Page 39 of Promise Me Nothing
I only see a flicker of disapproval on his face, but he hides it quickly, dropping his hand and tucking it into his pockets, taking on an easy stance that makes him look like the king of the world.
Or at least of Hermosa Beach.
“You didn’t shave.” Of course that’s the first thing he says. He looks to my mom. “You shouldn’t let him show up to events like these without a clean face. It’s an embarrassment.”
“I’m twenty-fucking-four years old,” I bite out, though I’m careful to keep my voice low enough as to not attract attention. “I don’t need anyone to tell me how to clean up for an event.”
There’s a pause from my father, and I can see him assessing me with shrewd eyes.
It’s the first time he’s seen me since I moved to San Francisco. That’s three whole years, during which time my faith in him diminished even more than it already had before I left. Even though I resent him for so many things – the way he treats his children, the dismissive way he treated my mother, his natural inclination to manipulate and control – there is a part of me that wonders what he sees when he looks at me now.
Does he see the same rebellious teen that snuck out? The one who never wanted any involvement with the Calloway Foundation? Or does he see the man I’ve become on my own? Feel his own resentment that I’m doing something without his help?
“Watch your mouth,” he mumbles, that calm exterior staying in place. He lifts a hand and waves at someone behind me, smiling as he keeps talking to me. “You’re lucky I even let you and your mother come to these functions anymore.”
But I bark out a laugh, a little too loud if Krissa’s watchful eyes are any indicator.
“You’re a fucking joke if you think anything about my life can be dictated by you.”
“Oh, boy, you’d be surprised to know how much control I have over things around here.”
I push my shoulders back. “I don’t care how much money you have, old man. The only reason I’m here is because it was important for mom and for Ivy.” Then I cross my arms. “Clearly there wasn’t a better man to escort the Calloway family to this event. So I gladly stepped in where the space was left vacant.”
“Wyatt, don’t speak like that to your father,” my mom says, a pleasant expression on her face that makes me wonder if she popped a Xanax before coming here tonight. “He’s done a lot for you and deserves your respect.”
I barely manage to muffle my laughter, earning me an expression from my father that looks like he wishes he could melt me into the ground.
“What has he done for me?” I ask, struggling to keep my voice low and feeling thankful that no one is coming over to glad-hand with the man I have to call father. “Cheated on my mother? Left the family? Put his own selfish needs and wants before the people he’s supposed to love? A man like that doesn’t deserve my respect. He deserves my contempt.”
My father’s jaw ticks to the side.
Things haven’t always been this hateful between us, even if we never had a loving father-son relationship. I’m not even sure that he completely understands why I’ve so aggressively and angrily turned my back on him.
Gone is any semblance of a resentful but dutiful son. In his place is a man hell-bent on giving Calvin Calloway the middle finger at every opportunity. He knows the true laundry list of his crimes… all the ways he’s mistreated the people in his life. It shouldn’t be a shock that I’ve finally decided that enough is enough.
Before I can say anything else, though, I catch sight of my mom’s face. I see the hidden embarrassment. The two red patches on the sides of her neck that seem to flourish in these situations. She can barely handle the life she tries to keep organized for herself. She doesn’t need me causing any unnecessary problems or drama. And antagonizing my father is exactly that.
I let out a sigh. “Why do you even insist on talking to me,” I say to him. “It’s no secret that our family isn’t a happily ever after story, regardless of the image you try so carefully to craft. So I don’t understand why you could even believe that talking to me in public has any impact on anything.”
Because really, that’s the only reason he could want to talk to me, right? The only thing he wants is the attention it brings. That the powerful Calvin Callowaycanhave it all.
Endless money. An amazing marriage that ends in friendship. The hot young new wife. And in the face of all of that, the same wonderful, adoring family.
That’s all he wants. And I can see the calculating gleam in his eye. The one that’s trying to figure out what he can gain or lose in any situation.
But he’s a fool if he thinks a single person in this damn town thinks Ivy, Ben and I look at him with anything other than loathing.
Adoring family.
Ha.
Fuck that shit.
“You wouldn’t have anything right now if it wasn’t for me,” he says, his voice menacing, so unlike the charmer that got up on the stage just a short while ago to espouse the virtues of donating to worthy causes. “I think it’s about time you remember who gave you what you have.”
It’s a shallow dig, an easy one to hit and one he likes to bring up whenever he can. Something to put me in my place. Something to remind me of where Ireallycome from.
“Call me over like a dog again at the next event we’re all at together. We’ll see how well that goes over.” My words are like venom, and my only hope is that they have their intended effect.
