An (Un)Suspected Visitor −7-
"Dad, I hate to break it to you, but now is not the perfect time for you to mess with my head," I nearly growled to my father.
"Mr. Darrell, I'm not sure if now's the right time to tell Kayla about this," Jace said tentatively to my dad.
"Why not? She did amazing during the meeting so now is actually a really good time to tell her the truth," my father said.
"Are you both implying that you know something that I don't?" I asked in a low voice.
"Kay-"Jace began.
"No Jace, I'll tell her," my dad said, leaning back in his chair as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I knew this was a bad idea from the start..."Jace muttered.
"What was a bad idea?" I asked turning around to look-well, more like glare-at him in the eye.
Jace sighed and just shook his head.
"Jace, this was needed. Your dad and I had no choice. You didn't want this for yourself, but it was necessary," my dad said firmly.
"Look, Mr. Darell, I didn't want any of this. I," he pointed to himself, "didn't NEED any of this," Jace said harshly. "I doubt Kayla wanted or needed any of this either."
I groaned out in frustration. "Someone PLEASE, I beg of either of you, explain things to me."
"Kayla, do you remember Mr. Michaels from Freigitt Corporation?" my dad asked.
"Of course. He was really nice and you introduced me to him first when I started doing this whole business training thing," I said.
"Yeah...well. Meet his son," my dad said with a smile.
My eyes grew wide and I shook my head in disbelief. Confusion, shock, and anger took over my body and those three feelings were all that was present in that moment. My mind was trying so hard to piece together whatever I was missing but it seemed like I too many pieces of the puzzle were not present within my reach. As I continued to stare at my father, I couldn't fathom an idea to why he would lie about something like this to me.
"You're telling me that Jace-this Jace that's three feet away from me-is Mr. Michaels' son?!" I asked completely confused.
"Yes," my father replied.
"And you," I continued, turning towards Jace. "You've been following me around pretending you're my 'head of security' all this time." I was beyond confused now. I truly felt like someone stuck me in a different world at this point. "Why?"
Jace sighed. "My dad loved how well you were doing with all this business stuff." He waved a hand around us, motioning to "all this business stuff."
Jace continued. "And apparently, he hated how much of a 'slacker' I was and how I 'ran around' with 'a bunch of useless teenagers' when my future was just waiting for me to take it."
My dad nodded. "So Clark Michaels came up to me and asked me to let Jace hang around you and maybe pick up a few things when it came to handling a company well. I thought that it would interfere with your training so I initially said no. He managed to convince me to agree with Jace pretending to be a bodyguard or someone that would be around you a lot without you knowing exactly who he was," he explained.
A blank look graced my face. Betrayal was setting in.
"Let me get this straight. Jace is some rich snob who was working towards nothing so his dad had to step in for him to realize that things weren't always going to be handed to him on a silver platter so you, MY DAD, agreed for him to be some creep that studied my every move so that HOPEFULLY he'll realize that he had something that he was going to be soon responsible for and he had to step up his game?" I asked as I looked at both Jace and my father in disbelief.
Jace mumbled something that resembled a "geez, there's no need for sarcasm and insults" under his breath.
"Did I miss anything? Because I really feel used right now. More specifically, used BEHIND MY BACK!" I hissed.
"Kayla, you're blowing things out of proportion. You've been doing really well at school and, now, I see that your training is coming along really well. Maybe an internship over your school vacations is next. Things for you are coming along great," my dad said with a small smile.
I could believe his nerve at trying to lighten up the situation. He regarded all that I've done up until now as if it was just something normal to expect from someone my age. He truly didn't understand what I put myself through just to make him happy most of the time. "You know dad. I have to give Jace some credit. He got one thing right. I didn't ask for any of this. I don't necessarily need any of this. Yet here I am. I work my ass off in school so I have the perfect grade point average that makes you happy. I literally kill myself studying business strategies and putting all of my spare time into trying to perfect the image of a daughter that you want to see in me. I have no life outside trying to make myself perfect for you. Why can't I just be a good student then go to college like everyone else? Why does everything have to be rushed for me so that I can fit more stuff into my life that I don't really want or need?" I said as tears started to form in my eyes.
I paused, trying to gather myself together before I completely broke down.
"Why does everything have to be complicated?" I asked in a whisper. "Why can't I just live the way I want to?"
With that last unanswered question, I left my dad's office and walked to the nearest elevator. In just a few minutes, tears were already streaming down my cheeks and I fought to wipe them off my face before they fell to the ground. As the elevator finally reached the lobby of the building, I walked out and headed for the taxi stand not wanting to be driven by another person being manipulated by my father. A few steps from the elevator, I heard the other elevator ding and a person chase after me. I kept walking.
"Kay!"
"Kay, wait up!"
I glance over my shoulder and saw Jace trying to catch up to me.
"What, Jace?" I snapped at him. "Apologies aren't going to make things any better."
By now we were outside the building, right in front of the main entrance.
"Yeah, I know that," he said. "But now that you know that I'm not some creep breathing down your back and really just someone who needed a wake-up call, I was really hoping to be actual friends. And I also made a promise to you that I would go with you on your little escapades and not tell a soul, so I'm actually here to accompany you."
I squinted my eyes at him. I was trying so hard to figure out what he was all about.
"I'm guessing this is your breaking point and about the time you start making your rounds around the town, right?" he asked me.
"It usually is, but I'm so drained from that *beautiful* confrontation with my father that I'm just heading back to the hotel," I told him with a heavy sigh. "And my mind is going on overdrive trying to figure everything out that I really can't go out and pretend to have fun right now."
"How about I make a deal with you?" Jace asked.
I finally hailed a cab and got in with Jace following me hastily.
"You let me explain things without interrupting and I'll tell you as much as I can to clear up all the confusion and answer all of you questions?" he asked me.
"I really should hate you right now and push you out of this moving cab..." I told him.
Jace merely chuckled.
"But I'll take you up on your offer."
