119- Being hoest the best choice

I glance at him. “Then what were you doing firing a gun near their school?”
“I was hunting that bloody raccoon!” he roars. “It’s been hollering and making a fucking racket every morning and you want me to just let it go?’
“So, you took a shotgun and chased it down?”
“Why the hell not? I’m more qualified to handle that weapon even if I had my two eyes blinded, than any of those under qualified officers over there. I could take them all out in a flash, without breaking a sweat.”
His madness is back but thankfully, we have just pulled into his trailer park in Denver Meadows, so I let out a deep sigh of relief.
I don’t say another word as I drive over to the trailer that he insisted on moving into almost a decade earlier, and which I have refused to even spend a night in. And that was the beginning of our animosity towards each other.
“You don’t have any food?” It’s another twenty minutes later and I’m moving through the filth that is his trailer. Clothes are strewn everywhere as well as endless plastic bags and styrofoam plates of stale or even rotting takeout food. I cannot believe that this is how he is living as every time I have come over, he has seemed fairly okay.
His refrigerator is also empty, only containing some cans of beer and a long expired jug of milk.

“You can go now,” he says as he walks over to his arm chair and plops down into it. I don’t need anything from you.”
“I’m not offering anything,” I retort as I slam the refrigerator door closed.
Pain is reverberating through my entire body at the state that he is currently in, and the most frustrating fact is that he keeps refusing any help whatsoever in doing something about it.
He is a bit taken aback at my outburst and for the longest time he just stares quietly at me.
It’s in these moments that I usually hope he has regained his senses and that the next word out of his mouth would be even slightly reasonable.
However yet again, he disappoints me.
“I will never be proud of you,” he states. “I raised you to be a man that would need nothing and would instead give and serve. Imagine the honor and respect you would have if you had joined the Seals. I wanted to pass down that legacy to you.”
I turn to him. “Dad, I’m worth a billion dollars. You can keep your legacy to yourself. I’ll create mine.”
His laugh is bitter. “Money,” he says. “That’s all you’ve ever cared about and that’s why I refuse to take a single dime from you.”
This is my cue to leave.
I can’t endure any of these pointless arguments anymore, so I begin once again moving through the filth so I can get to the door. I pull it open but just before I leave I stop and take one last look at him. “All I did was refuse to go down the same path you walked. I’m still waiting for the day that you’ll be able to convince yourself and me that I deserve being excommunicated by you for that choice.”
With that, I shut the door behind me and return to my car.
For the longest time I sit in the driver’s seat, unable to leave. I mean, how can I leave him in this state and return back to the safe, abundant life that I live? But on the other hand what can I do, when for the longest time he has refused to listen to anyone apart from himself? It seems then that until he somehow comes to his senses, I have to accept that this is the father I have to deal with.



he next morning, I can’t deny that I have put a little bit more effort into my appearance. This has required a little forage into Lee Rang’s closet and the most suitable but still fairly
decent find is a collared gingham dress. The goal is to feel as confident as possible since things are still in limbo between us.
He arrives a little later than usual at 10 AM and coupled with his absence the previous day, it all serves to fuel my worry.
I have no idea what is going through his head and I can’t imagine that it’s good. It does seem though that our brief tryst together may have truly affected him in some way, if it was enough to make him take a day off and come in late.
I hide my face behind my desktop and only give a small greeting. “Come see me,” he says and pulls his door open.
I take a few moments to process the request and to calm my racing heart. Then I get up and head over on wobbly four inch heels. “Yes, sir,” I say as I shut the door behind me.
He is settling in, but he has his eyes on me. Just as he is done hanging his jacket, he begins, “Let’s talk about what happened two days ago.”
My heart skips a beat. "Sure.”
Just as he is about to continue however, there’s a knock to his door. Before either of us can respond, Allen walks in.
For once, I’m incredibly disappointed to see him.
He immediately notices my expression and of course is concerned. “What’s going on? Is this a bad time?”

I instantly return a smile to my face. “No it’s not, we were just having a quick meeting.” I turn to Grady. “Sir, I’ll come back after you’re both done.”
“No need,” Allen says with a smile on his face. “I’m here for you too.” He heads over to take a seat in front of Grady’s desk. He then places a folder on Grady’s desk which he then proceeds to open. “You both were out of the office yesterday. Was it something that you both planned?”
There is no expression on his face so I quickly hurry to explain myself. “I uh, felt a bit ill so Mr. Abbott permitted me to take the day off too.”
“You were ill?” Allen turns around to face me and I quickly nod.
He continues, “So sorry to hear that. Are you better now? What was wrong?”. “Um…” I clear my throat as my brain goes into overdrive to think up an excuse. Grady however, and to my surprise saves the day, “What’s the folder for?”
“I obtained a brief from over the weekend. It was Meredith’s brother’s birthday and he had ABAX executives present. They’ve long heard about us, so they want to look into a collaboration. I’ve already scheduled them to come in for a meeting later on today.”
Grady leans forward for the folder as Allen hands it over to him.
We all remain silent as Grady goes through the brief and then with a nod, he shuts it and places it on the table.
I take the chance to watch him and notice for the first time just how unusually tired and gloomy he seems. “What manager are you going to hand this over to?”
“That’s why I’m here,” Allen responds. “I’m hoping that you’ll let Blair take the lead on this one.” My heart drops into my stomach.
Grady's gaze moves wordlessly to me and so does Allen’s.
Under the attention of these two men, all the hair on my body begins to rise. I want to also advocate this opportunity for myself but I’m not even sure if I’m still going to be working here at the end of today.
I open my mouth to speak but Grady cuts in, a frown across his brows, “Why are you passing this off to her? She doesn’t have the experience to handle this.”
“Well, I’m hoping you’ll work with her on it so that she can learn the ropes and be able to hold her own weight. It will most definitely take a lot of the burden off you.”

“Where are you getting this idea that I’m burdened?” At his question, the room goes silent.
Then Allen smiles. “Meredith’s expecting. She’s about three months in and she’s held back from giving me the news because she was worried about how I would take it, since I wasn’t exactly excited about the idea when she brought it up a few weeks earlier. I also wasn’t really there for her when she was pregnant with Hazel, so I don’t want the same thing to be repeated this time around.”
Grady sits up then, his eyes a bit brighter now with understanding. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thank you,” he says. “But you know what this means. Last time we were in the midst of that dreadful quarter because of Softcat, so I couldn’t be with her as much as she needed me. This time around, things are a bit more stable here, so I’m going to have to take some time off. This will mean early evenings and sometimes late mornings for a little while till things settle for her.”
“I understand,” Grady says. “I wouldn’t keep you from that. And there’s no need to worry about me, I have a thousand employees available if I have too much on my plate. You seem to forget this fact a lot these days.”
Allen laughs at the jibe. “I know but I can’t help noting the potential in Blair, so I want to do my best to show off her talents before I'm no longer round.”