Chapter Aspen #4
“I…” He’d made me blush more today than most other days, for whatever reason. “You’re really sappy today, you know that?”
He stared at me, his eyebrow perked up along with the corner of his mouth in one of those smug grins. He knew exactly how I was feeling, and how his stupidly sweet remarks were twisting up my insides and making my heart pound in my chest.
“Don’t worry, BB,” he started, using his voice for the imaginary version of me. “As soon as we’re done with him, I’ll take you home and reward you for being such a good boy.”
“Is that really what you want to be thinking about during dinner?” I asked flatly, his innocently fluttering lashes giving me his answer without him needing to say it.
“That sounds so good,” he murmured, ignoring me as always when he was doing this annoying shtick. Scooting to the edge of the bed, he pulled me to him so he could shove his face into my torso, nuzzling me. “Nothing motivates me like you do, Cupcake.”
Sighing, I carded my fingers through his hair and held him to me for a minute, soothing him and allowing him to wallow in pouty self pity.
I had a very strange evening ahead of me.
WHEN WE PULLED up to the restaurant that Faulkner had indicated in his texts to Caelyx, thankfully a different restaurant than the one he’d taken me to before, I had to hand the keys over to a valet.
“Uh, is this alright?” I’d asked Caelyx when we’d pulled in and seen how limited space was and that valet parking was basically the only option.
“It’s fine,” he’d assured me. “They’ll just add it to my dad’s bill.”
It wasn’t just the fee. If I owned such a nice car, I wasn’t sure my heart could take the pain of handing it over to a complete stranger. But I guess Caelyx was probably used to stuff like valet parking.
I’d expected the staff at the restaurant to side eye my jeans and faded jacket, but I imagined seeing me pull up in the driver’s seat of a gleaming Porsche probably counteracted whatever judgments they might have initially had.
The nerves in my stomach hit a peak, writhing like a pit of vipers as we were seated, with Faulkner already on the other side of the table. He was sitting up straight, with his fingers laced together on the table, like I’d seen him do before.
“Caelyx,” he greeted him calmly, with a slight nod of his head. The tone of his voice was deeper and more resonant than I remembered it. Was he different with me than he typically was with Caelyx?
“Dad.”
It was awkward, and I kind of wished I was anywhere else. But seeing Caelyx so stiff next to me, eyeing Faulkner so apprehensively, I couldn’t help but reach over and squeeze his thigh under the table.
“Faulkner Vane,” he said, finally directing his attention to me and reaching out to shake my hand. “And you’re… Aspen, right?” He asked. I had to give it to him, his expression suggested he’d never seen me before in his entire life.
“Yeah. Aspen Davis,” I answered, and he gave a slight nod.
“And the two of you are…” He trailed off, indicating for one of us to fill in the blanks.
I’m your future son-in-law, don’t you remember?
When I only cleared my throat, glancing at Caelyx for guidance on how to handle a question that I didn’t exactly know the answer to myself, he looked completely composed and not remotely confused.
“We’re together,” he said simply. “I told you that.”
“Well, together is a relative term,” Faulkner mused. “Are you… Dating? Exclusively?”
The words reminded me of the offer he’d made me when he’d first forced me into a meeting with him. A hot blush washed over my cheeks, and I hoped if Caelyx noticed he’d attribute it to my general feelings toward relationships and long term attachments.
“That’s right,” he confirmed, somewhat neutrally. Just like how Faulkner was different than how he’d been around me, Caelyx was, too. They were both… Stiffer. More cautious. It was kind of sad. But at least they were agreeing to talk, and maybe things could start improving.
When Faulkner invited me to tell him about myself, I suppressed a sigh and started talking, even though it felt totally performative.
He remarked positively about the things I already knew he liked, like my scholarship and GPA, and then asked other questions like how we met, and how long we’d been seeing each other.
All things he already knew, but seemed obvious to ask if you were meeting your kid’s partner for the first time.
When he asked about my degree, I explained it would be business analytics with a minor in marketing, and he made a passing comment about how I could find myself working for Vane Corporation one day.
I’d never even considered that he’d want me to, and I wasn’t completely sure if he was serious or not.
Wasn’t that some conflict of interest or something?
I didn’t know which aspect of the evening felt weirder.
The fact that I’d had no idea what the status of our relationship had been up until the moment Caelyx had said we were together, and I didn’t know at what point we had shifted into that without me noticing.
Or maybe it was that I’d never actually been serious enough with anyone to do the whole meet the parent, talk about yourself thing, even though I’d technically done all this with Faulkner alone.
The odd chill between them started thawing gradually, like a melting glacier, the longer we talked. Faulkner explained that he was happy to see that Caelyx was settled into university life so comfortably, and they discussed some family members that I didn’t know about.
When I excused myself to go to the restroom and came back, the tone at the table seemed to have shifted, but I couldn’t decipher why or what exactly the new mood was.
It was clear they’d talked about something while I was gone, but I knew I couldn’t ask about it or I’d look crazy.
And anyway, they were father and son. They were allowed to have something between them I didn’t know about…
As long as it wasn’t about me. I was sure it wasn’t about me. Probably.
The waiter brought us the check, Faulkner immediately picking it up to pay it.
Curious about the price, I tried to subtly crane my neck over to see, but he kept it tilted away from me so I couldn't. Once he'd gotten his card back, a fancy black one that looked like it was made of metal, we left the restaurant.
As we walked out the door, Caelyx’s phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket, his eyes glued to the screen as he kept walking forward.
Completely oblivious to his surroundings, he nearly stepped off the curb into the street, but my hand whipped out from my side and grabbed a handful of his coat, yanking him backwards, just as a car sped past the very spot he’d have walked into.
“Caelyx,” I ground out his name between my teeth, my heart racing in my chest from the danger he’d been in.
He lifted his head from his screen, still completely oblivious.
“That smoothie place down the street from our work has passion fruit for a limited time,” he remarked, sounding excited. “That sounds really good, right?”
“Yeah,” I remarked flatly, inhaling deeply. “Great.”
“You’ll go with me?”
“Yes.”
Satisfied with my answer, he returned his attention to his phone while we waited for the valet.
Glancing over to Faulkner, I saw him staring at me with a weary expression. Grimacing slightly, I gave him a tiny nod to acknowledge him, just enough that Caelyx wouldn’t notice. He heaved a small sigh, and gave me a subtle pat on the shoulder.
All in all, I considered it a successful evening.