Page 2 of Handsome
We lifted our glasses and sipped our champagne.
Then my phone beeped. Leah had returned the gift I sent to her apartment along with my note requesting a time to talk in person.
Now I was in town, it was time to knock on her door. I put my napkin on the table and said, “With that, I have to go.”
Maman asked, “Is everything okay?”
I’d told them about my plan to stay in the house once everyone departed, since Maman and Pedar planned to yacht to the Panama Canal for their second honeymoon.
I put my napkin back in my lap and picked up my fork to finish eating as I said, “I just have to… y’know.”
Once I finished, staff took our plates, and other staff put the Persian eggplant stew,khoresh bademjan, in front of us.
I glanced at Joel and his new wife, who’d never eaten our food before, and she reminded me of some of my brothers when they first moved in with us. Joel was showing her the correct spoon.
Hopefully at least my son would grow up eating delicious meals, even if Leah never wanted to see me again. I needed to find a way to mend the gaping wound in my heart.
We ate, and for a few minutes no one spoke to me. And as the food filled my belly, I began to hope that soon I’d have the answers I needed.
Pedar asked, “Can any of us help?”
They did not need to cancel their second honeymoon trip to help me work things out with Leah about my son. I finished my wine now and said, “I don’t know what I can do to get her to open her door and talk to me. Even though she moved here, a small town, knowing it's our family home.”
Maman added, “At least she told you. Your son is still quite small.”
The plates were cleared out and dessert was being served when I said, “If she talks to me, maybe I can figure out what to do.”
Pedar then said, “Well, let’s finish our cake first.”
Bon voyage dinner, wedding announcement, and the beginning of my campaign to be a father to my son. My family certainly knew how to party efficiently.
Pedar then said, “Cyrus, everything will work out. No woman in her right mind is going to keep her son away from your inheritance.”
Fair enough. I tasted the strawberry vanilla cake and sighed. Then I gave Warren, who seemed pensive, a gentle nudge with my elbow as I asked, “You’re quiet tonight. What’s going on with you?”
He kept his voice low, so no one could hear him but me, and said, “I was adopted. Maman and Pedar love me, and I love them, and all of you, but inside I feel like a huge fraud.”
Warren was the one I went to when I needed to know the right thing to do. I shook my head and said, “You’re not. Unlike me, right now you’re the perfect one.”
He laughed, and we both glanced across the table as he said, “I thought that was Arman.”
We spoke louder now as I said, “True, he’s perfect, and now he's even getting married.”
Warren winked and asked, “Does it count, though? It’s Maddie, after all. It’s not like the rest of us have broken hearts we’ve worn on our sleeves for twenty years.”
Maddie pressed her hand to her heart and grinned.
I then said, “True, but now Maman is going to have two less sons to stress about.”
Gerard piped in, saying, “Makes me want to get out of town for a while.”
Not a surprise, since wanderlust was part of Gerard's charm. I picked up my fork again and said, “You always say that.” We ate and then drank black tea.
Once we were done, I nodded and said, “Maman, I’m leaving for real this time.”
“Good luck,” she said, and I met her gaze.
She wanted all her children to be happy. She never judged, and only pushed for us to have the happiness she found with our dad.
