36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
Alex
I’ve never looked at my house from an outsider perspective. It’s always just been where I’ve grown up. Where I’ve played basketball in the driveway. Where I went swimming on a hot summer day. Where I exercised in my home gym or shot some enemies in my gameroom with Drew. I never really thought twice about it. Until I saw it through Margot’s eyes.
Her pupils were perpetually widened the entire time I walked her from the car, into the foyer, past the grand staircase and into the dining room where my dad had set up our little Thanksgiving meal. By Dad, I mean our chef Rosa and by little, I mean extravagant. There were place settings, multiple pairs of utensils, candles and decor that matched the season. This is par for the course for my father, but I realize that Margot might not be used to the opulence.
Interlacing our fingers, I pull her hand up to quickly kiss the palm. “Thank you for coming with me.”
Margot looks up at me with wonder in her eyes. “Are you kidding? Why aren’t we eating here every night?” She asks with a grin. And then the door sounds from behind us, alerting us of my father’s arrival. “Ah, right,” Margot says, squeezing my hand a little more tightly.
I had given her a long-winded warning about my father on the car ride here. I wasn’t about to let her walk into the lion’s den unarmed. I know she’s strong enough to take on whatever rude thing my father says to her. Because I’m sure he will. But it’ll be something smooth and unassuming. A backhanded compliment that actually put her down.
“Alexander?” A stern voice calls from the front door. My father’s voice.
“In here,” I answer, bending down to get Margot one more quick kiss for strength.
In walks Oliver Prescott. His suit pressed firmly as if he’d just picked it up from the tailor instead of wearing it all morning at the office. Of course Oliver works on Thanksgiving. There are very rare days of the year that he doesn’t go into the office. Drew and I spent many years celebrating holidays by ourselves, waiting for him to get home from work. I don’t miss those days.
Giving Margot a once over, he turns to me. “Where is Drew?”
“Dad, this is my girlfriend, Margot,” I say, ignoring his rudeness. Margot, the ray of sunshine that she is, reaches a hand out to grasp him, the smile on her face undeniable. Except apparently to Oliver Prescott because he looks at her hand, at her face, and then turns to me.
“Would you get your brother, please? I’d like to get this dinner over with quickly so I can head back to the office.” He clapped me on the back and then headed into the kitchen.
I didn’t even get a chance to apologize profusely to Margot like I wanted to. She turned to me immediately, putting her hand over my mouth.
“It’s fine. I’m tougher than I look,” she says, dropping her hand but putting her arms out to show off her muscles. I laugh at the silly expression on her face. Only my sunshine could have me laughing in this house.
“Might as well go do what the man said,” I sigh.
Margot follows me as we head upstairs toward Drew’s bedroom. It’s at the end of the hall, near my father’s primary suite. My bedroom is one floor up. The penthouse I used to call it. No one was allowed up there while I was living in it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not surprised that Drew hadn’t moved up there the second I left for college.
Knocking twice on his door, I swing it open to reveal my brother sitting in his gaming chair, headphones on, control in hand.
“Go. Go, go, go. FUCK.” He shouts, not noticing our presence. I put my finger over my mouth to motion Margot to be quiet and I sneak around his back. Grabbing his headphones, I shout, “Drewster!”
My baby brother jumps, the control flying out of his hand. I can’t control the laughter that erupts out of me and I can tell that Margot has joined in the revelry.
“What the fuck, Alex,” Drew yells, grabbing the headphones from my hands and the controller from the floor. “I was just about to clutch that!”
“I’m sure you were. Drew,” I pull Margot deeper into the room. “This is my girlfriend, Margot.”
Having apparently learned her lesson from my father, Margot offers Drew a small wave rather than a hand shake.
“Hey, Margot. You’re hot. Surprised you’re dating my dickhead brother.”
I smack him in the back of the head. “Manners, dipshit.” Margot is biting her lip to hold back a chuckle and the sight is equal parts adorable and arousing.
Drew rubs the back of his head. “Sorry.” He holds up his hands. “Surprised you’re dating my charming, non-violent brother,” he amends. Margot lets out that laugh after all.
“Yeah well, that makes two of us actually,” she admits.
“Hey!” I groan. I know it took a lot for us to get to where we are but she was just as much a part of the decision as I was. Rude, sunshine . “Let’s go. Dad’s downstairs and he’s itching to eat.”
“I’m sure he is,” Drew mutters, shutting off his gaming device and storing his equipment in its appropriate charging stations. “How did he react to Margot here?”
“Oh, the usual. Ignorance.”
Drew sighs. “Classic Oliver.” He leaves the room, giving Margot a nod as he passes by. She’s looking at me in a curious way.
“What?”
