Chapter -21- #3
“I put everything into the business. Long nights. No days off. And it nearly cost me everything. Neither you nor your sister ever asked why I was retiring early.”
Denz picks at his muffin. “I thought—”
“It was for your mom,” Kenneth finishes, a cheek-aching grin blooming. “I love her. Since the day we met. But I suck at work-life balance.”
“You’re a Carter, Dad. We’re great at everything.”
“Oh, please.” Kenneth guffaws. “With Nic heading to college, I knew it was time. It’ll be just me and your mom. I’m not spending the rest of my life celebrating everyone else’s best moments and not my own.”
Denz’s index finger traces the rim of his cup. “You’re not worried about Kami becoming another you?”
“I was, ” Kenneth says, leaning back. “That’s why I wanted to go public with the job. I didn’t want either of you to make my mistakes. Even after the amazing events you both hosted, I still wasn’t sure.”
“What changed?”
“The flood.”
Denz’s forehead wrinkles. “But she didn’t show up until we were done.”
“When I called Kamila, she had her hands full with Mikah. To my surprise, she also told me all about this Suraj fella and their relationship.”
Denz slurps more tea to prevent himself from admitting he knew.
“She told me flat out she wasn’t leaving Mikah’s side until she knew he was comfortable with her boyfriend,” Kenneth adds.
“Wow.”
“She did what I never did when one of you were sick or going through something,” Kenneth tells him. “She delegated. Sent Jordan in her place. She prioritized her son and her relationship while still making sure the job got done.”
Denz thinks back to that day. All the work he put in, thinking he made a difference by choosing the company first. By putting his promise to Braylon second.
“She chose both,” he says low, awed.
“Denzel—” Kenneth reaches across the table to touch the back of his hand. “—I saw everything you did to win the job. The late evenings. Extra hours. The lunches you skipped. I saw the old me. But I never saw my son.”
Denz didn’t either. He saw the Carter he thought he was supposed to be.
“When Braylon came back,” Kenneth says with a sly grin instead of a scowl, “you were happy. Passionate. In love . It took me a while to forgive him, you know.”
“Yeah, Dad.” Denz chuckles derisively. “You didn’t hide that at all.”
“What? Am I not allowed to have beef with the man who broke my son’s heart?”
Denz swallows the lump that’s been clogging his throat like the world’s largest jawbreaker. “No, you are.”
“He left you. I couldn’t just let him off the hook.”
“I know.”
“But the more I saw him with you—I could tell he wasn’t who he was in college. Neither are you.” Kenneth pats his hand. “Don’t repeat my mistakes, son.”
“Too late for that.”
“Your mom told me it’s over.”
“Something like that.” Denz’s face wrinkles. Is this really how he’s going to tell his dad? In the middle of a café on a Wednesday? “Actually—”
Kenneth waits patiently.
“I lied about things with Braylon.” Denz sighs. “We were never back together. It was all fake.”
Kenneth blinks, the wheels turning behind his eyes. He nods slowly, maintaining a steady gaze as he says, “No, it wasn’t.”
“Um, Dad, I’m pretty sure I know when I’m in a fake relationship.”
“No, no. I knew about that part.”
“You did?!”
Denz ignores Matty’s hostile stare the moment he raises his voice.
Kenneth rolls his eyes. “Denzel, I changed your shitty diapers. You thought I wouldn’t figure out you were lying about your relationship?”
“Maybe?”
“We knew you were lying. Me and your mom,” Kenneth concedes.
Denz flails, knocking his muffin over. “Do the aunties know?” Fuck, does that mean he needs to check the cursed family group chat? “Oh God, is Uncle O the one who figured it out?”
Kenneth shakes his head, laughing lowly. “I love my sisters and their husbands, but they all missed this one. Even Auntie C.C.”
Despite the urge to throw himself through Crema’s glass front door, Denz smiles.
His dad reaches into his jacket pocket. He slides a Polaroid on the table. A gasp rushes up Denz’s chest. It’s the Polaroid from four years ago. From the New Year’s party.
“Where’d you get this?”
“Nic’s corkboard,” Kenneth admits. “I was helping her clean her bedroom. To make packing easier. It was right there.”
Denz hasn’t visited Nic’s room in a while. He remembers the fairy lights and peach walls he helped paint. All the K-pop posters. Over her desk is a corkboard with all her favorite photos. Including this one, apparently.
“This face”—Kenneth points at Polaroid Denz—“is the same one I saw every time you two were together. Then and now.”
Denz tentatively brushes his fingers over the photo. Two lovesick boys unprepared for what was next. “It’s really over,” he whispers.
“Didn’t look that way Saturday.”
“Yeah, well.” Denz isn’t in the mood to explain the rest.
“I didn’t recognize the Denzel I saw every day at work, but I know the man I saw with Braylon,” Kenneth says, covering Denz’s face on the photo. “That was my brilliant son. He was in love. Is in love. Those feelings are real.”
Tears line Denz’s eyes. No surprise. His dad gives him space to think, a minute turning to three, before Denz says, “I’m not ready to go back. To work. I need more time.”
“Okay.”
“I want to take a leave. Figure out who I am. Effective immediately.”
“ Technically, I’m not your boss anymore, but—” Kenneth fishes out his phone. He slips his glasses on, typing. A new email wooshes. He grins. “Done.”
Denz sags with relief. It’s time to be honest with himself. Discover what makes him happy. What he wants for the future, professionally and personally. And how to balance it all.
“Now,” Kenneth says, standing, “stop being a pain in the ass and answer your mom’s calls. She’s threatened to kick me out if I’ve ruined your life by choosing Kami.”
Denz face-palms, laughing. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll call.” Peeking through his fingers, he adds, “And Dad? You didn’t ruin my life.”
The softest, most Denz-like smile emerges on Kenneth’s mouth.
Before leaving, his dad unearths one last item from his jacket: a business card. “A gift.” He rests it next to the Polaroid. “Someone asked to meet with you. Maybe it’ll help you figure things out.”
Then, his dad’s gone.
Denz forgets about his tea, the upside-down muffin. He grabs the card. His eyes scan over the Helvetica font. Above an email and telephone number, it reads:
NORA brIDGER
FOUNDER & CEO
SKYE’S THE LIMIT