Page 72 of A Constant Reminder

Chapter 43 – Tyler

Yet again, I hated leaving Sam, but the tone in her voice signaled she wanted to handle the situation alone. It was a hard pill for me to swallow that she still needed to keep some parts of herself from me, but I didn’t want her to feel smothered.

Maybe me letting her do this alone would give her a little more balance.

Besides, she was right; if my dad wanted to talk, it was probably important. And I didn’t intend on this taking too long.

When I pulled up to a restaurant my family always frequented when they were here in Boston, I quickly parked and headed inside. By passing the hostess stand, I walked right to the back room since I knew our family always had it reserved when we visited.

As I walked into the private room, I immediately stopped when it wasn’t my dad sitting at the table, but my mother.

She stood up to walk over and greet me.

“Mom, what the fuck are you doing here?”

She swatted my shoulder. “Language. I’m still your mother.” She ran her hands along my shoulders as if trying to smooth out some invisible wrinkles.

“Where’s dad?”

“Your father isn’t coming. I texted you from his phone. He has no idea.”

“Why?”

“Would you have met me otherwise?”

Probably not.

“Will you please have dinner with me?”

I wanted to tell her to fuck off, but I figured since I was already there, I might as well see what she had to say.

Following her back to the table, I pulled out her chair so she could sit down. Force of habit.

I quickly perused the menu so we could order quickly. Once I had decided, we gave the waiter our orders, and he walked off, arriving back just moments later with our drinks.

I took a sip of my whiskey and asked what this was all about.

“We need to talk.”

“You said that. About what?”

She sighed. “About what it is you’re doing with your life.”

I shook my head. “Mom, if you are trying to talk to me about Sam, you just need to stop right there. She’s my girlfriend, and I love her.”

She scoffed. “You don’t love her. She’s just another piece of ass to you, and she must be a good one because she has you completely snowed.”

My blood boiled. “Stop. You know nothing about her.”

“I know that she barely has two pennies to rub together, and now all of a sudden, she’s dating a man who has millions? That doesn’t seem odd to you? You need to date someone who is more on your level.”

“Let me guess…someone like Marisol?” I rolled my eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t going to bring her up, but yes. Marisol was perfect for you.”

“Mom, you want to know why Mer and I broke up? It’s because she fucked Andrew.”

The look on her face showed utter disbelief. “Please, Tyler, don’t make things up.”

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