Page 12 of It Started with a Kiss
Once I’d dried off as much as I could, I sat behind my desk and stared at the pile of papers neatly stacked in order of importance.Where to bloody start? Do I get the longer tasks done first or tackle the quicker ones?
The intercom buzzed and my stomach flipped.
Taking a deep breath, I pressed the button. ‘Yes, Morag?’
‘Good morning, Mr Hunter. Your father wishes to see you in his office right away.’
Oh, God, he’s on the ball this morning I see. No chance to even get settled.‘Okay, thanks. I’ll be right there.’
Once I had summoned up the courage and made a brief plan in my head of the retorts I might be able to use for whatever bullshit he accused me of this time, I made the short journey to the next floor up and approached my father’s office. His secretary, Melissa, asked me to take a seat and so I plonked myself down and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
I felt like a school kid waiting to see the head teacher for a roasting. My knee bounced up and down, and I chewed on my nails.This is ridiculous.
And still I waited.
Oh sod this.I stood and walked over to stand at the secretary’s desk once again.Speaking through gritted teeth I said,‘Melissa, can you tell my father I have work to be getting on with and that he should call me when he actually has thetimeto speak with me.’
Melissa’s cheeks turned bright pink, and she opened and closed her mouth as if trying to work out how to protest at my request—which would no doubt land her in hot water.
Suddenly, the door to my father’s office opened. ‘Finlay. You may come in,’ he said dismissively, without making eye contact.
When I glanced over at Melissa, her relief was almost palpable. I smiled at her and shook my head, but she dropped her gaze to her computer screen and carried on typing. I realised she must have been terrified of suffering my father’s wrath just like everyone else.
Once inside the plush, mahogany and leather clad office that had been occupied by my tyrant of a father ever since I could remember, he closed the door. ‘Take a seat, young man.’
Okay, so he has his patronising head on. Bang went any hopes of a civilised and adult-to-adultconversation. I watched as he walked round the desk and sat in his large, wing-backed leather chair, silently resting his elbows on the highly polished wood and steepling his fingers.
Unable to bear the silent treatment any longer, I interrupted whatever thoughts were bumbling around in his head. ‘What did you want to see me about, Dad?’
He took a noisy, deep breath through his mouth and blew it out with force through flared nostrils. ‘As you can imagine, Finlay, you upset your mother and me with the aggressive nature of your departure after the wedding.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘Therewasno wedding.’
He huffed. ‘And therein lays another issue. Your mother and I put a lot of time and effort into your relationship with Elise. Does that count for nothing?’
I couldn’t help snorting. ‘Do you not realise howwrongthat whole sentence is?’
His brow furrowed. ‘Meaning what,exactly?’
My heart rate picked up and my temples began to throb. I could sense my anger levels rising. ‘Meaning that it wasmyrelationship with Elise, and it wasmewho was getting married to her. Not you. Yet somehow you’ve turned the whole bloody thing around and made it look likeI’mthe guilty party.’
‘Do you not see how your lack of insistence on setting a date caused a rift between the pair of you, Finlay?’
His persistent use of my full Christian name rather than an affectionate term like ‘son’ made me seethe. It was more like a business meeting than a father-son chat. But then again, he chose to do this at our place of work.
My calm tone belied the turmoil under my skin. ‘Dad. I will say this once more, and I will say it slowly so you understand this time. She. Did. Not. Want. To. Set. A. Date. And I will tell you why, shall I? It’s down to the fact thatyousent her to London where she met the man of her dreams. So don’t keep turning this around on me. We never really loved each other. You and the Drummonds pushed us into a relationship that neither of us really wanted.’
He slammed his hand on the desk. ‘Utter nonsense! She adored you!Youruined it!’
‘No, Dad. She loved me as afriend.Nothing more. Looking back now, I realise we should have just stopped the whole charade before it went as far as me being jilted at the altar.’
‘So that’s the gratitude you show your parents, is it? You’re not even prepared to fight for the woman you love?’
I felt the growl erupt from my body before I heard it. Once it left my throat, it sounded alien to me. ‘For the last time - I DON’T LOVE HER!’
