A Taste of You

36: What The Future Holds

Helen stares at her husband. "You're not going to chase her off, are you?"

"I'm fine, Helen, but thank you." I tell her. She looks reluctant, but she picks up her mug of tea and leaves. I sit down across from Derek. He keeps shuffling the deck without saying anything. Then he deals a familiar set-up.

War.

We trade off hands pretty evenly for the first few turns. Then we lay down a match. Time for war. He takes the hand.

He grunts. "You're nothing like Vera."

"Damn right I'm not." I say definitively.

He pauses, studying me. Then he continues. Another war. He takes this hand too.

"This confused and worried me...at first. Vera was good for Ethan, she was supposed to be good for Ethan's future." He says.

"Well apparently she misread the memo and decided she'd be better for someone else's future. And maybe ultimately, this was her being good for Ethan's future." I counter.

Another war. I finally win a hand.

"Alise, it may surprise you to know I have eaten at your restaurant. I know the caliber of your work and I know the sacrifices it has taken for you to stay relevant in that market." He does catch me off-guard.

Another war, resulting in yet another war. I take this.

Derek continues. "And I just have a hard time seeing you give that up to give Ethan a family."

I finally look at him. "First, have you considered whether Ethan ever wanted what you had lined up for him? Playing in the major leagues? A family? A housewife? 2.5 kids?"

Derek responds with incredulity. "Of course he wanted all that!" But as he says it, I see the wave of uncertainty crest and roll over him.

"Secondly, why do I have to give up my livelihood for a family? Yes there would be difficult compromises, but isn't that what love and partnership is about?"

I take another round of war.

And he unleashes. "Do you love him enough not to resent those compromises? As a talent scout who travels all the time, I know a thing or two about asking spouses to compromise. Thankfully Helen doesn't resent or regret what she gave up to stick it out with me. Yet I sit here as an ungrateful curmudgeon and why?Because she should resent me. So I just give her other reasons to be angry with me."

I am astounded by him opening up to me like this. It is all starting to make sense now.

"I love him. I love him enough to know that we both will fight for what we want in life and we'll do it together." I say firmly.

He takes a round of war and pauses.

"And you know that so certainly now? After a few months?" His tone is mocking.

I calmly put my cards face down and stare him down across the table. "With all due respect sir, I don't need to convince you of my love for your son. The only person who needs my reassurance is him and he does not doubt me or our future together. So you have two choices...you can either accept that as good enough or you can continue to act like a spoiled toddler disrupting your family's peace because you aren't getting your way."

Several beats of silence pass between us. He stares at me for a bit, then looks at his dwindled stack of cards. "Looks like you win."

Derek is not a problem the remainder of my stay. He actually apologizes at the dinner table for his earlier behavior. Helen looks relieved, while both Bev and Ethan look shocked. Aron gives me a knowing look.