NATE
I give my reflection one last long stare.
I can do this. This isn’t the end of the fucking world. If I can defend Ainsley to my father than the rest of the world will be a walk in the park. No. I don’t need his fucking approval, but I don’t need him breathing down my neck either. He thoroughly knows the law and would willingly cash in enough favors to ‘punish me’ for this if it doesn’t meet his approval. Ainsley is legal and dating her is only against Ollander policy, but I don’t doubt my father would find a way to have them charge me for something to help get his disapproval across. Nothing strong enough to screw up my potential for a future. Something just big enough to hang over my head and force me to go get my doctorate. He’s a manipulative bastard. Always has been. The real trick is knowing how to play his games.
Exiting my bathroom, I give my sleeves a tug on my route to the living room. The moment my eyes land on Ainsley who is clicking away on her computer, my heart stops. Her beautiful wavy hair is twisted in a tight beautiful bun on top of her head with two strands left out to shape her face. The black sleeveless lace dress shouts classy as much as sexy. Between the small rigged v neck cut and mid-thigh length, the balance of sophisticated with a twist is easily met.
I dig my teeth into my bottom lip to prevent from groaning over the idea of her round toed pumps over my shoulders while I fuck her senseless.
Ainsley eventually notices my gawking and looks up with a smirk. “You look handsome…”
My hands slide into my pockets. “You look….Well….You look like we should arrive early and fuck in the bathroom.”
She giggles and shakes her head. “You say the sweetest things.”
With sincerity, I state, “You really do look beautiful, Kid. Absolutely perfect.” She rises to her feet and I ask, “Is this an insight to what your dream prom dress would be like? Because if it is…I might hate the idea of you going even more than I did before.”
After our fight last week, we touched on the subject again when Sloane asked her about it a couple days ago. I politely voiced my personal hatred and approval of the idea. It’s not her I worry about so much as the jockstrap douche who hasn’t lessened his efforts even though he is aware she’s no longer single. But like she said, it’s not fair to punish her because I don’t trust him. This is her final year in high school. Most likely her last big bang with her best friend. She needs it. She’s welcomed to it if she wants it. I just made her promise to let me see her in the dress of choice first and last.
“No. My dream dress is much different and you don’t have to ever worry about me in it.”
“I told you I don’t mind if you wanna go with Sloane.”
“I know. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what’d you mean?”
“My dream dress is way out of my price range if I even decide to go,” she clarifies as she grabs her clutch on her way to the front door. “Which I am still contemplating about. Prom with Sloane might be fun, but a weekend away where we’re naked almost the entire time and can make out in public just sounds so much better…”
Her word choice causes me to grouse. “You’re making this harder on purpose.”
Ainsley smirks mischievously. “I love making you hard on purpose.”
My hand gives her bottom a good swat before we exit the apartment.
On our way to the parking garage, I ask, “What were you working on?”
“My film project,” she hums playfully. “Hope I get an A…”
“If you deserve one.”
“I always deserve one,” Ainsley corrects at the same time the elevator doors shut.
“Always?”
“Always.”
“So you think your half ass response to why you believe Forest Gump deserves its spot on the AFI top 100 list, was worth an A?”
Her sweet face scrunches. “In comparison to what I imagined the others in the class wrote? Yes.”
The elevator doors ding open again, leaking us into the parking garage. “Maybe in your class, but there is a student in my last class of the day who much like you worships movies and had quite a remarkable answer.”
She gives me an unhappy look. “Who?”
“You know I can’t just throw out another student’s information like that.”
“Was it Randy Demarco?”
“Maybe.”
Her bright eyes roll. “That doesn’t count. Him and his father met Tom Hanks at a charity auction last year. It was only after his father mentioned he wouldn’t mind having a son in the industry did he even consider an interest in film making. Before that he was insisting on being a news anchor.”
I chuckle at the information as much as her irritation over being challenged about her expertise.
She may be young, but she has more information and more dedication to the craft than I remember some of those I graduated with ever having. Ainsley’s has a bright future ahead and I’m grateful I get to be a part of it. Who knows. Maybe we’ll collaborate on something more than just porn one day.
