Page 67 of Lucas & Melissa Falling in Love
Chapter 23
The next morning, my father sits behind his desk five weeks earlier than doctors have recommended. I’m proud and worried but not as much as my mother. There was no stopping him. I’m not concerned that he might find evidence of my spending last night here. He’s been away from this office for a week. Even if he did, I plan to confess to him that I looked at his files, at his computer, at the company records.
My mother stands next to him, holding a glass of water and his pills. I’m standing with Melissa just inside his study door and he waves at us to sit down.
I sit in one of the worn leather chairs that I remembered sitting in back when my feet didn't touch the floor. Melissa sits in the chair next to me. He’d always kept this office in our home for when he used to work late into the night. Though mostly he spent his time in the garages with the mechanics. And so did I.
Now, as he looks at me, patient and anticipating what I have to say, I speak.
“Papa, I’m returning to New York City today with Melissa.”
His expression doesn’t change as he nods.
“You’ll be back after you escort your beautiful young lady home.” His voice and face are neutrally pleasant, but I know he’s expecting me to say yes.
I notice my mother standing straight with a hand squeezing his shoulder, her smile frozen, staring back and understanding what’s going on. I glance at Melissa and wonder what’s going on inhermind. I didn’t tell her about my midnight trip to this office, about my plans. But I know what’s in her heart so I plunge forward with a boldness that I’ve been saving up for a long time.
“Yes, I’ll be back.” I pause, creating a momentous silence, before continuing. “But not until I take care of some things. I have plans for Fierro Automotive, but I need to finish my degree this semester.”
He studies me in silence, in that way he always did. It used to unnerve me when I was young but I’ve done a lot of growing up since I last sat in front of him in this office.
He says, “You are not workingforFierro Automotive. Fierro Automotive isyourcompany, Lucas. You own it. You don’t need a master’s degree to work with me here. I know you. I know your understanding of this company. I know your understanding of Fierro cars. I know your skill, your talent, your mind, your genius. I know you can do this work, run this company.”
He pauses for a breath and for a second my heart jumps because I remember he has a bad heart now. But he straightens and his face shows nothing but determination as he continues.
“And most of all I know your heart. This is in your blood.” He pauses then adds, “You don’t need to waste time getting a degree.”
He had me until the last line. Telling me my degree was a waste of time causes a red veil of rage to descend on my reason. A knee-jerk response in me wants to explode, but Melissa touches my arm. I have a response for my father ready, I have self-righteous outrage waiting to get out, but her touch stills me. I take the moment to contain my reflexive temper and my words, but not my intention. I fully plan to tell my father that I will do whatIthink I should do.
“If I may speak,” Melissa says.
It’s the last thing I expect. She’s been reticent, if friendly, and has not said more than a few words to my father since they’ve met. Now she has something to say? She clears her throat and I listen.
“I wish I had a father like you.”
I’m mute with shock. My father looks at her, his brow slightly raised, puzzled uncertainty in his eyes but a hesitant smile waiting at his mouth.
Any other time I would assume Melissa was speaking with purpose, strategically playing both sides to make her point, but not now. I see that glitter in her eyes, that clear unaffected look that tells me her bold words were not planned and were wholly sincere, welling from a place of longing, from the stranglehold of her phantom father, the one she now realizes isnotthe father she wished for.
Turning my attention back to my mother, I see her big smile. She has one hand on her heart, ready to make the sign of the cross. The look in her eyes say she’s thanking the Lord for this brilliant young lady. She doesn’t even know Melissa’s story.
Knowing what I know about how dearly she’s held her neediness to her breast, I understand how brave it is for her to expose herself, to make herself so vulnerable about the one thing that’s her Achilles heel.
It’s the most generous act I’ve seen her make, and I’ve seen her generosity at work. This is the gift she’s giving me, admitting in front of my family her weakness, her greatest flaw, the soft spot in her armor exposed, so that I can come to an understanding with my father.
Reflexively I reach out to Melissa and she turns to me. I stand and reach out a hand to lift her from her chair and fold her into my arms. I know what this admission means to her. Her own birth father was so far short of loving and giving. And her real father, the man who raised her, though loving and giving, struggles to understand her, doesn’t possess the wherewithal to feed her ambition. I know what all this means to her, being with my family, seeing who they are, seeing the way they are. I finally need to embrace fully their love and the commitment that goes with it.
In that moment, I realize that when my father says I shouldn’t waste my time going to school, that he’s telling me it’shistime I can’t waste, that he has only so much time left and he wants to spend it with me.
I say, “You have a point, Papa. I don’t need to waste my time getting a degree.”
He nods without smiling and flicks an acknowledging glance at Melissa.
“Now why don’t you tell me about these plans you have for Fierro, son. I’ve made you president, but keep in mind that I am still CEO and in charge.” He grins, and it takes years off his face, makes him look like he did when I last saw him before I made him angry.
My mother says, “Maybe you should sit down again for this discussion. Maybe I’ll leave you to speak about business.” She glances at Melissa and nods for her stay as she walks from the room.
This is my test, my time to negotiate with my father as an equal, a partner in our family business. Having Melissa at my side is both encouraging and unnerving. I know she supports me, but there’s also the fact that I haven’t told her my plan.
