Can't Help but Love Him

Robinsons Residents

     I mostly worked online, so I spent my time holed up in the office. Everyday I was starting to feel more like my dad. I didn't exactly know how I felt about that; he had been a very condescending man. Being a good father figure for Ellie was my number one concern, but my work took up majority of my time.

     I was working on gathering data from all the company branches, when an interesting looking email dropped in my inbox. It was an invitation to join a gala held by the Robinson Residents. I hadn't heard of their family name, and I wondered if our companies had formed alliances in the past.

     My door suddenly opened a crack, and Aurora peered her head through. "You got the email too, right? How about we go? We haven't been to anything fancy in a while." 

     "Have you heard of the Robinsons? I don't think had any interactions with them before." I say, looking back at the email. 

     "Papa, let's go have fun! I even have a new dress, you know." Ellie says, popping out from behind Aurora. I sighed; she knew I couldn't say no if Ellie was here. 

     "I'm not opposed to having fun, I guess I just want to make sure this is authentic-" I couldn't even finish my sentence before they both pulled out their puppy eyes, trying their hardest to convince me. I loved them both beyond belief, but living with all women was exhausting. 

     "Alright then, yeah. Let's go." I smiled. She was right, we hadn't done anything exiting in a while. It would be nice to get off the property for a change. 

     "It's tonight at seven, right? Elizabeth, you'll be staying up a little past your bed time so take lots of naps okay?" Aurora chimes, closing the door behind them. They really were odd. I knew they'd go to the gala anyway, that was just their way of asking me to go along with them.

     Seven PM was two hours away, so I'd have plenty of time to get some work done. I looked over the email once more, verifying the address details. It seemed real enough. 

     The door opened again, and Ellie's head popped out from behind it. "Hey, listen to this! Eddie is small, right? So I can fit him my pocket, right? So I can bring him, right?" 

     I smiled; I would've done the same thing as a kid. "If a frog somehow makes his way into the gala, I promise I'll play dumb." I wink. She gasps with excitement, and runs back down the hallway. I'd probably get in trouble for this later, but social events were always so boring. It was time to mix things up.

     Thirty minutes before we left, I looked in my closet for an acceptable suit. The party had said red was the key color, and that we should somehow incorporate it in our outfits. I didn't know how I would wear it, a red suit seemed a bit much.

     "You could wear a red boutonnière! It's in the back of the closet upstairs." Aurora says, slipping a white dress over her head. It was kind of scary how she read my mind like that, but it was pretty helpful from time to time.

     Ellie was in the garden out back, probably playing with the bugs on the flowers. She seemed so unbothered about everything. The world must look so colorful to her. 

     Aurora brought Ellie's dress outside, quickly dressing her while I brought the car around back  for them. I brought the directions up on the car screen, pulling out of the driveway. I could sense their excitement as we pulled up to the decorated house.

     "Papa, I brought Eddie." Ellie whispered in my ear once we got out. I looked at her small figure, wondering where she could possibly be hiding an entire frog. She was probably pretending, her dress didn't even have any pockets. 

     The mansion was on the bigger side, lots of cars were already parked in the driveway. I myself was curious to see who Mr. Robinson was, considering I didn't remember that name in the slightest. 

     We came inside to find people spread out around the foyer, but the crowd was mostly in the main living area. There were surprisingly quite a few people I recognized, and they all seemed to be having a good time. Aurora went off to mingle, bringing Ellie along with her. 

     This was why I didn't like social events like this, it meant I'd have to talk to people I'd only met once or twice. I was grateful for the familiar faces though, it meant I knew where to start. Before I could go over to anyone, I heard my name from somewhere in the crowd.

     "Mr. Wilson, once again it's a pleasure. I'm glad you could make it." He smiled. I stared at his face for a moment, thinking where I'd seen it before. The realization then hit me, making me freeze in place.

     "Mr.... Mr. Robinson? James Robinson?" My throat was suddenly very dry, and my hands started to twitch uncontrollably. 

     Out of all the people who had hosted this party, it had to be him. He who knew about who I'd been with during high school. 

     I'd tried my very hardest to forget about those years, spent countless nights awake thinking about my past and how desperately I wanted to change it. I had finally gotten over what happened, but seeing James' face brought it all up again. 

     Most importantly, I had a family now. They couldn't find out, they just couldn't. 

     "Would you mind stepping aside to talk quickly? The patios just around the back there." He spoke so calmly, as if he didn't hold my future in his hands. I mindlessly followed him, trying to think of a way to get myself out of the situation.

     We got outside to the patio, faced out towards the sunset. "I wasn't even sure you would come. I suppose not having my first name in the invites was a good idea." He said, turning back to look at me.

     I couldn't even speak, I just stood there waiting for him to tell me how he was going to ruin my life. Questions began to rise in the back of my brain, such as why had he waited until now? And why in person, couldn't he blackmail me online?

     "You probably have the wrong idea of why I had you come. I thought it would be insensitive to say anything over the phone, since... you know..." He looked pretty uncomfortable, and couldn't make eye contact with me.

      I stared at him with disbelief, waiting for him to finish. I really didn't know what to say, or what he would say. 

     "I accidentally stumbled upon a social media account of a woman named Mary Jean, who apparently worked at our high school. She got married a few years ago, and has children. " He said, lowering his voice when people came out onto the patio.

     I was beyond confused on how this situation related to me, but I listened to his story nonetheless.

     "Her change in last name was what gave it away for me. Apparently, her husband was Mr. Johnson." He whispered.

     My mouth dropped, only partially at the news he had given me. I hadn't heard his name in a long time. I'd purposely gotten rid of any contact with him, and cut it all out completely.  

     "A few days ago she spoke a little on her Facebook account talking about how much she missed him. A couple of hours later, her post was taken down. It's not enough evidence, but I think... I think he may have died."