Читать книгу Love Is Blind - Rodney Suggs - Страница 8

Chapter 4

A long day in the office had finally come to an end. The day finished out with a successful presentation to the executives of Chicago Fusion Supplements. They were thrilled with each layout and scheme Undisputed Marketing had created for their new products. I felt on top of the world! But in all honesty, it was short-lived as my mind drifted back to the brief conversation with Janet. I found myself still puzzled by the abrupt ending of our phone call as I drove through the gate to the house. I parked my E-Class Mercedes-Benz in the garage and walked into the house to discover a note from Féch.

Kahlil, dinner is prepared (rib eye, seasoned potatoes, with fresh mixed vegetables). If you need anything other than what I prepared, don’t hesitate to call.

Féch

Féch was the owner of six successful restaurants—four in Illinois, one in New York, and one in Arizona. Most would consider what she charged pricey, but it was well worth it for my house. Being heavy into fitness along with my extensive travel schedule, it was hard for me to get into the kitchen regularly to prepare anything, so having Féch around was very beneficial. Then there was Janet who, bless her heart, couldn’t cook to save her own life!

While watching my evening dose of SportsCenter, I changed into my gym clothes for my run. The evening rolled around, and still no one had made it home yet. I decided to go down to the indoor pool to swim a few laps. Once I finished, I went to the movie theater to watch an old movie. A few minutes into the movie, I was sound asleep.

I woke up about two hours later to see the credits rolling, so I decided to call it a night. As I walked through the family room, I finally heard the garage opening. I grabbed a bottle of wine and a pair of wine glasses and then stood waiting to greet my ladies. I could hear a faint ruckus that grew louder and louder from the garage. Iliana burst through the door first and was clearly startled to see me standing there. She stared at me for a second and then ran into my arms.

“Dad, no! She can’t make me do this!” she yelled in tears.

Seconds later, Janet stormed through the door snatching Iliana out of my arms. She spun her 180 degrees to deliver one of the firmest slaps I had ever seen.

“Don’t you ever disrespect me like that again!” she yelled. Iliana stood there motionless in shock. Not a word was uttered between the two but only a cold stare-down. “Go to your damn room!” Janet yelled.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded. Iliana ran out of the room in tears. Janet began to walk past me like I was invisible. Before she could completely pass me, I grabbed her arm. “What’s going on, Janet?” I repeated.

“Let me go, Kahlil!” Janet yelled loudly and then aggressively pulled away from my grasp storming down the hallway. I immediately followed behind her into the kitchen. Janet opened the refrigerator door when I forcefully placed my hand on it slamming it shut.

“Now you’re disrespecting me,” I said.

Janet walked over to the table and sat down with tears building in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Kahlil. As you can see, dinner didn’t go like I planned,” she said with her hands covering her face as she cried.

“Shit, by the looks of things, it doesn’t appear that you two even had dinner. Now for the last time, Janet, what the hell happened between you two?” I demanded.

“I picked Iliana up after school, and we went shopping. It was the perfect time to just talk one-on-one while we shopped. After that, we agreed to the movies. When we got to dinner, things fell apart. I told Iliana that her father had been released from prison and asked to see her. Iliana’s eyes filled with water. She started breathing heavy and then went off on me asking me if she had to go or not. I told her I agreed and she needed to see her dad. She said I should have talked to her about it first. I tried calming her down because we were in a public place, but she thought it was in her best interest to call me a part-time mother and that if it weren’t for you she would’ve run away by now! I let it marinate until we got to the parking lot before demanding an apology. She was so full of herself that she decided she was in the clear to call me a bitch before slamming the car door in my face. And here we are now live in HD,” Janet explained, throwing her hands up in defeat.

I tried my best to be empathetic as I hugged Janet but couldn’t help feeling angry at the fact that David was out and she hadn’t even mentioned it.

“Janet, why would you make such a decision concerning Iliana without talking to me first? Why would you think her reaction would be any different from what you got?” I asked.

“Wow! Now I guess it’s your turn to criticize me about the fucking decisions I make about my daughter with her father. I don’t have to get your approval about anything concerning my daughter. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even have to bring this to your attention, which I now regret to be completely honest with you. And let’s be clear. She only calls you Dad as a luxury. We both know that you are not her father!” Janet snapped while pointing her finger in my face.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? Seven years of being together and I’ve never heard this kind of disrespect from you!” I yelled. “Iliana calling me Dad is a luxury now? What a fucked-up thing to say! This must be the bullshit you had to tell me earlier when I was at the office,” I said.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it was, smart ass! I knew that had I said something to you earlier I could have jeopardized your presentation, so I took that into consideration, but excuse the hell out of me!” Janet said as she turned her head and walked out of the room.

