I don't even know why we were doing this but apparently, I was about to meet and sit down with two of Emily's family members. I'd flown back from Canada because both Cale and Diego Vasquez demanded my presence like they were members of the royal family and I was supposed to comply.
I promised Emily I would do anything for her, I didn't know what that entailed and now I was going to be subjected to being interviewed by two men in her life that wanted nothing but to tear me to pieces.
They weren't about to do any of that but I'd give them the benefit of the doubt.
As soon as Emily told them that I'd proposed to her, shit hit the fan.
Her dad had obviously thought this was one of Emily's summer flings, that she'd tire of me eventually and throw me in a box marked 'Boy toy' but I guess the news about marriage both disgusted and terrified them in equal measures.
I wouldn't blame them. If my daughter decided to marry the housekeeper, I'd want answers too.
I pulled the car into the Country club parking lot.
What a perfect place to meet your future son-in-law. I felt like the two of them had called me here on purpose because they wanted to rub it in about how wealthy they were to afford years of membership even though they hardly visited the club except for when they were in town.
Emily squeezed my arm in assurance, her eyes twinkled with adoration, "It will be okay, I promise."
I stopped walking and turned to her. "It's not me I'm worried about." I closed my eyes for a brief moment, wondering how I could tell her this, "I don't want you to be ashamed of me, Emily."
"Ashamed of you? No...No, of course not. Why would I be?"
"Because no matter what we try to tell people, it doesn't change the truth...the fact that I used to work for your family, my mother worked as a maid in your household." I gave out a humorless laugh, "You're far above me."
She grabbed my face in both her hands, "We're equal. I would rather be with you than a rich pretentious guy and that's the truth."
I picked up her hand that now had a glimmering solitaire ring, and kissed it. "You won't regret this."
"I never will."
*~*
A few minutes later, we were sitting with a view of the beautiful sea, the private yachts lined the corner. I knew Emily's father owned one too. The more I thought about the colossal difference between us, the worse my anxiety became. The place was spectacular but it made it impossible for me to enjoy being under the hawk eye of not one but two men in Emily's life.
Emily hugged both of them as we took our seats. The adoration for his daughter was clear in Diego's eyes. At least we could agree on common ground, we both loved the girl in our own ways. He shook hands with me. Cale was satisfied with a nod. Both of them wore similar expressions of intrigue.
"How are you doing, Seth? I believe we haven't formally met before. The last time I think was during Emily's birthday, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"We couldn't have a proper conversation at the time. I apologize about that." He picked up a menu card, "What would you like to order? My recommendation would be fish and chips, those are great here."
"Then I'll have that," I said.
Honestly, I was confused as hell. Was it possible that Emily and I had walked into another dimension, one in which her father was nice and accepting?
Why did this all seem easy?
Emily's father was as I remembered him. Big-boned, the greying hair at the sides, a constant serious face but good-looking nevertheless, he kinda looked like an actor from an old Spanish movie. I understood where Emily got that strong body structure from. This man could crush me in his palm without batting an eye. Cale regarded me with a cold stare, you'd think I'd robbed his house and ran my truck over his pet.
He hadn't said a word to me until now.
The food arrived moments later and we got busy enjoying the food and talking about things that weren't relevant. I'd started to loosen up a little which was a good thing. Emily would draw soothing circles over my thigh, it was a bit distracting but comforting too. I guess she was trying her best to make me feel relaxed.
"So, Seth, what are your plans after college?"
"Seth's planning on going Pro. He's going for the entry-level drafts next year. Isn't that great, daddy?"
Diego looked at me for confirmation.
"Going Pro is the plan for now," I admitted.
"According to statistics, one in twenty-four players get drafted by a team. What are your chances?" He asked me outright.
"Daddy, Seth is amazing!"
"Emily..." He warned her softly.
"Without coming off as conceited, I'd say my chances are good but I can't say much about the future. Hockey is my life, I've dedicated countless hours, years on the ice. I never had professional coaching, neither did I go to any hockey camps that other players my age could afford to go to but I've done what I could in what my mother could provide me at the time."
"Do you have a backup plan? What about a college degree?"
"Yes, sir. I'm doing business management but if the hockey career won't work out, I plan to become a school hockey coach."
"A coach?" That was the first thing I'd heard out of Cale's mouth since we’d arrived. He'd said it like it was a curse word.
"Yup."
"You plan to marry my daughter and raise a family on a school teacher's salary?"
