“Hey, boss,” Tessa sings as she knocks on my door once she enters my office, pulling me back to reality.
“Hey. What’s up?” I sit up taller in my chair and begin moving forms back into the folder in front of me. This file is ready for signatures, which means I can move onto the next.
“There’s a delivery for you.”
“Really?” I perk up in my chair, wondering why someone would be sending me something on a Wednesday. It’s not my birthday and I’m as single as a woman can be, so I’m not sure what to expect.
Tessa leaves and then returns with a crystal vase full of pink roses and twigs of baby’s breath. “They are so gorgeous,” she croons as I stand from my chair and intercept them.
“They are beautiful,” I agree, setting them down on my desk but then mentally chastising this person because if they truly knew me, they’d know that my favorite roses are red. I search the arrangement for a card and find one easily. Pulling the cardstock from the envelope, my eyes search the note for my admirer’s identity, but my entire body deflates as I find the missing piece of information.
Sydney,
Please accept these roses as a token of my interest in you. Your father had expressed that you’d be willing to have dinner with me sometime to discuss our future. I look forward to it.
Andrew
“Ugh,” I spit as I toss the card in the trash and then return to my chair.
“I’m guessing that these aren’t from someone you wanted them to be from?” Tessa bites her thumbnail, a nervous tick of hers that I’ve become accustomed to.
“Not at all. They’re from Andrew Benton.”
Her nose scrunches up instantly at that information. “Ew. Gross.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ve only met him once, but the stench of his cologne lingered in the hallways for days after he left. Why is he sending you flowers?”
I stare out the window, my blood boiling beneath the surface. “My father seems to think we’d be the perfect match made in heaven. We come from the same circle and he’s hell bent on setting us up.”
“And you’re not interested?”
I shake my head quickly. “Not at all! I can barely stand the guy, do not find him attractive whatsoever, and because my father wants us to be together, it makes me want to retaliate even more. I know it sounds so ‘papa don’t preach’, but it’s the truth.”
Tessa nods as if she understands my rant completely. “Okay, note to self. No deliveries from Andrew will be accepted any longer.” She mock salutes me and then turns to leave, but stops short to drop a few more words. “For what it’s worth, I admire you standing up to your dad. I wish I had that type of confidence.” She flashes me a polite smile and then returns to her office two doors down.
I sigh, leaning back in my chair again, stewing on her words. If Tessa only knew the conflict I go through trying to live up to his expectations so I don’t seem ungrateful for everything he’s given me while also trying to loosen the leash I feel he’s tied around my neck.
If my mother had never met my father, who knows what my childhood would have looked like, a detail that she likes to remind me of in private on numerous occasions. Even at dinner last week after the lunch I stormed out of with my father, my mother pulled me aside and reminded me that we’ve experienced privilege because of him and the least I could do is respect his need to protect me and want what’s best for me.
But that’s just the thing—it’s what he thinks is best, with no opportunity to express what I want.
My mom was barely surviving working two waitressing jobs when she met my father as a customer at the small diner she worked at during the day. He was caught off guard by her beauty, but the sadness in her eyes is what pulled him in. When he offered to take her out for a decent meal, she thought he couldn’t possibly want a woman like her, but he was relentless. Before she knew it, she was attending social events decked out in designer gowns and he put a blinding diamond ring on her finger. I have never doubted that my father loves my mother, and don’t consider him the type of man that would ever use his fists to control a woman, given his job and the scum he sees in and out of his courtroom on a daily basis. But he does like people to do what he says, which can be downright irritating at times.
So while bending to his wishes and running to him for help is exactly what he’d want and what I was leaning toward earlier, Tessa’s words struck a chord with me. If I want him to respect me and my wishes for my own life, I have to stand my ground firmly this time, which means going back to Elite tomorrow night and facing the intensity of Javier Montes, even if that means having to stand up to him too.
I shuffle papers around on my desk and get back to work, throwing myself into the estate planning of Mr. Nickson before my stomach growls and alerts me that I haven’t eaten since I downed my protein shake earlier.
“Tessa, I need to get out of my office for a bit. I’m going to grab lunch from Russo’s. Do you want
