Bolanle

Chapter 13- Confidant

"My mom rarely speaks of my dad but she had told me quite a bit about him. She says his name is Holland Parkes and I guess you may know him." I started off. "She used to work for the Parkes family as a maid and she got involved with Mr. Parkes. Eventually, that involvement led to pregnancy. When she found out and told him, he told her to abort me and because she refused, he fired her, not wanting his wife to know of their affair." I continued staring ahead at nothing in particular.
"I do know Holland Parkes and thinking of it you do resemble him slightly with the round face, brown eyes and small stature." He said, observing me with a sad expression. It was true that I got those features from my dad based on the one picture that I saw of him.
"As I told you before I have two siblings on his side. I've never met them because I don't know my dad nor have a relationship with him, though my mom isn't sure if he had any more children."
"I know a bit about your dad and in our world amongst the rich we keep secrets closer than money, but because you're my friend I'll share some things with you.  As you may know the Parkes family is the fourth richest family in Nisean.  They invest in real estate and owns the Bill State Bank. Together they have four children and their eldest daughter is married to my brother. They usually host grand parties on their yachts and they're the persons behind the Miss Nisean contest." He said.
"Has he ever made mention of having an outside child?"
"No, we both know the rich are prejudiced and so he wouldn't have counted you. Though, if he did, he wouldn't tell any of us fearing our judgment and rejection and his wife being told."

The conversation about my dad broke my focus from the movie. While I was staring straight ahead, Marlon pulled me into a hug and gave me a kiss on the forehead. We've always hugged but we've never gone past that. So, when I felt his lips I blushed in his chest.

"I can't believe I fell for my opposite." Marlon muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" I asked, though I heard him.
I expected him to shy away but instead he replied, "I fell for my opposite. I never expected to fall for someone below my class and whose darker than me. But your intelligence and you being my confidant pulled me in. I tried to fight it but the more I tried the stronger the feelings got. I guess because you were always around."
I was glad to be tucked under his chest for him not to see me blush. It thrilled me to know he reciprocated those feelings but there was never going to be an us. He would be ridiculed and ostracized from his world if there was to ever be an us. I don't think he loves me that much for that.