A Sensitive Arrangement

Chapter 13

Julian smiled a bit at the sound of my laughter. He must have realized I had finished reading dad's letter and asked, "Did he have anything interesting to say this year?" It was an open ended question, designed to allow me to share as much or as little of the contents as I wanted. 

"He said he's watching you." I laughed again.

"He did not." Julian replied in disbelief. So I showed him the letter, pointing to the last line. He was careful to only read the part I was sharing with him. "I think your father must have been able to tell the future. Maybe that's how CalWat got so successful."

"Surely then it would have been WatCal Industries." I joked.

"And they would have taken you on as their protégé, hoping you might grow into your inherited powers some day." He teased.

"But then what would you do?"

"Stand in the corner and get leered at apparently. I think I prefer my role." He said it as if it were a joke, but we both knew he didn't mean it to be one. "You know, if you ever do want a more active role in the company, it is your right. You are one half of CalWat."

"My father was one half of CalWat, I would have no idea what I was doing." I clarified.

"You might some day. I know you don't know what you want to be yet, and that's fine. You don't have to. You have time. But just know that there is always a place for you there, you don't just have to be..." He trailed off. I considered letting the thought just hang in the air, but I knew we had been beating around the bush too much. If we were going to finally acknowledge it, then we should be ready to say it.

"The CEO's wife." I finished for him.

"Ali, I'm sure you've figured out by now that there are some details you haven't been made aware of yet. That this arrangement was crafted over months, rather than just a promise spoken by a dying man to his nine-year-old daughter. Most of it is just boring business stuff, but I promise you'll know everything when the time is right. For now that's not what you should be worrying about."

"Then what should I be worrying about?" I asked, still so confused by our relationship.

"Being as normal a teenage girl as you could possibly be. Falling in love, falling out of love, breaking hearts, getting jealous for stupid reasons."

"Well I've already got that last part down." I grumbled.

"I mean jealous of other people, in ways that don't involve me at all. Ali, I don't love the idea of you dating. To be honest, the thought of it has me grinding my teeth so much, I'm convinced I'll need a full set of new ones by the time I'm twenty-five. But I promised your father I'd look out for you, that I'd take care of you, and this is part of that."

"How is this part of that? That doesn't make any sense." I could feel the exasperation in my tone. No one could infuriate me the way Julian Callaway could. And honestly, that's how I knew I loved him.

"I can stomach the idea of you holding hands with some other guy, kissing him. I try hard not to think about anything further than that, but if it's what you wanted, I wouldn't stand in your way. As long as you were extremely careful and used at least two types of protection." He started, and I immediately felt my cheeks turn a deep shade of pink.

"I can even stand the thought of you getting a bit heartbroken over someone else. Sure, my dentist bill will be a lot higher, but it's a price I'm more than willing to pay if it spares me from the alternative. Because Alice Watson, what I cannot stand is the thought that some day, maybe in two years maybe in fifty, you'll come to resent me for making you feel stuck."