"Coach." I corrected him.
"Daddy, can you stop talking like I'm not sitting here at this table?"
"My Emily's closet alone costs roughly about hundred thousand dollars, give or take and that's not including the shoes or the collection of her bags. Could you ever afford that with a school coach's salary?"
"Dad!" Emily shrieked. Her face turned red and she looked around the table to see if anyone was listening to the conversation.
"No, sir. I cannot afford that."
"You just said it. You can't give her the life that she's had for years and therefore you're not suitable to become her husband."
"I agree that I'm not wealthy, if the hockey career doesn't work out, I would have to do a normal nine to five job that pays a decent salary but that does not mean that I can't make your daughter happy."
Her father sighed like I'd been talking gibberish until now. "How old are you? Nineteen? You're in this phase right now where you think your future's going to be all fine and dandy because you're in love but that is not how life works most of the time. This is not a movie. I learned this the hard way. If you're thinking of marrying Emily because you think you will acquire access to her wealth, think again. After Emily gets married to you, I won't be giving her a monthly allowance which was about one percent of my net worth. She won't get any money from me."
"Dad, I thought we gathered here because you genuinely wanted to get to know Seth, if I knew that I'd be flying across the country to sit and talk about assets and money, I would have rather liked to enjoy my weekend at home."
She said something to him in Spanish and then he responded again. My Spanish was weak so I didn’t understand much, only that she was asking him to stop making me uncomfortable.
He pinned her with a stare, "I just want to make sure Seth and I are on the same page."
"We are," I said silently. "To be honest with you, it never once crossed my mind that she would be having a monthly allowance when I asked her to marry me. Emily and I have discussed this before. She's free to make her own decisions. After she gets her degree, she can continue to work in the field that she wants to or she can be at home and let me provide for her." I smiled, "We work as a team. I'm not the houseboy anymore."
Her father nodded. The desserts were served. It was a coffee-flavored pudding. It looked expensive as hell and the taste was alright. I could have made a much better pudding with more quantity. It had to be the cook inside me that kept criticizing that I could make a better pudding than this one.
"Can we talk alone for a moment?" Diego asked me outright.
I agreed, "Sure."
Emily looked anxious; she grabbed my hand to stop me. I gave her a confident smile and kissed her cheek. "It'll be alright."
She looked at her father with a glare, silently warning him and then stood up to leave. Cale continued to sit there eating his dessert.
Diego turned to his son, "I want you to leave too, son."
He groaned and then stood up, "Fine." He tossed the napkin onto the table and joined Emily outside the restaurant.
Her father and I were completely alone now. Emily wouldn't be able to know what was going on here. I had a slight idea what was about to go down. He was going to ask me to break up with her or blackmail me with something. When I decided to meet Diego, I'd been ready for everything so it wouldn't faze me if this is why he was here.
*~*
EMILY
Cale and I sat by the pool. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He took a long drag and puffed the smoke.
"That's a nice ring you got there." He said silently.
"Thanks."
"I don't know him personally but I'd like to get to know him.”
That's the first time my brother has ever said anything nice.
He then added, "He's pretty big."
I gaped at him, "What the hell, Cale?"
"I mean he's tough-looking, god, get your mind out of the fucking gutter." He made a disgusted face, "He's not the type to get furious and hit you or anything, right?"
I went over to hug him. Even though my brother didn't show it often, he did love me in his own way. "Seth is a very patient guy. He would never think of laying a finger on me no matter how much we argue which isn't often."
He patted my back awkwardly, "I noticed you smile more often now. That’s more important than anything else.”
“I never dreamed of being in such a happy place.”
*~*
SETH
"When are you planning to get married?" He asked, straight to the point.
"Next year."
"And Ruth...your mother is okay with this?"
"She had her concerns." I admitted, "but she knew that Emily and I wanted to live together in Canada so getting married made more sense."
After Emily moved to Canada to live with me, she resigned as the housekeeper of their residence. She was now using the money to renovate the farm and start her own small business with one of her friends.
"I'll admit that I wished Emily had picked someone with the same caliber."
"You mean someone wealthy?"
"Yes. I think it would be much easier for my daughter if she had the same quality of life that I'd given her which I know you can't provide because you're still very young. I can't fault you for that, but I've been in your place before. It's not easy. No offense."
"None taken, sir. Your point is?"
He pulled out a small book and a pen. In a swift steady way, he wrote his name and signed his name.
