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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Here you go, Mira." I stacked another box next to the desk. "I've finished sorting the fan mail and presents."
"Thanks Kip. It's always a hassle to sort through the Valentine's Day chocolate from fans every year. You coming to the office to work part-time has been a huge help."
"I'm glad to be here. What else can I do for you?"
"I think you're good for today. Take Alistor's fan mail with you and it'll save the delivery guys a trip. It's that one there." She used the pen she was holding to point to a box and then used it to tuck a stray crimson lock behind her ear.
"All of that? That box is enormous!" It was much bigger than the ones I had put together today.
"There's actually still some more letters, but this has all of the stuff that won't keep, like the chocolate ganache truffles."
"Fancy. If they really knew what he was like they wouldn't send expensive candy, right?" I joked. Mira was still laughing when I left.
Donnan came out of the elevator as I was waiting. Jerk. But this jerk was now technically my boss. "Hello," I used my polite register.
"Shorty! What's up? Did Smoak do something again?"
Asshole. "Uh, no. I'm doing a short stint working part-time under Mira, starting today."
"Really? Hey, while I've got you here, has Halston said anything to you since that day?"
The day you locked me in a room with him so that he could attack me? "No."
"I see. That's good."
And then like a bad dream, the second elevator opened and out came Asher with Francois. I'm thinking that I need to have myself checked for a tracking device. If it hadn't been for Donnan I'd be in the lobby and on my way home right now. I tried to slip into the elevator.
No such luck. "Kip! We meet in the most unexpected places. I know. How about joining me for super after this?"
"Mr. Smoak," Donnan intervened. "There's another meeting after this, and then you have a dinner appointment with us and the studio head."
"Honestly, I find dinner with just us old guys to be of dubious worth."
Francois seemed like he was gearing up to canceling his plans for me, so I rushed in, "Pardon me. I'm in a hurry, so please do excuse me." I ran for the elevator.
"Kip." I felt I had to stop, but I didn't turn around. "Is Alistor doing well?"
"Yes, he is." And then I was in the lift, pressing the door close button with all my might.
On the way to the train I passed a few shops with hearts and pink filling the window, and I wondered if I should get Ali some candy for Valentine's Day. But I was holding a box full of chocolates much nicer than anything I could afford. I didn't even know if Ali liked celebrating Valentine's Day; we hadn't made any plans.
Walking outside of our apartment building, I tried to ignore the bad feeling I had at the sight of a black Rolls Royce parked out front as I went inside.
"Kip!" Francois got out of the Rolls. His very large driver also got out and stood at a discreet distance. "There you are. I've been waiting for you."
I was so tired of this guy. "What happened to your meeting with Donnan?" I refused to smile back at him.
"I foisted it off on Halston." He looked at the building. "I tried calling up to the condo on the intercom, but no one answered."
"Ali is working. He doesn't want to be disturbed." I'm afraid my coolness was coming off as nervousness. "Did you need to see him?" At least he wasn't here to see me, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were about me, though.
"I do. You're here now, so you can let me in," he ordered like a man used to being obeyed.
Ali would not like this at all. "Like I said, Ali's working, and he really hates being disturbed for anything. His not answering the door is a sure sign of that."
"It's a short visit. I promise."
"Um, well..."
He removed his sunglasses so that I could see his stern, gray eyes clearly. "You know Kip, I am Alistor's father."
Fuck me running. I really wasn't going to get out of this.
I had left the study door open so that I could hear when Kip came home. It was his first day going to work for Mira after school, and I already hated him coming home so late. The moment I heard the front door, I was up and going downstairs. "Kip, are you home? I'm hungry. What's for dinner?"
"He said it's stew." I stopped halfway down the stairs, my hand frozen as I ran it through my hair. There in the living room stood my father, holding a large white box with a blue bow, next to Kip whom was looking at the floor, obviously having been bullied into whatever was going on. "With finely chopped green peppers." My brow furrowed into a deep scowl. "Don't glare at me like that." He went over and sat the box on the coffee table.
I finished coming down. "What are you doing here? I'll thank you not to enter my home without my permission." My goal was to get him out as soon as possible.
"Today is Valentine's Day. I brought you some special-order chocolate." He took off his coat, apparently planning to stay a while.
"No, thank you. Please leave."
Kip, always trying to keep the peace, stepped in. "Um, Ali, I invited him. We bumped into each other and..."
"Don't lie to me!" I censured him. He wasn't doing anyone any favors by telling such a blatant lie.
My father ignored all of this, putting his coat over the back of the sofa and sitting down. "It looks like you live more decently than I'd imagined." He gazed around the apartment.
I wanted him out of here. At this point, discovering what it was that he wanted was the quickest path to that outcome. Sitting across from him, I inquired, "So why are you really here?"