“You guys have really had it rough, haven’t you?”
I walk up to her, slinging my arm around her shoulder as I guide her to the door. “Well, as Cherry Valence once said ‘Things are rough all over’.”
Margot squeezes up closer to me as we both exit the room and head back downstairs for the meal of a lifetime.
We sit at the table and I realize we each have designated spots. We’ve been eating meals at this table for my entire life and every time Dad sits at the head and Drew and I flank his sides. Margot sits at my side and I move my chair a little bit closer to hers to present a more united front.
Dinner starts as most do, with boring small talk. Dad asks Drew about his grades and he mumbles something about needing a tutor for physics, which my father promptly ignores. The Prescott men do not ask for help. Ever.
After that discussion dies down, Oliver finally turns his sights over to me. “So, Alexander. How are your grades this year?”
“My grades are fine. Actually, my best class of the semester is public speaking that I have with Margot.” I reach for her hand over the table but she pulls it away. I know she’s not trying to push me away, she just wants to play it cool for my dad.
“Is that so,” he says, taking a long sip of his whiskey. “And Margot. What is your major?”
The room is silent for a moment and just when I think she’s too shocked to speak, Margot clears her throat. “I’m a journalism major.”
“So you’re the reason that my son has been messing around with this little podcast thing.”
I open my mouth to protest but Margot simply says, “Yes, sir. He’s doing me a great favor by helping me out with this. I couldn’t have done it without him.” Now she lets me grip her hand and I hold on for dear life.
“So, what you’re saying is, you’re using my son to help yourself, correct?”
“Dad,” I warn.
Margot just continues as if it’s a normal conversation and he wasn’t insinuating that she can’t do anything successful on her own. “I wouldn’t say that. When I told him about the project, he agreed to help.” Margot shrugs, taking a sip of her water. She squeezes my hand. “I mean if anything, he should be thanking me for getting him even more campus fame with this podcast.”
I cough back a laugh as I drink my water. She’s doing everything she can to stand up to my father and I love her for it.
Oliver scoffs, shaking his head. “Right. Campus fame.” He takes a large bite of his turkey. The entire spread on the table was to die for. Our chef, Rosa, never fails to produce an amazing meal. I’ll have to make sure to thank her after we finish. And take plenty of leftovers back to campus with me. I’ll make sure Margot’s fridge is full as well. Perks of having a boyfriend with a chef’s kitchen.
“Have you decided what college you want to go to, Drew?” Margot asks my brother.
He shrugs but opens his mouth to respond and is immediately cut off. “He’ll be going to TU like Alex and myself.”
Margot glances toward my father for a brief second and then back to Drew. “Is that where you want to go?”
Cutting aggressively into his lean meat, Dad says, “Doesn’t matter what he wants. He’s going to TU.”
“It doesn’t matter what he wants?”
Okay, I’m all for Margot defending herself but she’s about to stick her nose in a place she doesn’t want it to go. Oliver doesn’t back down to people questioning him. Especially people he deems to be beneath him. I squeeze her hand for a second to tell her to back down but she only pulls hers out of my grip. This isn’t going to be good.
After the conversation we had about me following my dreams and helping Drew follow his, I think Margot might’ve taken it a bit too seriously. No one talks to Oliver like this. Not even me.
“Drew wants to follow in his father and his older brother’s footsteps. Isn’t that right?” He looks over at my brother who’s looking sheepishly at his plate.
“Yep,” he says, noncommittally, but my dad nods in satisfaction.
“Let’s just say for argument’s sake, you don’t go into the family business. What would your dream job be?”
“Margot.” Now I’m warning her . But she’ll have nothing of it.
“What? It’s just a question,” she says, raising her hands defensively. She looks back and forth between all of us but finds one mute, one enemy, and one reluctant ally. “Fine, forget it.”
Margot sip her water and takes a small bite of her mashed potatoes. The room is pregnant with awkward silence. I’m not sure if I should offer a change of subject or just let the silence continue.
I feel like such a coward that I can’t support her in her defiance of my father but when you’re lived under the man’s thumb for as long as I have, I’ve learned it’s very difficult to speak your mind without risking the consequences. Whether that be a cut off of family funds or a swift smack, neither of which I was keen on. Looking over at Drew’s forlorn expression, I know he feels the same way.
“I feel lucky that I get to follow my dreams of being a journalist. Back home in South Carolina, my brother’s working in a factory to help sustain our household.”
I’m not sure what prompted her to say it and I’ve never, never, ever been ashamed of Margot from where she’s come from–in fact, I’ve openly and endlessly admired her for it–but I could see the bullet she just shoved into her own chest when my father grinned a shit-eating smile.
“So, you’re poor. That’s why you’ve latched yourself onto my son.”