Once we’re settled in my car and headed the short distance to the restaurant, I make note of the nervous expression Ainsley’s trying to hide. I can’t exactly blame her for feeling that way. I feel it too. Instead of expressing my shared anxiety, I offer her comfort. “I’m sure my father’s going to love you.”
She tries to smile. “Yeah?”
Maybe. “Yeah…”
“You said you told your parents the bare minimum. Does that mean they know how young I am or that I’m your student?”
Quickly, I shake my head. “Neither. And let’s try to avoid mentioning the latter.”
An unusual look crosses her face. “You’re not embarrassed about how young I am, just that I’m your student?”
I grit my teeth at her word selection. “I’m not embarrassed about either. It’s just easier if we keep details like me being your teacher quiet until you graduate. You know this. We’ve discussed this.”
“Yeah, but even to your family?”
“Especially to my family,” I insist. “My family is not much different than the brats you go to school with. While I don’t doubt my father will enjoy you as a person, I have all the confidence in the world he would use the knowledge of me falling in love with a student to twist my arm into going back for my doctorate.”
Ainsley nods her understanding. “Which you don’t want to?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
The uncertainty of the answer causes me to shrug. “I don’t know.”
“But maybe you’ll go back into the world of film,” she pushes gently, receiving a sharp glance in return.
Ever since Wyatt gave me that woman’s information it has been a constant struggle to avoid discussing it. Between her, him, and Holden’s unnecessary voicing of his opinion, I’ve got my back so tightly against the wall that I’m tempted to email her just to shut them up. It would be easy to lie and say I did if Holden wasn’t the tech genius he is.
“Can we please focus on one battle at a time?”
Ainsley smiles. “Fine. You want me to avoid mentioning I’m your student. Should I avoid mentioning I’m still in high school?”
“That’d be wise too.”
“How about something like…’Nate and I met because we share a common interest in film. I start courses at Ashwin this fall.’? How does that sound?”
“Fucking perfect,” I state proudly.
“Like I deserve an A?”
The reference to our earlier conversation sends us into chuckles, dissipating the doubt in the pit of my stomach. I don’t know why I bothered to worry. Ainsley may have an angelic face, but she’s got the brutal strength of a champion. Look at the shit she’s endured daily for the last five years. This girl is a warrior. My father should be the worried one.
After dropping my car off with the valet, the two of us link hands, and move towards the entrance of the prestigious steakhouse. The posh interior of gold décor, expensive art, and exquisite lighting immediately reminds you this isn’t an average restaurant. The host stand is in front of us while the actual entrance to the dining area is through a glass door on the right. On the opposite side of it is a set of double glass doors that lead to the highest priced hotel in the city.
The lanky blonde behind the stand asks, “Name?”
“Greene.”
She glances down at her tablet, which I assume is where the reservations are kept. It only takes a brief moment before she looks back up, “Nathaniel has yet to arrive.” Her hand gestures to her right. “Feel free to wait in our lounge area until then.”
I give her a polite nod and lead the two of us to the left where she suggested.
Just a couple steps away, Ainsley asks, “Aren’t you Nathaniel? Are you a junior?”
“No. My mom refused and my father insisted, so I was named Nathaniel Ryan Greene instead of Nathaniel Richard Greene.”
“Subtle difference.”
“And the reason there’s no junior attached to my name. Thank God.”
“I don’t know…Mr. Greene…I think you could’ve pulled it off.” She brushes her body slightly against mine. “You could pull anything off…”
Helplessly, I groan and wrap my arms around her waist. “Kid, I’m gonna be ripping things off tonight.”
Ainsley giggles with a playful pout. “I actually like this dress.”
“I’ll buy you another one,” I quickly brush off and begin to lower my face towards her.
Out of the corner of my eye a familiar shape catches my attention. Before our lips can meet, I crane my neck around her to see my father exiting the elevator next door with a woman.
What the hell?
I immediately break free from Ainsley who quietly questions my motive yet follows me to the other side. Now close enough to know for a fact it is not the person he married, I grumble under my breath, “That’s my fucking father, but that’s not my mother.”
