Want You Back - River Laurent Page 0,21
him? His mother wanted us to break it off but it didn’t mean that Alex would.
I still had some fight in me. I thrust my chin out. “Alex won’t leave me.”
She laughed. Startled, I stared at her.
“Is that what you think? That I’m stupid enough to think I can convince my infatuated son to leave you by simply appealing to his good sense, which I know is missing right now?”
She paused as if waiting for me to speak before she continued.
“Of course not! His father and I will convince him by what he values the most. His lifestyle and his future. Alex can’t wait to join the family law firm but his father will let him know that there’s a condition attached to it.”
I gasped. “You can’t do that!”
She nodded. “Oh yes we can. We’ll do everything to ensure that Alexander has a good future. If we have to threaten him, then so be it.” She stood up and turned to me. “That’s not all. From now, henceforth if he doesn’t end this silly little dalliance, his allowance ends with immediate effect.”
Alex
A knock came on my bedroom door as I was waiting for a decent amount of time to pass before going to Charlotte’s bedroom. No way was I not going to spend the night with my woman.
I opened the door and was surprised to see my father. “Can I see you in my study?”
“Sure,” I said and followed him to the first-floor study room. He held the door open for me and shut it behind us.
My father was a formal person and he didn’t speak until we were both seated. He, behind the big mahogany desk and me in the spare chair.
“We’re very happy to have you home son,” he said.
“I’m happy to be home too,” I said. “But I go back on Sunday.”
He waved a hand. “I know. But it won’t be long before you’re back home permanently.”
“True,” I said.
“Your mother says it wasn’t a good idea for you to study in Ohio,” Father said.
I was puzzled. That was an odd thing to say. I’d sent them all my grades throughout my year undergraduate course and I’d done very well. “Why would she say that?”
“Because the intention had been for you to study and come back to New York where you’d meet a suitable girl,” Father said.
My heart fell as I understood what the meeting was all about. Charlotte. They didn’t think that Charlotte was good enough for me. If only they knew the truth. I wasn’t good enough for Charlotte. She deserved a better man than me.
I kept my cool. Maybe good reason would prevail. My father was a reasonable man. The only problem was that my mother wielded a lot of influence over him.
“I’ve already met a wonderful girl whom I want to marry,” I said.
“We don’t think she’s the right person for you. You need someone with the right background. Someone who’ll fit into our lifestyle. Someone from the right family.”
I reigned in my anger. “Father, Charlotte is a wonderful human being.”
“No one is disputing that fact son,” he said. “But even you can see that her background can become somewhat of an embarrassment.”
My muscles quivered. Blood rushed through my brain. I couldn’t believe that those words were coming from my father’s mouth. I knew that my parents were snobbish but I never thought they would stoop so low as to dislike a person based on where they were born. “To who?”
“To all of us.”
Shame flooded me. I had come from these people. “I’m not going to give up Charlotte.”
A hard look came over my father’s face. I knew what I was up against. He had not built one of the most respected law firms in New York by losing. Unfortunately for my parents, Charlotte was the one thing I was not going to lose.
She made my world go round. She brought joy into my life and made me whole. She brought out the maleness in me and made me want to be a better man for her.
“I was afraid it would come to that. Son, we’re not giving you a choice. You must give her up,” he said his tone cold.
I knew that side of him. I’d seen him in the courtroom. But he was fighting love, and there was no way I was giving up my love. I couldn’t imagine anyone else I would have wanted to marry and have a family with. Charlotte was it for me. The one and only love