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“Talk to you later, bro.”
“Alright, later,” I said, and the phone was returned to her.
“I heard what you both were saying, and I'm just going to ignore it because we've been fighting all week, and I don't want another reason to kick him out of bed again for the third time this week. I'm beginning to think now that he annoys me on purpose just so he can spend the night in the basement in his fucking man cave.”
“You sound like you're living the life, Piper,” I said, and she immediately shot back.
“Unlike you with your one vacation in seven years, which is also a work trip as well. Shut up.”
“Yes, ma'am,” I replied, and the line briefly went silent.
“What's wrong?” she asked. “Ready to talk?”
“Why do you think something's wrong?” I asked as I turned and stared out the window at the gorgeous sunset.
“Because it's you, and if there's nothing wrong, you'll only be calling me if you are conflicted about something. It wouldn't be anything regarding work but something personal, so it means?—”
“Oh my God! Is there something wrong with Dad?”
I was taken aback. I mean, everything she had said was right, but she hadn't even thought that this could possibly be about anyone else besides us. She immediately remembered her facility to remember.
“Hunter? Hunter?” she called worriedly at my silence.
“What's wrong? What's wrong with Dad? I spoke to him this morning.”
“Then what is happening? Who are you having issues with?”
I was truly intrigued and amused.
“So apart from him, you didn't think I could be having personal issues with anyone else?”
“With how?” she asked. “Do you have any friends that aren't business partners? That automatically makes them business relationships, so why would you ever want to talk to me about them?”
I listened and shook my head.
“So it could be about a woman?”
“Why would it be about a woman?” she asked. “Purely out of curiosity.”
At this, my face fell, and at her silence, I knew she was trying to provoke me until I turned red from fury.
“I'm sorry I called,” I apologized. “I forgot just how completely unhelpful and aggravating you could be.”
“Stop,” she burst out laughing. “I'm sorry I'm teasing you; you know I'm playing with you. And now it's about a woman, I just didn't want to be too direct in case you changed your mind. You know how you are about personal issues. The fact that you're even discussing this means that you care about her, and I am so scared to ruin this.”
“What are you talking about? Why would you ruin it?”
“You're opening up about romance, or you're involved in it even. If Dad heard this, he would burst into tears. My eyes are already wet.”
Shaking my head once again, I went silent.
“Am I pushing it, right? Am I pushing you away by making this sound like a big deal? I'm so sorry. It's not a big deal. It's casual. Irrelevant.”
“Piper, please stop talking,” I said. “You're giving me a headache.”
“Yes, Sir,” she said, and finally, the line was silent.
“I'm not saying that I care about her, but... I am sleeping with her.”
