by Leanne Davis
What was happening here? Lloyd’s hand came up and he gripped the back of his neck. His eyelids flipped open and he stared hard at Tully and visibly swallowed. “He… he’s my son. Chris is my son.”
The words were said very quietly. But they were strong. They stopped the conversation of the entire group surrounding them. Her parents. Chris. Tully. Julia. Julia stared open-mouthed at Tully. Chris was Lloyd’s son? What?! she screamed inside her head. What? NO! Oh, no. Her head whipped around, looking at all of them as Chris hung his head and Tully stared from her son to Lloyd, his father?
Julia let out a small squeak. But Tully unleashed her fury at Chris. “What are you doing here?” she hissed at her son.
Chris touched his mom’s shoulder gently and squeezed it in support. “I work for him.”
Tully’s eyes squeezed shut. But when she reopened them, her gaze shot up to Chris, whose eyes were flashing. “Him? You work for him? You knew then? You knew who he was?”
“I knew.”
“How?”
“You told me his full name, years ago. You probably don’t remember. I looked him up and—”
“And what?” Lloyd interjected, following the conversation. All the people involved seemed awestruck. Including Julia. She couldn’t make her tongue move. All the words she wanted to say could not be articulated by her.
“What were you doing all that time? It’s been four years. How could you not say something before now?” Tully remained focused on her son.
All eyes turned to Chris, who shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I was doing. I just wanted to… to meet him, you know? Just to tell him who I was and see what he did for a living and the kind of guy he was. I assumed he’d be a flaky asshole and deny my claim of being his son. But when I showed up at his office, he thought I was there for an interview. I went along with it, just to get an impression of him. I didn’t believe anything would come of it. But when he offered me a job, right then and there, I figured, why the hell not? It was better pay than what I was getting before. Lloyd was friendly and seemed likeable so I thought I’d stick around for a while, and see what he was like.”
“And?” Lloyd prompted him.
Chris’s gaze popped up to Lloyd’s softly worded question. “And what?”
“And what did you decide about me? Was I the real deal? Or a complete fraud and schmuck? I assume that’s what you were trying to determine.”
“Yeah, it was.” Chris held Lloyd’s gaze. Meanwhile, Julia’s ears buzzed and she could barely focus on their conversation, let alone, what it meant regarding her. “And no, you’re not a fraud or a schmuck. Not about work anyway. You treat everyone fairly. You’re tough, but fair. I never expected you to notice me, or take a shine to me, or talk and interact with me, until suddenly you were calling me over all the time and showing me things. You know. You were there. You know how things went. It all just kind of happened and propelled me forward and it seemed so natural. I didn’t mean to start working for you like this. It just snowballed and seemed—”
“Right?” Lloyd filled in. Chris nodded.
Shrugging, Chris sighed and said, “Yeah, it seemed right.”
“But why not tell me?”
“Because I didn’t know if I wanted you to know who I was. I still don’t know. I was worried about what it would mean. And that it would make things weird and awkward. I enjoyed our working mentor-apprentice relationship, at least until recently. That was enough for me. That worked. I was all grown up before I met you. I wasn’t looking for someone to play daddy with me. My mom,” Chris eyed Tully who was listening with huge, pain-filled eyes. “My mom raised me and gave me all I needed. So working with you was fine for a while. We got to know each other, and drew some boundaries and I thought I liked that until…”
Julia flinched when his words trailed off. She knew the “until” was where her name should be inserted between them—father and son. “Until me.”
Chris visibly flinched and his helpless gaze scanned all around, landing on her. He nodded, and she saw the regret in his eyes. “Yes,” he whispered.
“You what?” Tully’s head whipped around to her and then back to Chris. Julia recognized the exact moment all the pieces fit together in Tully’s mind. “You and your… oh, shit!”
“What? What more could there be?” Julia’s dad spoke behind her. She cringed, shaking her head frantically at the three family members standing in front of her. No! Please! No! They could not tell her parents what she did. Oh no. No. Her anxiety soon became panic as her breathing escalated and her pounding heart hit her chest painfully.
