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“I’m okay,” I say. “But why did I need to meet him, Dad? I’ve been working for him for two years. He doesn’t care to know any of his massage therapists.”
He’s taken aback, giving me some satisfaction. I watch him struggle to come up with a response.
“Well,” he begins slowly, “he’s a busy man, but I thought I’d introduce you to him, and—”
“Yeah, but why? Why is it important? Important enough that you insisted I get a new dress, even. Which I never did before.”
It feels even more satisfying to cut him short.
My father looks slightly more uncomfortable, but I can also see a bit of annoyance in his eyes as he says, “Sometimes, it pays to look good, Brit. Who knows? You might end upmarrying one of the guys here. I just want them to see you, really see you.”
A dull knot throbs in the center of my chest.
Finally.
He’d brought up the marriage thing. And he slid it in so smoothly too.
I push back the wave of nausea swarming up my throat. Letting him know that I’d overheard his conversation wouldn’t be the smartest move, but I want to rattle him enough to take a step back.
At least, until I decide on my next move.
It comes to me a second later.
“Yeah, but I’m not going to marry anytime soon, am I?”
He gives a queasy smile. “Well, maybe. But why do you think so?”
“I’m not even twenty-five yet. I’ve never had a boyfriend, and I’m not going to find one working all day.”
I feel a hint of foreboding when my dad’s queasiness switches to delight.
“Well, there might be some guys around here who are interested in you, Brit,” he says. “You never know. I need to see Andy now, but I’ll be back to introduce you to some of them.”
He gives me a wink and hurries away.
What just happened?
How had he managed to win again?
My nausea piles up until it reaches the back of my throat. I must leave this party right away, before I throw up on someone’s hot young second wife.
Second wife, I think as I hurry toward the door. That is yet another thing. Men like Theodore trade in their first wives for a younger, hotter model even before they get to forty.
And if I don’t find a way to thwart my father’s plans, he’s going to insist on walking me down that aisle very soon,after convincing me that it was my idea to marry Theodore in the first place. And when I refuse, all hell will break loose.
The night air blowing in my face calms me down, but only a little. The next moment, I’m racking my brains hard, trying to figure out something to avert this disaster.
One good thing about working for the Philly Flyers is that I never had to pay rent, so I’ve been managing to put away a good amount of my salary. My dream is to save up for one or two years more, move to a city like LA, and open a spa of my own. I also dream of burning all of my current clothes in a controlled fire, having the time of my life partying in clubs and beaches, and getting myself a dreamy boyfriend after playing the field for a couple of years.
Finally, I would live my life on my own terms.
It is too early to leave Philly. I‘m not financially secure yet. At the same time, staying and letting my father manipulate me into marrying a buffoon isn’t in the cards for me either.
I need something in the middle, that would allow me to hang on for another year or two and thwart my dad’s plan with the Furmans.
It is almost impossible to stop him when he has an idea, but maybe I could do something to change Andy Furman’s mind. Maybe . . .
A loud cackling interrupts my train of thought, and I look wildly around. It doesn’t even take three seconds to spot them.