I watched flabbergasted, too speechless for words as he pushed the rectangle piece of paper towards me. The figure on it was unbelievable. I'd never seen anything like it in my entire nineteen years of existence.
"It's a check of ten million dollars. You can encash it whenever you want to and leave Emily. If you want more money, all you have to do is say the word but you break up with my daughter. Think about it, you can live comfortably with this much amount of money even if you decide to do a regular job or you could even give it to your mother."
I picked up the check and noticed that it was a legit one. This man wasn't bluffing. I could walk out of here as a rich man without the girl I loved. I couldn't help myself when I started laughing suddenly.
Diego began growing impatient. "Something funny here?"
"Yes, very." I tore the piece of paper from the middle and then some more. I smiled at him, "Mr. Vasquez, sir...with all due respect, I told you I wasn't interested in the money. I also did not think you were into theatrics; I feel like I'm living in some kind of a cheesy romance drama movie. Thanks for the offer but I don't want this; I'll keep your daughter though."
"You're quite brazen." His eyes twinkled with amusement, "Emily doesn't cook, clean, or do basic chores so technically I was trying to save your life but I see that you're far beyond saving. You'll most likely regret this."
I laughed, "Probably."
"Her grandfather did the same thing to me. He threw an exorbitant amount of money and asked me to forget her mother..." He smiled to a distant memory.
"And you didn't take it."
"Oh no, I did. I was shameless. I took the check and proposed to her mother the next day. He was stupid to trust me. I used that money to buy her a very fancy wedding dress."
"Maybe I should have done the same thing."
"As long as you understand who you're marrying, Seth, we're good. If my daughter calls me up in the middle of the night, or day, if she says she's not happy with you, I'll take her back with me and you’ll be very sorry.”
Emily and Cale were already making their way towards our table. She passed me a nervous glance but when she saw the smile on my face, she relaxed.
When it was time to leave, I waited for Emily in the truck. I watched as her father hugged her and told her something. Maybe I had been wrong that her family didn’t care about her. Clearly, Diego loved his daughter, but maybe due to being busy running a multi-million-dollar company, he couldn’t give her enough time.
I wondered if she would have fallen in love with me if she wasn’t so lonely.
Cale stood near the car window, looking at me like I was some tick that his sister had decided to keep as a pet. I rolled down the glass.
“Just to be clear, Monroe. If my sister is in distress, if you sleep around on her with one of the puck-bunnies in your college, or anyone for that matter, I’ll come for you.”
“Sure, but that’s not gonna happen, man. Your father threatened me too and I’m not stupid.”
“Good.”
On the way back to the hotel, it began raining heavily. I parked the truck at the side of the road to wait for it to stop. The drops pelted hard against the windshield making it difficult to see the road.
The phone had no signal.
She passed me a mischievous smile and climbed into my lap. My thighs were going to give out but I was a strong guy, it’s nothing I couldn’t handle. Wordlessly, she kissed me, and her fingers caressed my hair in smooth strokes making me excited down south.
“Do you think anybody can see us?” She whispered.
“It’s a deserted road.”
“I love you.” She murmured against my ears, nibbling it, her tongue gliding against my neck. Her hands slid inside my shirt and began exploring my pecs and then my abs. “sometimes I’m scared.”
I brought her face up to look at me, “Scared about what?”
“Scared that I won’t be enough, I’m afraid to lose you.” Her lips looked swollen from kissing, “You’re going to spend the rest of your life with a fat girl, and you’ll probably regret marrying me. I don’t know why I have these fears.”
“Don’t, Emily,” I whispered back to her, kissing her harder, channeling all my feelings into that. “You’d believe how much I love you if you had a chance to look into my heart. It’s big enough to fit you in it. I wouldn’t want anyone else.”
She put her head against my chest, “What did my dad say?”
“He was offering me money to forget you.”
She looked at my face, shocked. “And what did you say?”
“That I’ll take the money.”
She gaped at me. “You didn’t!”
I laughed because her reaction was funny. She believed everything I said.
“I told him no amount of money is going to keep me away from his daughter. I tore the check and felt like a complete badass doing it like one of those scenes from the movies.”
“Aw, I’m so proud of you. I’m more important to you than the money?”
I squeezed her cheeks, kissing that pouty mouth, “Of course you are. You’re priceless, baby.”
“I feel so lucky. Let’s go to the hotel room soon and I’ll reward you.”