sorry,” I said as I grabbed the box of rice and put it back into the cabinet. “I’ve got a lot on my mind this morning.”
“It’s okay, not a big deal. So, how was the date?”
I slid the box of cereal in front of him. “Oh, the date? It was, um, it was pretty good. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Okay. I mean, you came back kind of early, so I just thought that something went wrong.”
“What? No, everything was fine. Yeah, we just um, we knew we had to get up for work the next morning, so we didn’t want to stay out too long, that’s all. But go ahead and finish up your cereal so you can make it to your bus. I’ll be in the living room, alright?”
“Okay, Dad.”
I left him in the kitchen as I walked to the front room and sat down on the couch. I couldn’t shake the fact that Bethany was a stripper. Images of her dancing naked in front of other men while they stuffed dollars in her G-string floated through my brain. I wondered how many men had touched her in different places of her body. I wondered if she ever brought any of them home to have sex. A million things flooded my mind, and before long, I found myself getting more upset as the thoughts continued to flicker in and out of my imagination.
“Dad? Dad?”
I didn’t notice that Vinny was standing near the door until he called my name the second time. I hadn’t even noticed that he walked by me. “Yes?”
“I’m ready to go to the bus.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. Okay.” I stood up, “How long have you been standing there?”
“For a few minutes. I called you a few times, but it seemed like you were kind of spaced out.”
“Yeah.”
I opened the door, and the sunlight shined right down into my eyes. I put my arm around his shoulder and walked him to the bus stop. “So, you don’t have any notes you want me to give to Bethany today?”
“No, son. No notes. Not today.”
“Dad, are you sure everything is okay? You just seem a little different.”
“I’m fine, kid. I’m fine. I promise.”
There was no way I could tell him that Bethany was a stripper. The thought that he was hanging around her so much didn’t even rub me the right way, especially knowing her past. I almost wanted to tell him to stay away from her, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I knew he would start asking questions, and that would just lead to more discomfort between us all. A few minutes later, his bus arrived on our street. “Alright, son, have a good day at school, alright?”
“I will. You have a good day at work.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
I watched him get onto the bus and waited until it pulled off before I went back home and got my things so I could head to work. Shirley’s desk was empty when I got to work. We fired her on Friday, so as of now, the spot was being filled by one of our interns. Sarah was doing a good job, but she was temporary because she had to go back to school in another month. “Good morning, Mr. Wallace. You have a meeting at 10 am with the general managers.” She handed me a cup of coffee, “And after that, a few clients from Swayson Company will be stopping by. That is not until early this afternoon. 1 pm.”
She handed me a sheet of paper with the itinerary on it. I blew the steam off my coffee and took a quick sip. “Thank you, Sarah,” I said without making eye-contact with her. “I appreciate your diligence. It is greatly appreciated.”
“No problem, sir. Let me know if you need anything.”
I nodded my head, then made my way into my office and tossed the paper on the table. I flopped down in my seat and exhaled deeply. Bethany’s picture was still to the left of my computer. In my mind, I painted all kinds of makeup on her face and replaced her clothing with a bra and a thong. I shook my head, then put the picture frame face down on my desk. It can’t be this bad, Gavin. It can’t be. I stood up, walked to my window, and opened the blinds. The sunlight snuck through the openings as I glanced down below. Cars moved along the streets like ants following in a single file line. People walked up and down the sidewalks as they rushed to their destination. Gavin, she used to be a stripper. That’s it. She used to be one.
I turned my back to the window, then sat down at my computer. I shook the mouse to wake it up, and immediately I thought about the website that I met Bethany on. I chuckled to myself. Shit, she should’ve put that she used to be a stripper on there. That would’ve made things easier for me. That was illogical, though. Nobody would present themselves by showing all of their faults. Suddenly, I started to recollect bits of my past. The way I had one-night stands and then discarded numbers soon after. The way I didn’t treat Karen with respect and forced her to leave me. We all had mistakes in our past, and that was the truth, but for some reason, I had a hard time accepting Bethany’s.