"Is it wrong for a father to be interested in his son's life?" I didn't even bother to answer this ludicrous question. I sat glowering at him. "Good grief. You really do hate me, don't you?" He leaned forward and began removing folders from his briefcase. "Well, you were right, though."
He placed the files in front of me. "What are they?"
"They're from a match-making service for the elite."
I shook my head at them. "You never fail to disappoint. This is absurd." I had seen Kip go completely still in the kitchen at the mention of the match-making service. He didn't need to be insulted like this. My father using him to gain entrance into our home and then insinuating our relationship was meaningless. "Kip, go to your room."
"B-but the tea..."
"To hell with the tea!"
He put down the box of tea he was holding and started to leave. "Kip." My father stopped him. "I want to thank you for turning Halston down. It was a great help that you made matters clear to him."
I felt my father gearing up for one of his nasty diatribes. "Kip, just get to your room!"
"Would you mind doing the same with Alistor? I find your presence to be an obstacle."
I shoved the folders back across the table. "Rejecting Kip's existence is the same as rejecting my existence." He wanted matters clear, then I would clarify for him. "I can't live without him." I stood up, going over to Kip. "We're leaving." I lead him out, my arm around his shoulders, grabbing our coats at the door.
"Where?" He was visibly startled.
"We'll eat out tonight. The door locks automatically, so feel free to leave whenever you like," I called out the last to my father as we left.
He came out of the stairwell a few moments after we exited the elevator in the lobby and began coming after us. "You know, it's not as though I hate Kip."
"Please don't follow us!" I kept walking, dragging Kip along by the hand. "Stop pestering us!"
"The idea that two people in love can find the greatest happiness just by being together isn't one hundred percent correct."
Why wouldn't he go away?! "I don't believe I'm under any obligation to take orders from you!"
"I'm worried about you. If you think you're happy in your current state, that's merely an illusion."
I was seething. "The one who determines whether it's an illusion or not isn't you; it's me!" I shouted.
"Ali, wait!" I was blinded by rage and wasn't paying attention. Stepping off the sidewalk at the intersection, I failed to notice the light was red.
"Ali!" A bus began blaring its horn, a bus that was much too close. I had no time to react.
Two arms came around me, pulling me back onto the sidewalk just in time. I could feel the breeze from the bus on my face, smell the diesel.
Kip and I fell back on the sidewalk.
"Alistor! Are you alright?!"
Kip stood before I did, and then punched me as hard as he could in the shoulder as I was standing. He was breathing hard. "You wait for the light to turn green! They taught you that in school, remember?!" he shouted at me, furious. "You idiot!"
"It doesn't turn green, it lights up green." It was the first thing that came to my mind, and it was stupid.
"Shut up, moron!" He pointed a finger in my face. And then he turned it on Father. "You too! The least you could've done was teach him how to cross the street!" My father stood there dumbfounded. His mouth was hanging open.
Kip seemed to realize what he was doing, and dropped his finger, stuffing his hands in his jeans' pockets. He still looked angry, but he stood there shuffling his feet bashfully.
My father started smiling. Not one of his fake one's, but a real one that reached his eyes. "I see. So, Kip has what it takes to yell at you. I see. I get it now."
I got up and stood next to Kip. "I told you, didn't I?" was my response. "I can't live without him."
He gave a small laugh. "After you've lived alone all this time..."
"When Kip came into my life, for the first time, I felt joy in the company of another. It may not be one hundred percent, but it is my truth."
He gave a loud sigh. "Do not forget that the journey on your desired path will be a hard one. Eventually, there will surely come a time when you'll have to part. However... Perhaps I'll try to have faith in your truth for now." I said nothing to this because it was his revelation, not mine, and I refused to thank him for it. "Kip?"
"Yes sir?"
He turned towards his car that was coming up the side street. "I really would like to sit down and talk of wooden bear carvings with you. Let's have dinner together sometime." He got into his car and left.
"Does this mean that we have his approval?"
I rubbed the top of his head. "Let's go home. I'd rather have your stew after all. But don't put any green pepper in it." I took his hand and went inside. My heart clenched when he didn't pull it away.
When we went upstairs, Kip opened the huge box of special-order chocolate. Inside was a chocolate sculpture of two bears standing on a mountain of salmon. I went over and snapped off one of the fish, eating it. "I've had better. By the way, where's my Valentine's Day gift from you?"
Turning red, he went to his book bag and came back with a small, heart-shaped box of chocolates with a cartoon bee on it saying, "Bee mine!" placing it in my hands. "Here."
I grinned at the box, thinking that nothing had made me happier. "Why do you always do these things that make me so happy?" I grabbed him and pulled him against me.
"I-I wouldn't know."
"It's no use. I knew it, but I really can't live without you. Kip, I love you."