Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 122(@200wpm)___ 98(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
“Brian!” I scream, hurling myself forward to crouch by his prone form. “What’s wrong?”
Immediately, John’s on the phone.
“Get an ambulance. Call 9-1-1,” he instructs the person on the other line, and almost immediately, I can hear a flurry of activity. But I’m too shocked to take it all in. Brian is limp, lifeless, and now as pale as a ghost as he lies on the floor. Will he be okay? And what’s going to happen to my relationship with John? I love John, but we have very serious problems, and I have no idea how they’re going to be resolved.
14
John
* * *
I knew I couldn’t keep my secrets forever. I knew the day would come when I would have to tell Megan I’m the CEO of her company; and that her boss, the man I stole her from, is actually my son.
I would eventually have to tell my son, too, that I intercepted his date the day he fled the Matterhorn, and was now engaged in a romantic and a very physical relationship with her.
I knew the day would come. Yet, I was in no way prepared for this moment. Paying the piper is always difficult, but I had no idea it would be this hard. On the outside, my expression was likely stoic. But on the inside, chaos reigned. My lunch felt like it was going to launch its way up my esophagus and out of my mouth, to spill onto the lavish marble floor.
Truth be told, I’ve been avoiding this moment at all costs. The risk of losing Megan is just too high, yet I knew the longer I waited, the harder it would be to come clean, and the greater the risk of losing it all.
Brian must have connected the dots somehow, and now my chance to redeem myself is gone. The choice is no longer mine. I knew this from the moment my office doors swung open revealing Brian red-faced and angry, with Megan trailing behind him, looking confused and horrified.
The part I didn’t anticipate is her pregnancy. I never really contemplated the possibility of having a baby with the curvy girl. But seeing that plastic indicator made me imagine a future with Megan, and that future includes children: lots of them. In fact, the thought fills me with delight, and I need to tell her.
But Brian. What the hell just happened? The paramedics arrive, and they take his vitals.
“Sir, he’s fine,” one man says to me. “He just passed out.”
I shake my head with confusion.
“But from what? He’s young and healthy.”
The paramedic shrugs.
“Well, you said he was drinking right? The overconsumption of alcohol paired with stress could have done it. From his jaundiced skin, I’m guessing that he has a chronic problem with alcohol.”
And that’s the crux of it. I haven’t done right by my son, and I know it. Brian needs help, and I can’t turn a blind eye anymore. The DUI was only the beginning. Hell, my son is only twenty-five, so how the fuck did things get to this point? But as they wheel Brian out of the office, I resolve, then and there, to get him into the best rehab facility money can buy.
The door shuts, and the office is quiet once again. I look at Megan, and see her sitting in the window seat of my office, her eyes wide and shocked. I don’t blame her because what woman would want this? But I have to let her know how I feel.
I drop to a knee beside her and hesitantly take one of her small hands in my own. I want to take her pain away, and to soothe her soul. However, I’m worried that I won’t be accepted into her space at this moment, but to my surprise and delight, she falls heavily into my chest.
I get up so that I’m sitting on the window seat with her, and wrap both arms tightly around her before kissing the top of her head.
“Everything is going to be okay, sweetheart. I would do anything to take back today. I would tell you straight off the bat who I am, and what I am. I’m sorry I kept so much from you. I wanted to tell you everything, but I was worried it would be too much because who really dates a son and his father? I didn’t want you to run, and … I guess I was scared you would.”
Megan sobs against my shoulder, her curves trembling with anguish. I feel terrible, but I continue regardless.
“It wasn’t fair to you, sweetheart, and if you’ll give me another chance, I promise I will never hide anything from you again. I’m in love with you, Megan Flowers. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to raise a baby with you. Do you hear me? I’m all in, sweetheart, heart, mind, body and soul.”