Then Lloyd seemed to realize where Julia fit into it all. His eyes rounded out. “Oh. You mean—”
Julia had no chance to process, react, or respond before her dad suddenly stepped around her and stood before Lloyd. Shock rooted her to the ground before she could realize what was about to happen.
“You slept with my daughter? My daughter! Who is thirty years younger than you? I sent her to you for a job, you disgusting, perverted, old asswipe!” The entire room was now turning towards them. People were staring, whispering, and tapping each other to watch the obvious drama now taking place.
“Dad, no!” Julia yelled after him, grabbing his shoulder, but she was too slow. He swung his arm and his fist connected to Lloyd’s chin, making his head jerk back at an odd angle. Julia heard the sickening thunk! of knuckles slamming against bone and saw the ensuing blood of the violent encounter, which made her nauseous.
Lloyd fell backwards to the ground, exclaiming his pain while grabbing his face. He leaned over, breathing heavily, and moaned. Her dad stood there, shaking his hand out, glaring while standing over Lloyd and daring him to stand up straight. Julia’s gaze scanned the room. Mom held her hand to her chest, her mouth hanging open and looking just as shocked as Julia. Tully just stared, and Chris and Vickie stared too. Then all their gazes traveled to her.
Humiliated beyond anything she could ever imagine, Julia retreated. Chris noticed her. “Julia…” he said, ignoring her dad’s sudden interference. His hand reached out towards her.
She shook her head at him and put her hand up, signaling for him to stay back. Tears slipped from her eyes and rolled down her face. She spun on her heel to flee the room, and all of the stares, so many stares, from her parents, and even Vickie, and Chris’s parents… Worse still, from Chris. She wanted to get away from Chris perhaps most of all.
He knew the truth all along. Chris knew that Lloyd Cartwright was his father. And when she slept with Lloyd, he was well aware of the ugly circumstances. She scurried to the sidewalk and away from the building. Slipping her heels off, she ran barefoot to escape down the walkway. Chris knew she had slept with both father and son. Her stomach squeezed with horror and her head grew dizzy. Oh, God. Nothing could be so gross. Or so sordid. Or so wrong.
And all along, she had no idea that what she was doing was so wrong. Sure, sleeping with her boss was not acting in her best behavior, and maybe even bordered on bad behavior. But she would never have knowingly slept with a father and then with his son. How could Chris do that to her? How could he not tell her? And not tell Lloyd? He should have just not freaking slept with her.
There were plenty of details she still wanted to know. But her shock was too pervasive. All she could think was that she had to get out of there.
Chapter Eighteen
JULIA REFUSED TO GO back to her parents’ house. Having saved nearly enough money for a first and last month’s rent and a damage deposit, she planned to move out in the next month or so. But now she knew she would definitely relocate sooner and only wished it could happen tonight. Running until she felt safe, she pulled her phone out and called Nate. She knew he’d come and get her, no questions asked.
She waited on the curb and when she saw his sleek sedan stop, she quickly ducked in. He smiled. She cringed. “I’m sorry, Nate. I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone else.”
“I’ll always come when you c
all me, sis, no matter what. No apologies. Are you okay?”
“Oh, physically, I’m just fine. I just came from a big reception for the opening of the building CGC finished. Mom and Dad were there with me and Chris and then… well, stuff just happened. I don’t want to talk about it yet. Okay?”
He gently patted her knee and drove the car forward. “Of course. I meant what I said. You never have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’ll always come whenever you call. Now where to?”
“Could we go to your house?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Are you sure? I’ll try not to impose too much. I mean, since you have your own family now.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Don’t you mean your family too?”
“Yes.”
They soon pulled in and Ally was wide awake, dressed in a robe and fuzzy slippers. The once stylish, perfectly coifed, immaculately dressed Ally was lounging idly, and her hair was sloppy and Julia saw old stains on her robe but Ally smiled happily when they came in, and she seemed relaxed. “Hey. Didn’t you guys go to that opening tonight?”
