Wise Choice

When I finally entered his office, Jack’s father was sitting in his chair with his hands crossed before him as if he were deep in thought. But the moment he saw me, he waved at me to come closer. This time, he didn’t ask me to sit down. I went closer and stopped a few feet away from his desk and waited. He looked at me for a while, then leaned back in his chair, almost as if he was asserting his dominance. I instinctively grabbed my wrist with my other hand before me to show him that I was waiting for his order. Whatever that might be.

“You have been working here for almost half a year now,” he said seriously which surprised me. It never crossed my mind that he wanted to see me just because of this. “And I have to say I am more than satisfied with your work.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied automatically without thinking.

“But... You should not covet something that is not supposed to be yours,” he told me sinisterly which gave me the creeps immediately but tried to remain calm nevertheless.

“I don’t know what you mean, sir.”

“My son. I saw the way you look at him, ” he looked me in the eyes as if he wanted to see which of us was going to look away first. A few seconds passed as if he was waiting for me to deny his accusation. But it would be pointless since he must have decided his opinion regarding this matter already. “Don’t get me wrong,” he continued. “I don’t hate your kind. I just don’t want my son to be one of you. Understand? Especially because I don’t have other children. It would be a completely different case if I had. But I don’t. He is my only son and the heir apparent to my enterprise. Now, in my case what would you do?” I stood there in silence and avoided eye contact. It is probably just a rhetorical question anyway. “Would you let him squander everything his father worked so hard for or would you try to convince the other party to leave in silence?”

“He won’t be happy if I leave,” I replied which was already meaningless since I am about to leave anyway no matter if his father supports us or not. The only difference it may make is that if he doesn’t support his son now, he won’t support his son in the future either which may make life difficult for Jack even without me.

“Maybe. But money is a funny thing, you see. If you only have money and nothing else, you won’t necessarily become happy just by having it. But if you don’t have any of it, soon the everyday struggles of mundane life due to lack of money will drain you out and make you question whether you were ever happy in the first place.

“It’s not fair,” I said and even I know how ridiculous this sounded.

“Few things are fair in life,” he stood up and walked up to me. He looked at me with the same dark eyes his son did not so long ago. “Please, just leave. If you do, I will be very generous with you.”

“I don’t want your damn money.”

“I am sure you don’t. And I am also sure you might need it. Everything is a lot easier, when you have enough of it, when you don’t have to struggle to make ends meet, don’t you think?” I didn’t say anything but I was adamant. There’s no way in hell I will make a profit from making Jack unhappy. He probably realized this since he decided to change tactics. “Of course, I didn’t come unprepared. I have a friend, who has a friend among the board of directors who decides who will get the scholarships each semester at the university you attend. If you decide to stay, I will make sure it won’t be you. I believe you do know that in the event it happens, you won’t be able to earn enough money to be able to pay the tuition fee even if you work until exhaustion. And you know where that can lead to. While if you were to get a full scholarship and study hard, you could graduate with flying colors and get a decent job. I am not giving you money. I am giving you a life. Choose wisely!” he told me then went back to his desk.

I stood there in silence for a moment, too shocked to speak, then turned around and left his office without a word. I didn’t bother to inform him that I was about to leave even if he approved of us being in a relationship, so he didn’t need to worry. The only thing that bothers me now is that if he doesn’t approve of Jack being together with me, he won’t approve of Jack being together with anyone else. Well, unless that person is a woman. So, he is bound to doom Jack to eternal misery. Probably, he has never heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

For the first time since I have been here, I am glad that Jack has better things to do. There’s just too much in my mind that I need to sort out before talking to him.

I stayed in the office until Jack’s father finally left the building. I wanted to avoid having to go home in the same car with him. Now, it would have been a different case if he were to ask me to go with him or even to drive for him but he didn’t. Quite possibly I am the last person he wants to see right now. Whatever. He is not my favorite either.

******

After returning home, I went directly to my room to avoid seeing the old man again and only went down to eat a quick dinner, then went back to my room right after. The last thing I wanted was to see him before I left.

While Jack... He is a totally different case. He might be angry at me right now but I know he would be hurt if I leave without saying goodbye. So, I will wait until he comes back. At least he deserves that much.

Not that it’s easy. To wait. Those last minutes are always the hardest before the inevitable happens. Especially because the window of my room has a view of the garden, so I can’t even see when he will arrive. I can only sit here and pay attention to every movement I hear hoping that it will finally be him.

However, it took about three hours until it actually happened. I was already feeling nervous which became mixed with some sadness. But I still sat there in my chair, which I turned to face the door, so I could see him if he were to come in, and waited patiently.

When he did come back home finally, he returned to his bad habit of not knocking on the door and just marched in. He seemed impatient and excited as he slammed the door behind him. He only needed a few strides to get to me but when he did, he didn’t even say hello just grabbed my face and kissed me. His kiss was full of passion and with a hint of longing that would have made anyone weak in the knees. Lucky for me I was sitting.

“You missed me this much?” I asked in a low voice teasingly. I even managed to smirk at him a bit. Yet he didn’t reply at first and avoided looking at me.

“I saw you.”

“What?” I had no idea what he meant.

“I saw you kissing someone,” he replied, and now everything made sense.

Now, I know where Jack went when he said he had an appointment.