29. QUINN
29
QUINN
There’s no way.
I refresh my inbox a few times, just to check if my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. Yet, each time, the message keeps reappearing.
FROM: [email protected]
Subject: URGENT
Quinn,
Hope you’ve been doing well.
We need you back in Italy, STAT.
We’ve booked you a flight. Find the ticket enclosed.
Regards,
Valentino.
“They need me back? Why?” I have read and reread the email at least ten times already and I don’t understand.
I open the file attachment. The ticket is for tomorrow morning.
What can possibly require my urgent presence like this? Has something happened to Enzo?
If that were the case, why would they call me? They’d have no reason too. They don’t have a clue about us.
But it can’t be for business, either, since I’m not in the influencer game anymore. All they have to do is go to my page and see that other than my goodbye video, I haven’t posted in months.
Unless they saw the goodbye video?
Could it be a sign?
I’ve been gearing myself to call and talk to Enzo. Not just about the recording, but also to tell him about the baby. Now I have a chance to do that in person.
The universe is begging me to. All I have to do is get on that flight.
Enzo needs to know what I discovered about Liam. It could be important information that he’s missing out on.
My phone beeps with a reminder.
Dinner with dad—7 p.m.
“Fuck.” I forgot about that.
I haven’t talked to my dad since he called to demand I come home the day I said goodbye to Enzo.
Today, he reached out to me asking me to dinner. As much as I didn’t want to, I agreed.
But now that it’s time, the nervousness inside me is like a volcano waiting to erupt at any moment.
I smooth my hand over my protruding belly.
Like Enzo, my dad doesn’t know about the baby.
If he was mad about me seeing Enzo, I can’t imagine what he’ll do when I tell him I’m carrying Enzo’s baby.
“Stop running away from your fears.” It’s time to come clean.
***
“Quinn.” My dad pulls out the chair for me to sit.
We’re meeting at a small café close to my apartment.
“Hi, Dad,” I breathe out, taking a seat.
Our last meeting flashes before my eyes—the disappointment on my dad’s face, the absolute disapproval.
“I wanted to talk to you and thought this conversation is best had in person.” He’s being a lot more cautious in his mannerisms than I expected him to.
“If this is about… Please don’t. We agreed to put it behind us, right?” I remind him, biting my lip, and then look down at my belly.
Can we really put this behind us?
“We did, but…” He takes a deep breath. “I watched your live the other day. You never told me it was serious enough between the two of you to call it love.”
My stomach twists uncomfortably. “You never gave me the chance. But it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? It’s over now. Besides, it was love for me. I’m not sure about him.”
“I feel like this is all my fault. I’m the reason the both of you had to break apart.”
I stay silent. I can’t tell him he is wrong, so why say anything at all?
“Initially, it was too much for me to take. You’re my daughter. Any father would have the same reaction, if not worse. But I’ve had time to process this…”
I’m hanging onto his every word, leaning forward.
This is the last thing I expected him to say when he suggested we should meet.
“Enzo is not a bad guy. Actually, he’s one of the few decent ones left.” My father shakes his head. “Yes, it’s strange that you have such a big age gap, but should that be the only reason to keep you apart? For me to force you apart?”
“But, Dad, he’s your friend.”
“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten about that in the least.” He sighs as though he’s lost some argument with himself. “Look, you’re both adults. I can’t keep treating you like the little girl you’ll always be in my heart. That is wrong of me and selfish to think I can rule your life. You’ve gone through enough with your divorce, I don’t want to add to your problems.”
“What are you trying to say here?” With my gaze on him, I force down a thick swallow.
“I’m trying to say that I don’t want to be the one keeping you both apart anymore. So, if you really love him and he loves you, you have my blessing, if you choose to still do this.”
My first reaction is anger, spreading through me like wildfire engulfing a forest.
Why now? Why wait four months? Why wait until it’s too late?
And is that why he waited? To make sure there was no turning back before taking what he feels is the high road?
I’ve spent countless nights crying myself to sleep over what could have been.
I want to yell at him, to get up and leave, but he’s looking at me so earnestly that it’s difficult for me to stay mad.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out.
This isn’t how I wanted to tell him, but it bursts out of me like water from a dam.
“You’re… what?”
“I am pregnant, Dad. Four months. Enzo is the father.”
My dad looks like someone knocked the air out of him.
“Is this… Have you both been keeping in touch? How did…”
I shake my head. “We didn’t plan on it. And we didn’t go behind your back. The last we spoke was in Italy, and no, he doesn’t know.”
“Quinn.” He reaches out to grab my hand from across the table. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I wish I could have reacted better, be more understanding. It’s something to be happy about but.. It’s just…”
“Don’t worry about it, Dad. Even about Enzo and me not working out. Your disapproval wasn’t the only reason. I don’t want you feeling guilty over it.”
My dad still hasn’t moved past the news of the baby. He’s rocking back and forth in his seat, nervously.
“He already has children, but he’s the type of man who would do the right thing by you. I know he will step up and be a father.”
He’s talking more to himself now than he is to me. Suddenly, his gaze snaps over to mine.
“Quinn, you can’t keep this information from him anymore. He deserves to know the truth.”
I nod. “I’m trying to muster up the courage to do just that.”