Читать книгу Love Is Blind - Rodney Suggs - Страница 13

Chapter 9

“Iliana, hurry up. It’s already six thirty, and we have a thirty-minute drive to get to the restaurant. Get your ass moving, girl!” Janet yelled from the bottom of the stairs dressed in an elegant, strapless, dark-blue dress that exposed the top of her smooth, dark-brown, toned shoulders. The fitted dress had a good portion of Janet’s cleavage on display.

She expected Iliana to be in from school, completely dressed, and ready for their dinner date with David once she returned from running errands. Instead, there she stood impatiently waiting on her daughter who appeared to be in no rush whatsoever to find something to wear.

“I’m coming, Mom. I have one more curl to do,” Iliana yelled from her bedroom. Timeliness was not a priority for her because she did not want to go in the first place. “Fuck him,” she said out loud in her room before applying her lip gloss. She had on a pair of her favorite House of Dereon jeans; a low-cut shirt, exposing a little cleavage of her own; and a pair of high heels. At fifteen, Iliana’s breasts were filling out similarly to her mother’s. Looking over her outfit in the mirror, she knew that her mother was going to be pissed; but with the time crunch, she knew she was going to get away with it. “Get it over with, Iliana. This is for your dad. You can do this,” she whispered to herself before she walked down the stairs to meet her mother.

“I don’t know if I approve of that, Ms. Thang!” Janet said to her daughter, watching her come down the stairs.

“Well, I don’t approve of what you have on either. It looks like you’re trying to get a man which is funny because you already have one,” Iliana aggressively said back to her mother. Standing within arm’s length of her mother, she immediately crossed her arms with a frown on her face. “Hmm, I wonder what Dad would think if he saw how you’re dressed to see another man.”

If looks could kill, Janet without a doubt killed her own daughter…twice! The piercing stare she gave Iliana was fierce, but instead of going off, Janet replied, “Let’s go. We’re going to be late if we don’t leave right now. I will deal with this little stunt you pulled later, so just go to the damn car and don’t say another word to me before we have a bigger problem.”

Dead air filled the car for the first fifteen minutes of the ride to the restaurant.

“So how are you feeling?” she asked Iliana, attempting to break the silence.

“I don’t know,” Iliana replied as she continued to stare out of the window.

“Things will be fine, baby. It will be good to see your father. Don’t you think?” Janet asked.

Iliana immediately turned from her window yelling, “He’s not my father! If it weren’t for Kahlil, who is my real dad, I wouldn’t even be here with you right now!”

With her left hand gripping the steering wheel, Janet used her free right hand to forcefully grab Iliana’s face. “Now you listen to me very carefully, Iliana Thompson. You will not continue to disrespect me! You will do whatever the hell I tell you to do, and that’s it! Do you understand me?” she yelled, pushing Iliana’s face away from her grasp, returning both of her hands back on the steering wheel. Silence engulfed the Range Rover for the remainder of the drive. Iliana turned her head and went back to staring out of her window. “Now dry your tears right now. Your father shouldn’t have to see his daughter for the first time with tears in her eyes. Get yourself together!” Janet demanded. Iliana opened the passenger door immediately once the car stopped. Janet grabbed her by the shoulder to ensure she had dried her face. Turning toward her mother, Iliana displayed that there were no tears on her face. Janet saw sadness in her daughter’s eyes and said, “Clear it up now, or I’m going to put my hands on you, girl!”

In the blink of an eye, the sad expression turned into a pure rage. Iliana closed her eyes and then took a deep breath. “Whatever you say, Mom. So will this do, or are we going to fight in the parking lot?” she replied, giving her mother an overly dramatic fake smile.

Janet stared at her for a moment as if she wanted to get physical and then regained her composure. “You’re lucky we’re here, or I’d kick your ass, you little ungrateful bitch!”

Iliana got out of the truck slamming the passenger door in her mother’s face as she sat there continuing to scold her. Janet jumped out of the truck rushing toward Iliana who, seeing her mother running in her direction in a rampage, walked quickly into the restaurant lobby. Her mother stormed into the lobby shortly after with a furious look all over her face and fists clinched.

The hostess interrupted the stare-down with her extremely pleasant voice, “Good evening, reservations for two?”

Janet’s eyes transitioned from her daughter to the hostess. She took a long, deep breath while surveying the room looking at each table.

“We are actually meeting someone here, but I don’t believe he has arrived,” she replied.

“May I have the first and last name please?” the hostess asked.

“David Mills.”

Janet and Iliana waited as the hostess scrolled down her reservation list.

“Ah yes, here it is. Right this way please.”

Janet looked anxious, as if she were being escorted to her execution. She had no idea what David would think of her once he laid eyes on her. Would he smile? Would he be angry that she left New York? Would he hate her for never being able to see his daughter? The knots in her stomach grew bigger and bigger, and her mouth began to dry from nervousness.

Iliana slowly followed behind her mother, admiring how nice the restaurant was. Turning the corner, Janet noticed a pair of open doors to a private room. Once they walked into the room, there sat a full-framed man at a table with candles on it and an unopened bottle of champagne. Janet smiled from ear to ear the moment she saw David.

“Excuse me, Mr. Mills. Your guests have arrived,” the hostess said to David and then exited the room, closing the doors behind her. David’s six-foot and three-inch frame stood facing Janet.

“Wow! I see you’ve been working out,” Janet said, standing in awe of David’s physical state. Iliana stood off in the distance looking at her mother in disbelief at how she was interacting with this man. Wrapping his arms around her, David gave Janet a kiss on her cheek.

