𝐀𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐲𝐚
I'd sworn off of love and men after the fiasco that was my last relationship. Until I spent one steamy and passionate night with a dark haired stranger. A man that I thought I'd never see again. Until I found out that he was my new boss...
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It had been a week since I'd last talked to Aaliya. Since I'd taken her out to lunch. Or a date, if you could call it that. God, what had I been thinking? And to make matters worse, I'd flirted with her and messed it up, all within the span of a few seconds. Fuck me to hell and back. I'd been the one to draw the line between us, yet I found myself wanting to break it time and time again. What the fuck was up with that?
I rolled my neck backwards, working out the kinks from it as the bright lights in my cabin shone right into my eyes. The sky had darkened visibly outside, the city of Seattle flickering in the dark and taunting me. The sound of the door creaking open had me looking up at the new visitor.
"You gonna stay glued to your chair for the rest of the night?" Mac teased, his suit jacket on his arm, before he took a seat in front of me.
"Dad's going to call soon." I said in a somber voice, ignoring his previous question.
"Oh shit." Mac murmured, his face dropping. "Last you told me, he's in France, right? With your mom?"
I nodded wordlessly, massaging my temples. Dad had started an affair with Tina seven years ago, when I'd been 24 and a fresh faced Masters graduate ready to kick start his career. That's when Mom had found out and the both of them had ended up telling me that they were going to get a divorce due to irreconcilable differences. My mother was originally from India but had grown up in the South of France, where she'd lived for nearly 15 years of her life. During a spontaneous trip to the US with her friends when she was 28, she'd met my dad and promptly fell in love with him. They'd gotten married soon after and had me, obviously.
Most of my memories consisted of being shipped from one boarding school to another and a couple of summers in France and India alternatively - hence why my French and Hindi was good. My parents' divorce had been a shock to me because I'd never seen that coming. I'd never thought that that would happen to us. But it had. And it had ruined everything. Mom flew back to her hometown not long after filing for separation and had left me with Dad. It was hard not to harbor resentment towards the woman - especially since she and Dad hadn't been the most proactive parents throughout my childhood. Those lingering feelings were probably why we talked only once in two weeks or on special occasions.
I wouldn't say that I was close to Dad either, but I could say that we now had a better relationship as father and son. One of the things that had hit Dad the most after being diagnosed was regret and guilt. Hence why he was trying to make amends now with my mother. Not that they were going to get back together or anything - I wasn't holding out any hope for that, no. But more like he wanted to clear the air before the point came where his memories were completely wiped out. In the past 6 months, I could really see that he was going out of his way to make me feel important. To make me feel seen and loved. Like a normal father should. I only wished that he'd thought to do this 24 years ago without the excuse of Alzheimer's when I really needed him, instead of sending me to boarding school because he and Mom didn't have enough time to manage a kid with both their careers. Should have thought of that before having me, huh?
