"No it isn't. Apologize to her!"
James looked amused as he stood up to meet his son's gaze. "I didn't say anything I need to apologize for. You are sleeping with her, are you not?"
"That's not your business. You're being so hateful and rude for no reason!"
"You think it's for no reason? I think it's because I'm looking out for my family." He turned towards me and said, "My Company and my legacy," as if taunting me. I had planned on looking for the papers after we had dessert, excusing myself and using the restroom … now I just wanted out.
"Maybe we should go, Seth," I said.
James smiled at me. It was a creepy, plastic smile. He looked at his son and said, "She's using you and you're a fool if you think otherwise."
"That's it. Yes Erin, let's go. My father has lost his mind."
Seth came around and took my arm and we were almost out the door before James said, "You may as well tell him, Adele, or I will." At the sound of my real name, my stomach twisted into a knot. The jig was up.
Seth stopped and looked down at me. I could feel the tears trying to force their way into my eyes. I was pushing them back when he looked back at his father and said, "Adele? You really have lost your mind. Her name is Erin."
"Her name is Adele Morgan. She is the daughter of the man who formerly owned the company you now sit as CEO of. She is using you, Seth. She thinks that she was wronged and she is trying to ruin your family. You're playing into her hands for the occasional piece of … "
"Stop it! Stop it!" Seth's muscles tensed up and he was screaming at his father now. His face was red and his fists were clutched at his sides. One more word from James was likely to net him a sock in the face by his own son. I had to do something.
"Seth … "
"He's not going to get away with it this time, Erin. He's not only being rude, he's straight up telling lies about you."
I took a step away, unsure of how he would react as I said, "He's not lying. Adele Morgan is my real name. But I'm not using you. I took this job to get into the company that should have been mine. I was looking for something to prove your father stole it from me; which he did. I didn't mean to fall in love with you, but I did."
Seth was looking at me like I was a stranger. In all honesty, I guess that's what I was. He'd been sleeping with a woman whose real name he hadn't even known. He had to feel so betrayed. "All of this time, you've been lying to me?"
"Finally! Jesus sometimes I can't believe you're my son. You're such a fool."
Seth turned on his father then and in a voice barely above a whisper, but one that sounded dangerous nonetheless, he said, "Get out! For your own safety, you need to go now!"
James smiled again. "I'll go son," he said. "But when she tries unbuttoning her top to get your attention just avert your eyes and remember that cheap whores are a dime a dozen."
"Get out!" That time he screamed at him. James smirked in my direction and then he left. Seth took a deep breath and turned back towards me. The tears were spilling now and I wiped one off my cheek.
"I can explain, Seth. He stole everything from me. I didn't mean to fall for you … but I did. I love you Seth. I am not using you." His chest was heaving up and down. I could tell that he was trying to get control of himself. It was a little bit frightening.
"Go home, Er-Adele. I'll have the limo drop you off. Don't contact me. I'll have your things packed up out of your office and sent to you. You're fired and you're dead to me. Get out."
"Seth … "
"Get out!" He screamed at me the way he had his father. I picked up my coat and my bag and I left. By the time I got outside, the limousine driver was waiting for me. I felt like my heart was breaking. I couldn't get the picture of his face out of my mind. He was so hurt and he felt so betrayed. The worst part was, he had every right to.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SETH
As soon as Erin was gone my father came back into the room. "If you're here to gloat, I suggest you stay away because I'm not in the mood," I told him.
He surprised me by putting his hand on my back. Other than a handshake, I can't remember the last time he touched me with any kind of affection. "I'm sorry, son."
I turned and looked at him. I was searching his eyes, hoping to see some kind of real remorse there. At that moment, when my heart lay shattered in a thousand pieces, a tiny little bit was all I needed. I didn't see anything real there. I could tell that he was trying to look like he gave a damn, but he wasn't pulling it off. "Why did you invite her here? Why not just tell me in private?"
"Would you have believed me?" he asked.
The answer was probably not, but whose fault was that? A real father and son would be close enough to trust each other and believe the other one only has their best interest at heart. But we don't have that kind of relationship, we never have. "Probably not. What is it that she thinks you stole from her, father?"
"The company that we own."
"Did you?"
He tried to look hurt, but again, I could tell it was feigned. "Of course not. I bought that company and I made it what it is today. It was a fledgling company on the verge of bankruptcy when I got ahold of it. Now it's a thriving multi-national corporation because of me."
"Why does she think you stole it from her?"
"I can't explain her delusional thoughts. I do expect you to have better backgrounds done on our new employees from now on. I want whoever ran hers fired."
"If I had run a background on her and discovered that she was the daughter of the former owner of the company I would have never hired her … and I would have never fallen … "
My father laughed, "Fallen in love? You think you're in love with that Irish bog-trotter?"
I had never wanted to put my fist through the wall as badly as I did at that moment. I didn't think I was in love with her, I knew that I was. I loved her like I'd never loved anyone or anything in my life. It was the only love that ever rivaled the way I felt about my mother. I turned to my father then.
"If I find out that what she thinks you did is true … "
He smirked at me. "You'll do what?" he asked.
"You do not want to find out," I told him. I left the house then and there was a good chance that I wouldn't be back. I was going to find out the truth and if my father had hurt her, God help him.
***
ADELE
Grant was knocking on my bedroom door again. "Argh! I'm fine, Grant. It's Saturday. I can sleep in on Saturday. Leave me alone!" I wasn't under any delusions that he was going to listen to me. I knew that Grant did what Grant wanted to do. Sometimes I loved him in spite of it and sometimes I wanted to choke him because of it. Right now was one of the latter. He pushed open the door that I knew I should have locked.
"I made pancakes."
"I'm not hungry."
"You have to eat."
"I eat. I'm just not hungry right now."
"When was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday."
"What did you eat?"
"Geez, Grant! What are you, the food police?" He came over with the TV tray and sat it next to the bed. Then he sat down next to me. I rolled over so I wasn't facing him. He got up and came around the foot of the bed and sat down on that side. "God, you're annoying!"
"I know. You have to eat. You need to get out of this bed … "
"Why? Huh Grant? What do I really have to get out of this bed for? I don't have a job. I don't have parents. I don't have a boyfriend."
"You need to do it for you. This is not you and you know it. You'll feel better if you get up and get your life back. You don't need that job. You know that you can walk into any corporation in this city and get a job and be the most highly qualified person there. Or if you don't want a job, take some of that money you've made over the past three years and never spent and go on a vacation, take a cruise … do something! You haven't left the house in a week, every day that you let go by like this will make getting back out there that much harder."