“It’s so good to see you, Janet. I’ve been waiting for this day to actually see my family, and here it is. You look good, but then again that’s to be expected, isn’t it?” David gave a seductive wink to Janet and then turned, finally setting his eyes on Iliana. He walked over to her, extending his arms wide anticipating a hug from his only child, but was instead surprised to see Iliana extending her hand inviting only a handshake in return. David, only a few steps away from his daughter, stood there with clear disappointment written all over his face. Glancing down once more at his daughter’s extended hand, he extends his for the awkward handshake.

“Iliana Thompson,” she finally said to David with every bit of confidence and sassiness in her voice.

“David Mills. It is so nice to finally meet you, Iliana. Why don’t we all have a seat? I’m sure you are all just as hungry as I am.” David walked behind Iliana attempting to pull out her chair, but she rushed over pulling it out enough herself to slide in before he could assist.

“So how have things been going with you?” David asked Janet.

“Things have been great! Iliana is doing really good in school and is one of the top students in her class. I’ve been great as well if I can say so myself,” Janet said, smiling while running her fingers though her hair.

“Well, it shows that you are doing very well.” After briefly gazing at Janet, David attempted to focus his attention on Iliana once more. “Iliana, you’re prettier than I imagined you’d be. I’m curious. Why didn’t you write to me?” he asked.

“I didn’t know what to say to someone I had never met,” Iliana replied.

“I can respect that. When they sent me away, your mother moved on, and I never had a chance to connect with you; so I apologize for that. Iliana, believe me when I tell you that this is just as hard for me as it is for you. I never meant to hurt either one of you. I made some bad choices in the past that cost me my family and my freedom.” David reached across the table placing his hand on top of Iliana’s. “All I can do now is ask for your forgiveness for not being there for you. Hopefully one day soon, you and I can develop a respectable bond with one another. My long-term goal is to one day have you recognize me as your father. Will you accept my apology?” David asked. Iliana kept her focus on this strange man’s hand that was holding hers while he poured his heart out to her. She looked up locking her eyes on David who sat patiently waiting for a response.

“Yes, David, I accept your apology,” she said, pulling her hand slowly out from under his. “I will never consider you to be my father though. I just can’t imagine ever seeing you that way.”

David leaned back in his chair stunned. His eyes immediately locked on Janet, who was sitting across from her daughter with her mouth wide open in disbelief at what she heard.

“I guess I’ll just have to live with that. Maybe one day we can at least be friends. How about that?” he asked.

Before responding, Iliana glanced in her mother’s direction. Janet sat there staring angrily with a tear running down her right eye. Not understanding why her mother was so upset, Iliana asked, “What did I do now?” She threw her hands up in defeat.

“Shut your damn mouth! I think you’ve said enough this evening,” Janet snapped at her daughter. Iliana turned her head away from everyone at the table, fighting back tears of frustration.

“Okay, okay, you two,” David replied. “This is our reunion, Janet. This is supposed to be our introduction, Iliana, but what this is not going to turn into is a family war. Janet, I see some things haven’t changed. You’re still a damn hot head,” David noted with laughter, attempting to lighten the mood.

Janet exchanged a smile with David and then began laughing herself. She whispered to David, “I’m sorry.” Iliana sat staring at the table refusing to make eye contact with either of them.

“Iliana, I’ve had a few discussions with your mother, and she has agreed that I can come pick you up on weekends in hopes of you and me getting to know each other.”

Iliana’s eyes moved from the tablecloth back to David. Anger engulfed her body. She then looked at her mother who now had a smirk on her face as she observed her daughter’s reaction. “Does Dad know about this?” she asked her mom.

“Dad? My dear, I think you mean Kahlil. He has no say in this matter. I’m your mother, and this is your father,” Janet scoffed, placing her hand on top of David’s. Tears that could no longer be held back flowed down the young fifteen-year-old’s face.

“Excuse me. I have to use the bathroom,” she replied and then quickly left the room.

“Janet, I thought you talked with Iliana about this like we discussed?” David asked once the door had closed.

“There is no talking, David! She’s going to do what I tell her to do, and that’s it!” Janet snapped back at David.

David sat at the table shaking his head in frustration. “That’s not what we talked about! So because you want to do shit your way, this is all fucked up. My child calling another man Dad really pisses me off!” David yelled.

“David, Kahlil has been there for Iliana, so she considers him her father figure. He is all she really knows, so what the hell do you expect?!” Janet demanded.

“What if the shoe was on the other foot and I had her calling another female Mom?”

“So you’re seeing someone else?” Janet yelled.

David dropped his head in frustration. “You know what, this conversation is over. Obviously, you’re only hearing about a third of what the hell I’m trying to explain to you, so I’m not going to go any deeper with this bullshit.” Out of the corner of his eye, David could see Iliana returning to the room. Walking in her direction until he was a good distance away from Janet, with a calm whisper, he began talking to his daughter, “Iliana, I want to apologize for everything that has happened. It was my understanding that you knew about the two of us getting together on weekends. Had I known you knew nothing about it, I wouldn’t have ambushed you with it. This dinner was to be a celebration since we are finally meeting for the first time,” he said.

“It’s okay. Mom will never change her selfish ways,” Iliana said back to David.

“Well, let’s try to recover from this and at least attempt to have a good dinner. I will talk more with your mother, so don’t feel like you’re being forced to spend time with me because that is not how I want it,” explained David.