“That true?” Trey’s brow shot up. “Ambi? Did you know my family had money when you started dating me back in college?”
“N-no,” she stammered. She clearly didn’t want to be involved in the discussion. She’d somehow found herself trapped between father and son, dragged into a conversation that should never be taking place. It was happening, even if she didn’t want to participate.
“There’s always the possibility that it’s not the entire truth,” Dale pressed.
“It doesn’t matter!” Trey stepped up to shield Ambi from his father’s harsh gaze. “We are not having this discussion right now.”
“You do that then son. You make whatever decision you want. Just make sure it’s the right one.” Dale didn’t wait around. He let those ominous words swirling in the air as he turned and stalked off, descending the stairs quickly to once again become king of the empire he’d created. He might as well have told Trey that if he picked Ambi, he’d be dead to him. Cut off. Finished. That was the impression he left, lingering between them like a terrible stench.
Ambi turned and walked to the railing. She stood there, her shoulders straight, her bearing regal, but her knuckles stark white. Trey stepped up beside her. He leaned into her periphery. He watched her blink rapidly. She was so perfect, so gentle, so everything. He wanted to put the pad of his thumb underneath her eyelashes to wipe away the tears before they spilled, but he didn’t dare touch her.
“I can’t do this,” she breathed. She turned to him slowly, her eyes pools of misty anguish. “You’re perfect, Trey. Really. All that you ever were, are, will be… it doesn’t belong to me. Six months in college and a few stolen moments over the past few weeks isn’t enough for me to demand all of you. If you’re not happy at your job and you don’t give a shit about the money, that’s one thing. Breaking with all that’s left of your family is another. That would be a mistake and I can’t let you make it. I don’t want you to regret me. Ever.”
No. No, no, no, no! He couldn’t let her do it. He couldn’t let her walk away from him again. “What do you mean you can’t do this? You can do this. You can do anything, Ambi. He’ll come around. He was just being ridiculous. My father flies off the handle all the time.”
“No. No, not about this. I don’t think he will, Trey.”
“Don’t say that! You don’t know. With time…”
She finally turned to look at him, even though it had to hurt. It hurt him. It hurt everywhere. His chest. His stomach. His legs, his feet, his hands, his head. Most of all, it hurt his heart.
“We’re different people.” Ambi started in on the usual break up shit, but one look at his face and her voice thinned out. “It never would work. Ever. It’s not you. It’s not even me. It’s just this. All of it. Our lives. Our worlds. They don’t belong together. We’re like two opposing forces. Like hot and cold air and when we mix, all we create is this massive tornado of destruction. I can’t let you throw away your relationship with your dad. He’s the only parent you have left. I know you’d regret it. If you lost what little family you have, just to be with me. It isn’t right, Trey. It’s never going to be right. Hurting people to be with me is never going to make you happy and it’s not going to make me happy either. We’ll just end up a sullen mess.”
Trey’s felt his face harden. He was fighting it, doing battle against the destruction he was bringing down on both of them. He was shattering. So was she. They were watching each other do it, doing it to themselves, trading stab wounds with their words, and neither of them could stop the bleed out.
Wounds could be stitched, but it was true. Throwing away his family would be like nicking an artery and bleeding out. Ambi was too good to let him do that. Fast or slow, it would be agonizing and painful and she just couldn’t do that to him.
“I love my mom,” Ambi breathed. “She’s all I have left. It’s always been just us. I could never give her up. I know it’s just you and your dad. I know you don’t have the best relationship. I know that he works too much and you feel like he hasn’t been there for you and that he feels like he lost all the good things in life when your mom died, but you still have each other. You just need to figure out a way to get through to him. Repairing that is far more important than us being together. We don’t even know that it would work. Given that half of marriages fail and that’s just stats- god knows about the rest of the mess for everyone else, the odds aren’t good. I wouldn’t hedge your bets on us.”