‘I’m here’ text. She and Jessica think they are funny with this little plan. Joke’s going to be to them when I finish with Carter tonight.
Me: Just landed, where is he?
Kelly: He’s at his condo. After today, you’ll either find him locked in his home office or the gym. The doorman knows of your arrival and will escort you to him.
Laughing, I retrieve my luggage and hunt down a taxi. I need to remind myself to ask both of them how long they’ve been conspiring behind my back.
As I jump into the back of the taxi, I instruct the driver to take me to Carter’s condo. The crazy thing is, I don’t recognize the address; it’s not the same place I stayed at before.
Carter
Sitting across from my father, I stare at the man in front of me. Disgust is what I feel. I’m not even certain I want to hear this explanation. It’s not going to be good for either of us, no matter what he has to say.
Jack confirmed the conversation he had with Tabitha and how upset she was. I knew that was going to be the outcome. Once I finish up with business here, I will right what I did wrong.
Just as my father opens his mouth to speak, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Holding up a finger to stop him from starting, I dig it out to look at the screen. When I notice it’s Tabitha calling, I have no other choice but to forward it to voicemail. This will only fuel her fire even more. Good. She needs to get fired up. This might make her fight back with me, I think as I shove the phone back in my pocket.
“Go ahead, Father, because I can’t wait to hear your excuses for ruining my life.”
“Let me start out by explaining that your mother is to never hear about this. Do you understand? One scandal is enough and I refuse to break her heart.”
“That’s what you’re going with? Really … You care that much about her and so little about your own son?”
“Easy there, Son. I did what I thought was best and what I had no choice but to do.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, but in the end … just know that I will never step foot in this house again. You and I are done, with no repair. As far as Mom, I’ll figure that out if she didn’t know anything about this. Are we clear?”
“She didn’t know, and yes we’re clear.”
“Start from the beginning,” I instruct and feel my phone ringing again. With a quick glance, I see it’s Jack this time, and he ended up in voicemail, along with my heart.
“Son, I’m sorry, first off. I have to tell you, if I could go back, I’d tell you to run as far away as you could have. I never meant for it to get this out of hand. I fell for Bethany when you two were dating, and one thing led to another. The baby was never yours, well, we don’t think. We were always careful, except for once, and I know you two were not doing anything at the time. You were getting ready to graduate and leave this place, start your own life without her. Bethany was upset, and I was at the wrong place. Needless to say, with the profile of Senator Edwards, she was always being followed. Word got back to him about our relationship and that’s when it came out, that I’d go on his payroll and you would marry his daughter. If you didn’t, they would’ve charged you with rape and they would’ve ruined my career.” I interrupt him before he can go any further.
“Ruin your career? What about my life? Was that not a factor in any of this?”
“Just listen to me and allow me to finish, okay?”
“By all means, carry on. It’s killing me to not know the outcome of this.”
“Don’t be an ass, Carter. It’s not an appealing feature for you. Anyway … I’ll sum this up for you. You married her and we kept our affair low key for years. I don’t know what to tell you about the child. I was shocked and happy when I got the news. I didn’t want you to have to raise it and feel that kind of pressure. I knew you wanted out from under her, but I did it all to protect you. Understand that this is a
Me: Just landed, where is he?
Kelly: He’s at his condo. After today, you’ll either find him locked in his home office or the gym. The doorman knows of your arrival and will escort you to him.
Laughing, I retrieve my luggage and hunt down a taxi. I need to remind myself to ask both of them how long they’ve been conspiring behind my back.
As I jump into the back of the taxi, I instruct the driver to take me to Carter’s condo. The crazy thing is, I don’t recognize the address; it’s not the same place I stayed at before.
Carter
Sitting across from my father, I stare at the man in front of me. Disgust is what I feel. I’m not even certain I want to hear this explanation. It’s not going to be good for either of us, no matter what he has to say.
Jack confirmed the conversation he had with Tabitha and how upset she was. I knew that was going to be the outcome. Once I finish up with business here, I will right what I did wrong.
Just as my father opens his mouth to speak, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. Holding up a finger to stop him from starting, I dig it out to look at the screen. When I notice it’s Tabitha calling, I have no other choice but to forward it to voicemail. This will only fuel her fire even more. Good. She needs to get fired up. This might make her fight back with me, I think as I shove the phone back in my pocket.
“Go ahead, Father, because I can’t wait to hear your excuses for ruining my life.”
“Let me start out by explaining that your mother is to never hear about this. Do you understand? One scandal is enough and I refuse to break her heart.”
“That’s what you’re going with? Really … You care that much about her and so little about your own son?”
“Easy there, Son. I did what I thought was best and what I had no choice but to do.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, but in the end … just know that I will never step foot in this house again. You and I are done, with no repair. As far as Mom, I’ll figure that out if she didn’t know anything about this. Are we clear?”
“She didn’t know, and yes we’re clear.”
“Start from the beginning,” I instruct and feel my phone ringing again. With a quick glance, I see it’s Jack this time, and he ended up in voicemail, along with my heart.
“Son, I’m sorry, first off. I have to tell you, if I could go back, I’d tell you to run as far away as you could have. I never meant for it to get this out of hand. I fell for Bethany when you two were dating, and one thing led to another. The baby was never yours, well, we don’t think. We were always careful, except for once, and I know you two were not doing anything at the time. You were getting ready to graduate and leave this place, start your own life without her. Bethany was upset, and I was at the wrong place. Needless to say, with the profile of Senator Edwards, she was always being followed. Word got back to him about our relationship and that’s when it came out, that I’d go on his payroll and you would marry his daughter. If you didn’t, they would’ve charged you with rape and they would’ve ruined my career.” I interrupt him before he can go any further.
“Ruin your career? What about my life? Was that not a factor in any of this?”
“Just listen to me and allow me to finish, okay?”
“By all means, carry on. It’s killing me to not know the outcome of this.”
“Don’t be an ass, Carter. It’s not an appealing feature for you. Anyway … I’ll sum this up for you. You married her and we kept our affair low key for years. I don’t know what to tell you about the child. I was shocked and happy when I got the news. I didn’t want you to have to raise it and feel that kind of pressure. I knew you wanted out from under her, but I did it all to protect you. Understand that this is a
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