To my surprise, my girlfriend doesn’t gasp. Doesn’t express shock. She simply says in a strangled voice, “No. It’s mine.”
Disbelief blindsides me further and my eyes drop down to hers. “What?”
A hand flies to her lips at the same time my father questions in a shocked tone. “Nate?”
Our eyes lock across the short distance of where we are and where they exited the elevator.
His grip around Ainsley’s mother’s waist drops and he continues to approach us while she doesn’t bother giving her daughter a second glimpse.
Unsure of what to say or how to begin to process the sheer fucked up nature of everything making my head spin, I clamp my jaw shut and let it throb.
My father adjusts his tie. “What um…What are you doing here? We’re meeting next door.”
“What the fuck are you doing here with a whore?” I bite unconsciously, completely letting it slip my mind the woman is more than that. She’s also the love of my life’s mother.
“Volume,” he tisks. “And what gives you the implication that’s what she is?”
“Aside from the fact she’s fucking a married man?”
He glares.
“She’s….” The words stop before they have a chance to fill the air and make my girlfriend probably feel worse than she already does. “She’s an escort.”
“How do you know that? Have you used her services before?”
A wave of disgust rolls around my stomach and Ainsley chokes a sob beside me.
I turn, prepared to attempt to soothe her, but she declares, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
My father gives her a strange glance yet points to the right. “Other side of the elevators is the restroom. Feel free to excuse yourself.”
Ainsley cups her mouth again and rushes the direction he announced.
“She seems dramatic,” he carelessly grumbles.
“She’s not the only one fucking sick to her stomach,” I snap, grabbing his attention. “Tell me this is the first time this has happened.”
He shoves his hands into his pocket and sighs deeply. “Do you want me to lie and tell you what you want to hear or do you want the truth?”
The counter twists my gut tighter. “How could you do this to mom?”
“You’re overreacting.”
“I am not!”
“You are. And you need to keep your voice down,” he repeats this time sharper than before. “This is an elite establishment with high end clientele. If you would like to continue this conversation, I suggest we do it outside or over dinner next door.”
Completely befuddled by his casualness, I drop my jaw in speechlessness.
“Nathaniel, I am not the only man here who conducts that type of business.” He implies with a lift of the eyebrows. “Discrepancy is what they do best here, so I repeat, this conversation cannot be had at this moment.”
I swallow the dagger of rage in my throat. “We’re not fucking having dinner. I’m not going to sit across from you while you try to justify cheating on my mother.”
“It is not your marriage to be concerned about.”
“I’m your son!” I bark. “How the hell could I not be concerned?”
“Nathaniel…”
“Gentlemen,” the woman behind the desk quietly speaks up. “If you could kindly keep it down, that would be remarkable. If you need a private area to speak in, it can be provided for you since you are a guest at the hotel.”
My father lifts his hands. “Sorry, Sandra. We were just leaving for dinner.”
She gives us a curt nod and returns to staring at the front doors.
“I’m not having dinner with you,” I growl fiercely. “I’m taking my girlfriend and going the fuck home.”
“Nathaniel-”
“And you…Mr. High and Mighty, Mr. The Law In This Country Fucking Matters, you need to go home and tell mom who you’ve really been with these last few weeks.”
“I will do no such thing.”
“Then you can explain to her why I refuse to come by the house until you do.”
The sight of Ainsley’s pale face approaching pangs my chest. Fuck. It’s not enough he’s fucking cheating on my mother but of all the women in the entire goddamn city he chooses the one that makes this hurt even more?
“I wanna go home,” her quiet voice quivers, eyes on the ground.
“Of course,” I agree. “We’ll go straight home.”
“No,” she argues. “I wanna go to my place. I need….space.”
My hand reaches over to lift her chin up. “You sure?”
Tears prick the corners of her eyes and she silently nods.
Reluctantly, I reply, “Okay.”
My hand falls and I usher her to head back the direction we came.
“Nathaniel-”
“Goodnight father,” I grumble under my breath, not bothering to give him another look.
When I imagined this night could end in disaster this isn’t at all what I had in mind.