Before I knew it, the clock dipped close to 9:50 am. A few moments later, there was a knock at my door. “Come in,” I said as I sat behind my computer.
Sarah poked her head into my office, “Mr. Wallace, are you ready for your meeting?”
“Wow,” I said, looking at my watch. “I didn’t know it was time already.” I grabbed my notebook, “Yeah, I’m ready. Thank you, Sarah.”
She smiled. “No problem, sir.”
“Are you sure you want to go back to school? I mean, I can pay you a pretty penny if you stuck around here. You are doing an excellent job.”
“Well, Mr. Wallace, I am flattered by your offer, but I have one more year to go, so I am much too close to the finish line to stop now. However, if the opportunity is still here after I graduate, I’d love to come on board and work my way up.”
“How about you contact me after that, and we will see where we are?”
“Sounds good, sir.”
Her pearly white teeth glimmered with her bright smile. She led the way down the hall as her long blonde hair hung down to the middle of her back. She had a petite frame, and if I was the same man I was back then, I would’ve have taken a run at her, and that let me know that Bethany had done more to change my mind than any woman before me. I walked into the office as the managers stood and shook my hand when I entered. “Good morning, Mr. Wallace,” they said as I shook their hands.
“Good morning, gentlemen. Glad you all could make it. Let’s get started, shall we?”
I took my seat and as the meeting went on, I found myself zoning out. My mind placed Bethany front and center in the room, entertaining the managers. They smiled at her naked body as they held dollars in their hands while she danced on top of the table. “Mr. Wallace?” one of the managers said, garnering my attention.
I snapped out of the horrendous daydream, “I’m sorry, Edwin. What was that?”
“I was asking you if you had any questions about that marketing plan I just went over.”
“Plan?” My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the projector. “Oh, right. The A1 marketing plan.” I scanned over the diagram, “Nope, no questions. It all looks pretty straightforward from here. Please, continue.”
“Very well.”
He smiled and continued his presentation as my mind tortured me by placing Bethany in different positions around the room. I felt my hand tightening into a fist as I saw her bend over in front of one of the other managers. A devilish smile escaped his lips as he took a dollar bill and slid it into her thong. She smiled and winked at him before she spun around and planted her ass right in his lap. Mother fucker! “And that right there is the second marketing plan, A2. Mr. Wallace?” His voice was background noise to me until I heard him the second time. “Mr. Wallace?”
Bethany’s image left my imagination as the room full of managers looked in my direction. “Men,” I said, standing to my feet, “I am going to have to ask one of you to email me the specifics of this meeting. I am sorry, but I have a lot of things going on right now, and I cannot give my full attention to the plan. I trust that you all can come up with something feasible for this company in my absence? Henry? Will you take care of sending me that email?”
He looked curiously at the other men, then turned towards me, “Yeah. Sure, boss, I’ll take care of it. I’ll get it right over to you as soon as we are done.”
“Good. Thank you. And after this meeting, you all go ahead and take the rest of the day off. I think we should be good until tomorrow.”
They all smiled. “Excellent,” Edwin said. “Thank you, Mr. Wallace.”
“No, gentlemen. Thank you.”
I left the room, then went straight to Sarah’s desk. “Sarah? Can you do me a favor and reschedule my meeting today? See if they can come in tomorrow or Wednesday. I just realized that I had a few things that I needed to take care of today, so I am going to head out early.”
“Okay, no problem, Mr. Wallace. Is everything alright?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah, it will be. Thank you.”
I left her side, then went to my office and shut the door behind me. I grabbed my phone and scrolled until I got to Bethany’s name. I wanted to text her so we could talk more about her past. I didn’t just want to keep allowing my imagination to feed me bullshit that would keep me away from her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, though. I went a few names lower and landed on Karen’s name. Right now, she felt like the better option, even with the uncertainty that clouded my mind about her motive. What if she means well, I thought to myself as I looked down at her phone number. I was caught in-between two women, and as I left my office, I had no idea which way I was going to go. I loved Karen, and that was a fact, but I thought I was in love with Bethany.