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“...Okay, if that’s what you want.”
The two girls hug awkwardly, and our elevator ride down to the main floor is much more subdued than the ride up. Elise looks upset, but I don’t want to prod her, not when we have an hour drive to make together tomorrow evening.
“Do you think she’s mad at us?” Her question breaks our comfortable silence and I find myself pondering longer than I should.
“I think she’s a fickle girl who is confused about how she’s feeling. I wouldn’t take it personally.”
She nods but doesn’t look convinced. “Okay, okay. Well, see you tomorrow.”
16
Amsterdam, February 18, 2022
Andries
Dad doesn’t wastetime texting me a few news articles reporting about the arrest early the next morning. The incident seems to have blown up in the national press and every outlet was now reporting about it. Every news program and every paper reads, “KARL TOWNSEND ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED RAPE OF COLLEGE GIRL” or some variation thereof. I couldn’t escape it if I tried, and since Dad is so connected to Karl, he told me he even had journalists calling and showing up in front of the headquarters. With Dad’s birthday being tomorrow, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Of course according to him, it’s somehow my fault. There’s no denying the small part I played in the whole ordeal, but for Dad to rest it solely on my shoulders isn’t fair. I was helping someone who was vulnerable. It wasn’t like I did it to instigate a smear campaign against my own family’s business.
“You’ve got to fix this mess, Andries!” Dad demands over the phone. I knew I shouldn’t have picked up his call.
“Me?” I snap back as I try to prepare myself some coffee. “What are you even talking about?”
“My birthday is tomorrow. If you want to be helpful, talk to that girl and make her sign that settlement once and for all.”
I stop in my tracks, frowning and looking at my phone for a second. “How do you even know about that?”
“Because I just spoke to Karl,” Dad explains. “The poor man just told me what happened. This is beyond ridiculous!”
“I can’t do that,” I tell him, putting the call on speakers while I start drinking my espresso. “Let him go to trial, it’s a much better strategy.”
“Better strategy? I want this mess to end now!” His anger is steadily rising, so I decide to put an end to this call before we both lose our temper.
I heave a long sigh in annoyance as I finish my coffee.What a long weekend this is gonna be.
It’s dark when I pull the car into the round driveway in front of the family estate, and the valet comes out immediately to take my keys while other staff grab our bags. Elise has already unloaded hers, both of us used to doing things independently at college. It always takes a little while to readjust to living here, and then adjust yet again when we go back to school.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing Mom and having her embrace me in greeting. Even though I’m quite a bit taller than her now, I still always find comfort in that motherly gesture. She hugs me just as tightly whether I’ve been gone for a single day on a fencing trip or months away at school.
But Dad, on the other hand... I’d like some time for both of us to calm down before seeing him. But of course it’s him in thefoyer to greet us, and not Mom. I stop in my tracks while Elise rushes over to hug him.
“Arthur is sprouting more teeth and is grouchy, so your Mom is laying down with him,” Dad explains.
I simply nod and move to walk past him and up to my room, but I stop when he holds out his hand for a handshake. Usually he’d embrace me in greeting too, albeit in a more back-slapping gesture than the warm way he hugs my sisters, so the handshake is new. A power move, and a way to let me know we aren’t on good terms just yet.
I could ignore him, but while I knew it was because of pride, I know he’d think of it as petulant behavior. Reluctantly, I grab his hand and shake it firmly, our gazes locked together as if in combat.
He releases me, asking, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”
I frown at his question. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“So you aren’t going to apologize for your attitude this morning?”
“My attitude?” Then it hits me. He’s referring to the phone call and how I went against his bullshit demands by hanging up on him.
“I’ve got homework to do,” I tell him instead of starting yet another argument, this time, though, actually passing him fast enough that he can’t stop me. To my surprise, Dad doesn’t say anything or turn to watch me go, but when I take a last look over my shoulder, Elise is staring daggers at me.
Funny how she’s my biggest ally until we’re around Dad again. Then, it’s easy to see where her loyalties really lie.