“Yes. There was a minor incident.” Julia practically fell into Ally’s hug. The boys were tucked in bed and Ally tugged Julia over to the couch to sit next to her.
“Vickie?”
“Oh, sure. She was there too. She showed up. But this time, that’s not what freaked me out.”
“Care to share?”
Julia glanced up at Nate who shrugged and sat down. “You know, I’ve been through a lot with Vickie, so you can talk freely in front of me.”
“A lot,” Ally scoffed, glaring at him.
“What does that mean?”
Ally tilted her head. “You don’t know? About them?”
“Them? Who? What don’t I know?”
“I guess you were too young. Nate slept with Vickie before she hooked up with his dad,” Ally said, her eyebrows rising and her eyes flashing. “Classy, huh?”
Julia’s mouth hung open and she closed her eyes. “No. Oh, no.”
Ally patted her arm. “Oh, Ju-Ju-Bee, it’s no big deal. I just like to give Nate shit about it… because well, what else can I do with it?”
“Perhaps never mention it again?” Nate asked and his tone was sardonic.
Julia shook her head. “No. No, it’s that… I’m just like her. And I didn’t even know how much until now.”
“You are nothing like Vickie. Except for your appearance. I’ll give you that, since you look just like her.”
Julia’s face jerked up. “No. It’s so much more than that. I did that.”
“You did what? What happened tonight? You’re not making any sense. I thought when you called, and I say this honestly, Vickie’s cancer popped right into my mind so I assumed the shock of that news was hitting you.”
“No. I know that’s what everyone expected of me, but no. That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“I slept with a father and his son. Just like Vickie did. And Chris knew. And now that makes me just like her.”
“Whoa, back up. What are you talking about?”
Her truthful words filled her eyes with hot tears and she wiped them on her arm. “I knew what I was doing was wrong. I can’t tell you why I just went ahead and did it. Maybe, to prove a point. Or because I wanted to break out of being who I usually am. But I didn’t know at the time, I never suspected… that.”
“Julia, explain it better. What’s going on?”
“I slept with my boss, Lloyd Cartwright, for a few weeks…” she went into whole sordid affair, starting with Lloyd and Tully and ending in Chris and her. “But apparently, Lloyd is the father of the baby boy Tully raised all alone and he never even knew about him.”
“Chris,” Ally deduced. She sniffed and nodded, glancing at Nate. So did Julia.
Nate’s face remained neutral but he got up and sat next to Julia, tugging her shoulders against him in a brotherly hug. “So you’re saying that Chris was working for his dad without telling him or anyone else?”
“Yes. And then I showed up for a job and later slept with Lloyd before I slept with Chris. Chris never once hinted at their relationship.”
Ally’s mouth compressed into a line of wonder. Julia couldn’t see Nate’s face. Leaning forward, she moved out of Nate’s embrace and buried her face in her own hands. “I’m so ashamed.”
“What did Chris say?” Nate asked.
She flipped her head back up. “I don’t know. Nothing so far. This just happened, at the big opening, right in front of everyone. Tully walked in and became instantly distressed—but I could not understand why—until she started yelling at him. He knew right away who she was and he quickly figured it all out. It happened so fast. I felt like I was fused to the floor until dad punched Lloyd. And in the end, it turns out I was sleeping first with my boss and then with his son.” She shuddered again. “Exactly like Vickie.”
There was a knock at the door before it opened without anyone getting up to answer. Kylie quickly entered the room alone. “Mom called. She told me what happened.”
Julia kept her head bent down, staring at her feet. “Great.”
“They’re on their way over here.”
“Who is?”
“Mom and Dad.”
Julia shook her head. “I don’t want them coming here. I don’t want to do this.”
Kylie walked over and touched Julia’s back, which was bent over at her waist. Filled with total humiliation, Julia kept her head down, burying her face between her knees, her long hair falling to the floor if she moved her head. “No. I could not stand to have some kind of family intervention over this.”