“Janet, that is the last fucking time you’re going to walk away from me! Hold on… Wait a minute. You’ve been talking with David before he called you to let you know he was out. How did he get your cell phone number?” I asked.

“David and I have always stayed in touch, even before you and I started dating, Kahlil. And this situation is far from bullshit!” Janet screamed.

“Why am I out of the loop with the interactions between you and your ex?”

“David wrote to me asking how his daughter was doing and if I needed anything from him. When I wrote back, I did mention that I was in a serious relationship and that Iliana was taken care of. Every time I wrote to David, I reiterated to him that I had moved on with my life; so regardless of how he felt he had changed in his life, we were not getting back together. The only reason we stayed in touch was for Iliana’s sake, Kahlil. And the reason I never showed you any of the letters was pretty simple actually; they’re not mailed here. I had a post office box prior to us dating,” she said.

I stood there stunned, staring at Janet with a look of disappointment.

“So you’ve been keeping secrets? I can’t believe that this is the first time I’m hearing about this out of the seven years that we’ve been together. To find out that you have been in touch with your ex without my knowledge is bullshit! How could you keep something like this from me, Janet?”

“Kahlil, David is Iliana’s father! I’m not going to completely shut him out of her life because you have a problem with it,” Janet fired back, folding her arms with attitude.

“Janet, the child has no fucking clue whom this man is, so please spare me with the he’s her father, Kahlil shit,” I said sarcastically.

“I don’t like your tone or your attitude, so you need to calm the hell down!” Janet demanded.

The yelling inside the den grew louder and louder as the early hours of morning began to creep in.

“Look. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for Iliana knowing whom her biological father is, and you know this, but what I’m not going to do is stand here and just take it after finding out that you two have been in contact with one another regularly this entire time! The P.O. box’s the fucking cake!”

“We’re not married, Kahlil, and let’s be real here. You haven’t even come close to asking me to marry you after all this time, so why do I need to justify everything I do?”

“Unbelievable! And you think pulling this stunt would even make me want to ask you for your hand in marriage? I thought we were up front and open with one another, but now I see we haven’t been. You don’t have to tell me shit!”

“Kahlil, you’re making this a bigger issue than it has to be!”

“Really! Is that what I’m doing? I know this for damn sure. If the roles were switched, you would have lost your damn mind, and you know it! So now I must ask. How honest have you been with me about your communication with David? Is there more that you care to disclose now that shit is out in the open?” I asked.

An unsettling silence engulfed the den. The stare between us lasted for only a second but felt like an hour.

“That’s not fair, Kahlil. I’ve been more than up front with you with everything else,” she yelled.

“I don’t trust what you’re trying to sell me right now, but you know what…never mind. I’m done,” I said, walking out of the den.

I hurried into the bedroom and changed my clothes. Once finished, I grabbed my keys and headed toward the garage. In the hall, I noticed that Iliana’s bedroom light was still on. I glanced down at my watch. It was 2:00 a.m. Softly, I knocked on her door.

“Come in,” she replied with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

Iliana was sitting at her desk writing in her journal. I watched as she wrote and cried with every angry stroke of her pen.

“It’s late, honey. You should be resting. You have school in a few hours.”

“I’m all right, Dad. I don’t want to see him, and Mom shouldn’t force me to,” she pleaded.

Before I could respond, Iliana jumped from her desk running into my arms again, crying so hard that she brought me to tears.

“It’s all right, honey. We will all sit down to figure out how to handle this. Right now, my dear, you need to calm down. Nothing will be solved right tonight.”

Iliana looked up at me simply responding in one word, “Okay.”

After kissing her on the forehead, we exchanged sentimental I love you’s before I walked out.

Headed down the hall to the glass French doors of my office, I keyed in the password to gain access and then grabbed my coat, laptop, briefcase, cell phone, and five thousand dollars from my safe. Once I reached the backdoor, out emerged Janet from around the corner. She glanced at my bag and briefcase I was holding and grabbed my arm.

“Kahlil, you leaving is no way to resolve anything,” she said, gripping my elbow with one hand while bracing the backdoor.

“You let me go. There’s nothing more for the two of us to discuss, so the best thing for me to do right now is leave.”

The two of us stood there staring one another down. Breaking the intense gaze, I looked down at my elbow which was still in Janet’s grasp and then gave her a stern stare prompting her to slowly release my arm. I walked out, slamming the door behind me.