But Daddy I Love Him

Extraordinary Machine

"I still only travel by foot and by foot it's a slow climb/ But I'm good at being uncomfortable/ So I can't stop changing all the time// Be nice to me or treat me mean/ I'll make the most of it I'm an extraordinary machine"

Ariel North: I remember that day, one of their drivers came to my apartment to bring me to my father's office. And I was terrified, my hands were shaking, I remembered how hard it was to face him sober. I remember that he was fighting with my brothers before I even walked in, I remember it because I was scared he was already in a bad mood. I couldn't make out at the time what happened, just that Chris had done something.

Interviewer: Do you remember anything that was said?

Ariel North: He said Chris had slipped up and was 'fucking the company' and I remember thinking that he sounded angry but also genuinely scared. I had no clue what was coming.

...

The assistant was leading Ariel to her father's office like a guard might lead a prisoner to execution. For the fifth time since Ariel entered the building, she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. Her back went ridged when she heard her father's yelling and she watched the assistant falter in step as well.

The words were muffled behind the closed door. The assistant timidly knocked and waited. There was no response. Slowly the assistant opened the door, a mistake. However, this allowed her father's words to be heard.

"What are you, Christopher? A fucking idiot? You're fucking the company- my company. Do you understand how this would look if it-" He broke off, noticing the assistant opening the door. "What the fuck is wrong with you people? Don't you knock?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir." Ariel felt a pang of pity for the worker. It wasn't right how her family treated people. "I brought your daughter, you said to let you know as soon as she was here."

"Right, okay, get out." He dismissed the assistant, who Ariel thought was probably happy to leave this situation and return to her desk. "Ariel, princess, come on in." Her father said with forced joviality.

Ariel put on a smile and came in. She glanced at her brothers. Chris was sitting in a chair in front of their father's desk. She knew the look on his face, she'd worn it frequently herself, he was trying to calm himself down without letting anyone know. He was clearly rattled by the fight with their father. Michael was standing behind Chris's chair. His things were on a couch towards the back wall of the office, making Ariel wonder if he had started back there and moved to either comfort or loom over Chris. She wasn't sure which. Her father, of course, like a biblical Goliath sat behind his desk. Something was off, she was sure of it. Or maybe the sobriety just helped her sense it.
Ariel gracefully dropped down to a chair in front of his desk.

"How was, uh, the, you know?" He asked, dismissively.

"The rehab?" Ariel supplied the word. "It was good, I needed that."

"Well that's wonderful!" She knew in her gut he didn't mean it. "No one knows you were there, story stayed sealed. And really that's for the best, so if you can just keep your mouth shut about it we'll all be golden. We had the press say you were at a spa, a well earned break after Fashion Week."

She looked at his face, trying to read him. Why was he letting her off so easy? Was it because Chris was now the problem child? Or was he waiting for something? She couldn't trust him. She figured she'd probably never be able to.

"And what about the people at the party?"

"Hmm?"

"The people who called the ambulance when I overdosed?" The words came out a little pained.