Margot chokes on her water. “Excuse me?”
“This is all finally making sense. You coerce my son into doing this podcast with you so you can get in his good graces, make him fall for you and then steal his fortune. A gold digger. I should’ve smelled it on you.”
“What the f–”
I shove away from the table. “Margot, let’s just go.” Margot looks up at me from her seat and the expression on her face breaks my heart. She wants me to stand up for her. And I want to. There’s nothing on Earth I’d rather do. But if I stand up to him, he’s not going to take it out on me. No. He’ll take it out on Drew. I can’t leave my brother here defenseless. This has gone on long enough.
Taking her hand, I pull her from the table. She lets me. Margot drops her napkin on the table before following me to the door. I have her car door open before she can say another word. Walking around to the other side, I sit in the driver’s seat and pull out of the driveway before someone comes out to change my mind.
Our ride is silent and if I know Margot, I know she’s got a battle going on in her head. She wants to fight me but she also wants to commend me.
“Just say it,” I sigh, pulling onto the highway.
“You cannot let that man control your life.”
“It’s not like I want him to.”
Margot lets out a frustrated breath. She looks out the window, then back at me, then out the window again. “Out with it,” I prompt her again.
“Now that I see what he’s really like, we need to go full steam ahead with this plan. We need to get Drew as far away from him as possible, and you need to pursue your own goals.”
My knuckles are white on the steering wheel. What a dream. I would love to do both of those things. But she doesn’t understand how vindictive Oliver can be. When he sets his mind to something, there’s nothing that can change it.
Margot is looking at me and when we stop at a traffic light, I meet her gaze. Her eyes are daggers as she keeps mine and then she utters two words I never thought I’d hear her say.
“Fuck. Him.”
The sound of the expletive leaving her lips makes me want to pull the car over right then and there and have my way with her. She clearly cares a lot about my future and I have to thank her for that.
“Do you want to get away with me? I mean, I know we’re away now but this weekend, do you want to go some place? Just you and me?”
Margot reaches across the car, placing her hand on my upper arm. “Yes.”
If we had bags packed, I’d go right now. But we didn’t plan to stay at my father’s house. So, I drive Margot to her apartment, assure her I’d be back in thirty minutes and then I go to my house.
Kai and Keith are watching TV when I come in. Their parents live across the country so they don’t usually travel on these holidays. In fact, in the past few years they’ve been coming to mine for Thanksgiving but neither were upset when I said I was bringing Margot instead.
“Hey, man, how was—”
Their greeting gets cut off as I take the stairs two at a time. I have a bag packed and ready to go in twenty minutes and I’m heading back downstairs when I hear a knock at the door. Unless they ordered delivery, there’s only one person that could be right now.
Keith rounds the corner and I yell for him not to open the door but it’s too late. Oliver steps into the entryway, his hands full of tupperware containers. He spots me on the bottom step immediately.
My father raises the containers. “Thought you might want some leftovers.”
Sighing, I try to walk past him out the door but he grabs my arm, stopping me. Kai and Keith are on red alert in the entryway. Oh good, an audience. Oliver’s favorite.
“Get in the kitchen,” he whispers harshly into my ear. “Do not play with me right now.”
Ripping my arm from his grasp, I stalk back into the house. I give the boys a nod, and they cautiously head back into the living room, Kai lingering just a bit longer with a curious expression on his face.
Oliver comes behind me, putting the tins in the fridge. When he closes the door, a long sigh escapes. “I apologize for dinner.”
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”
“Alexander, you cannot be serious. This girl is nothing compared to you.”
I want to roar.
I want to scream.
I want to rip his throat from his neck.
Who the fuck is this man to tell me who Margot is. He doesn’t even know her. She is one thousand times a better person than I am. She cares more, worries more, loves more. She is every bit of the goodness in this world and I am lucky to have even the tiniest place in her life.
I want to say all of it. I want to shout from the rooftops how much Margot means to me. But instead, all I do is whisper. “She is everything.”
Turning on my heels, I ignore my father raging for me to come back inside. Shouting a goodbye to the twins, I run out the door, into the car and head right to Margot’s apartment.
She’s waiting outside, just like I told her to and luckily I’m only a few minutes late.
“I thought you forgot about me,” Margot laughs as she slides into the passenger seat. I reach across the car and grab her by the back of the neck, placing a rough but intimate kiss on her lips.
“Never,” I say as I break our lips apart, resting my forehead on hers.
“Everything okay?” She asks, sensing the shift in my mood even after everything that’s happened at dinner.
“It is now,” I respond, pulling away from the curb and starting toward the highway. I’m not sure where we’re going but as long as we’re together, we’re going to be alright.