“The bank was South National Bank,” my mom finished.
I threw my body on to her bed in shock.
“So you’re tel
ling me,” I said very slowly so that there would be absolutely no confusion on this matter. “That this man is paying sixty thousand dollars to help out our family, after our family robbed his company of eight times that amount already?”
“Don’t put it like that, sweetheart!” my mom gasped. “You couldn’t have known now, could you? When you first took a job there, I felt a little uncomfortable given our shaky history with the company, but I didn’t want to say anything because it was just a job. What could go wrong? As I learned in the span of the past hour, apparently a whole lot.”
I covered my whole face with a pillow and tried to let this sink in. I had to think straight here. There was no way Zayden would ever find out about this connection, was there? Unless I told him, of course. And while a voice in my head was egging at me to do so, I did feel that it was not necessary for him to know everything about my family history.
However, I knew what the right thing to do was and it was to tell him. If he ever found out any other way and knew that I had known all along, it would be much harder for him to forgive me.
Would he really take it so badly? After all, I had no idea my dad was responsible for such a big loss to him and if I came clean and told him as much, he was bound to believe me. What my dad did was not my fault and I knew Zayden, he was better than to hold it against me. After everything we had been through together, he wasn’t going to use a fact from a distant past as a weapon against a relationship we had worked so hard to build.
“Honey, are you okay?” my mom asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry. Perhaps tonight wasn’t the best time to tell you about this. I was just so shocked when you told me who he really was. At first I was just mad that you were selling yourself to your boss, but then when you told me how you felt, I just could not bear the guilt.”
“It’s okay, mom,” I said sitting up. “It’s all okay. I am glad you told me because I am going to go out there and tell him all of this myself. That’s the only way to have a healthy relationship.”
My mom’s eyes were still teary, but she extended the palm of her hands to my face and rubbed my cheek. “You’ll do the right thing, Aria,” she said endearingly. “You always do.”
Chapter 5
Zayden
At first I wasn’t too concerned by what they were talking about. Some mother-daughter quips about dating the boss, I supposed, which seemed like a legitimate thing for a mother to worry about. Especially considering the fact that she knew I was making a financial investment in this relationship, it was only natural for her to feel concerned for her daughter. Therefore, I did not press too hard in my attempts to listen in on the talks.
But as their voices started getting louder, something caught my attention. They were speaking of South National Bank – which could very well mean they were discussing Aria’s job – but then I heard something about five hundred thousand dollars and that piqued my curiosity, so I leaned closer to the door of the room.
When I finally heard what was going on, a rush of annoyance spread through my whole body as I remembered the very case they were now discussing. A couple of years ago a man named Mike Roberts – Roberts, of course! Why hadn’t I tried to make the connection sooner? It was a fairly common last name, so I couldn’t exactly blame myself here.
He had owed the bank a lot of money when he declared bankruptcy, resulting in a huge loss for us! At the time the bank was not doing as splendidly as it was now and those five hundred thousand dollars that he owed us had caused us considerable difficulties in making some investments. We got out of that tight spot easy enough and now in the grand scheme of things that amount seemed rather too small to worry about.
But I could not shake off the feeling that I was currently spending tens of thousands of dollars to help out the very same family that had already cost me quite a lot. I didn’t want to be irked by it, but when Aria and her mother reappeared from the room I felt another flash of annoyance and decided that before I did something I would regret I needed to get out of there.
“I’m sorry for taking so much of Aria’s time.” Molly smiled at me politely. “But dinner can resume now. Would you like another glass of—”
“Actually,” I said, looking at my watch as though it would indicate some sort of honesty in my story. “I have to get going. Unfortunately, something has come up at the bank and I need to rush right away.”
“But Zayden,” Aria started protesting, looking rather disappointed. “What could have possibly come up at this hour? Surely you could postpone it until the morning without any consequences?”
“And lose more money? No thank you, I think I better get ahead,” I snapped and regretted immediately as I watched Aria’s face fall.
“Did you hear us talking?” Aria asked beginning to tear up.
“I really have to go, Aria,” I said, trying to sound slightly kinder. “Ned will come pick you up after he drops me off at the bank. It won’t be very long.”
“That’s not necessary,” she said, still looking sad. “I can manage on my own.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Aria.” I frowned. “It’s too late at night for you to be…whatever… Ned will be here and he will take you home safely and I really, really have to go. Thanks a lot for dinner, Molly,” I said, trying to be polite despite the circumstances. “See you, Aria.”
I turned around and walked out without thinking twice. Had I not gotten out of there, I would have suffocated with the knowledge. To Aria’s defense, it did sound like she planned on telling me everything, so she had no poor intention. Yet, it hardly changed the facts. Whether or not Aria had been directly involved in the situation, what had happened had happened.
---
The next day, I sat in my office playing with my stress ball, still unable to shake off the feelings of betrayal from everything I had heard the past day. No matter what way I looked at it, I couldn’t help but feel like this family had scammed me. I knew that Aria didn’t know of her dad’s connection to the bank and how he had caused me such a loss before signing the contract. However, the fact remained that the Roberts owed me a lot and instead of me getting paid back, I was spending even more on their behalf. Did intentions even matter in situations such as these? I thought not, as I bitterly thought back yet again to the conversation I had overheard.
I thought of Aria and how much I cared about her. It was true. I cared for her almost more than was acceptable, which is why I hated feeling like she was some kind of a manipulative scammer. She wasn’t and I knew that, but I still could not shake off this feeling. I wondered, had she known about her dad and my bank beforehand, would it have changed how receptive she was to the contract? Would she have still agreed to take so much money from me?