Ally laughed outright. “Oh, yes, you are, Julia Lindstrom. You’re not immune or so special you can be spared from it. I had to discuss my bulimia and Kylie had to tell everyone why she hid the rape from us. Now, it’s your turn.”
Julia didn’t rise. Heat began filling up her cheeks. “What happened to you two was neither of your faults. I did this. I set out to do it. I mean, Dad punched my boss.” She groaned and started shaking her head in defeat.
Kylie laughed, and Ally soon joined in before Nate even chuckled.
Still, Ally continued, “Okay, you get the award for giving us the biggest surprise, little sister. Getting mild–mannered Dad so irate. But you didn’t do anything terrible. You merely began a relationship, ended it, and started a new one.”
“With my boss. Then with my coworker and then I discover they’re father and son.”
“You didn’t know at the time though. You can’t be held responsible for that. Chris could. But not you,” Kylie insisted, trying to reassure her.
Julia sniffled and rubbed her nose before wiping her eyes. She lifted her head high enough to meet Kylie’s gaze. “You’re so full of shit.”
They all laughed again. Julia evil-eyed every one of her siblings. “It’s not funny. Not at all. I hate you guys.”
Nate patted her back. “No, you don’t, you love us. And it will be okay. We’ll get through this like everything else.”
“At least you were smart enough to come to us now, the day it happened, and not years later… like Kylie and I did,” Ally said.
Julia crossed her arms over her chest, in a huff. “Sure. Great. I’m the well-balanced one. A real prize.”
“Pretty bitter pill to swallow when you realize that none of us are, isn’t it?” Kylie said kindly. “I know what’s it’s like to be disappointed and shocked sometimes by your own behavior. You tend to expect so much more from yourself. But guilt only eats you up inside. It doesn’t fix anything or help anyone, it just gnaws at you.”
“Then what should I do? How do I avoid it? Or not get stuck in it like I’m prone to do?”
“You admit your part, apologize to those you need to, and listen to others—like Chris. And I guarantee you that from what I know of him, he will seek you out with his own heartfelt apology and explanation. Accept it, Julia. Let him tell you how sorry he is. I doub
t any of us missed that he’s in love with you and vice versa. You can spend a day, or a week, or even a month being mad at him over it, but why? He only did it out of love, which I wouldn’t say applies in all cases, but with him it does. So you should listen and learn from what we all had to learn through our mistakes.”
“She’s right. I am sorry. And I will explain.”
Julia jerked upright. There stood Chris. In the middle of her sister and Nate’s living room. How? Why? Who let him in? Who brought him there? How did he know what they were discussing?
Then, to her further surprise, her mom and dad stepped out from each side of him. Chris blocked the hallway with his huge body. Her eyebrows lowered. “How did you…?” Julia asked her mom.
“I knew you’d call Ally or Kylie and a quick phone call got me the answer so we talked to Chris and now, here we are.”
“Great,” Julia mumbled. Then she spread her arms out wide and sneered, “Well, let’s just go ahead and get it over with, shall we? Here it is, family, I slept with my super old, disgusting boss. And we had sex. We did the nasty. With the father of my current boyfriend. I’m—”
“Please stop,” Chris said gently.
“Yes, please spare us the details,” her dad echoed, wincing.
Scowling, Julia lifted her stricken gaze to Chris. Then she looked at her dad. “I can’t believe you punched him, Dad!”
“I can’t either. I wish I could have been there.” Ally exclaimed. Julia glared at her sister who quickly stopped smiling. “Sorry, it must have been kind of epic.”
“You punched a perfectly innocent man in all this. There was no issue between Lloyd and me. I had a choice in whatever I did. And he is… and was my boss. So great. I'm most likely in the ranks of the unemployed now.”
“I doubt that,” Donny replied. He crossed the room.
Tracy waved at her siblings. “Do you three mind? Let us have the room for just a minute?”
