“But why Harrison then? Why did you take that collection away from me? Why don’t you let me do more diverse shows?” A few tears leak out, despite me trying to keep them in, as I remember how dismissed and insignificant I felt when I found out, fromHarrisonno less, what was happening with my work.
“It was wrong and I’m sorry. I’m scared.” Dad works his jaw after he says that, the words physically paining him. “I’ve never sold anything other than Indian art. Wouldn’t even know where to start. I went to business school and picked up enough about Indian art history to carve out a career in it. But I can’t do it for all the art in the world; I’m too old to do it. And I guess I thought if I couldn’t do it, no one else possibly could.” He looks up at me now, meeting my teary gaze. “But you can. Youdo. So you can sell whatever you want and I won’t stop you anymore.”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard Dad apologize for anything. And he looks earnest. I’m no psychologist or master interrogator, but his eyes look sad.
“Do you forgive me?” he asks when I don’t say anything.
I think back on all the times I cried in my room because I didn’t feel good enough, of the times I worked hard to spite the man in front of me. I don’t know if I would have worked quite as hard if it wasn’t for him, which I guess means he’s at least partly responsible for making me a beast of an auctioneer.
Still. “Are you just doing this because Mom threatened to give me your job?”
“No! I want you to take my job. Well, preferably not now,” he admits when he sees my look of disbelief. “But all I’ve ever wanted is for you, Ajay and Sonia to run Loot. I was hoping as equals, but maybe it would be better if you and Sonia managed the company.”
“Iprovisionallyforgive you. But I don’t want you to ever ignore me in favor of Ajay again. You don’t have to treat me better, just equal.”
“I won’t,” he promises, sniffling like he’s getting choked up himself. “I love you, beta.”
“I love you too, Dad.” I get off the couch to give him a hug. Leo, not sure what’s happening but already not wanting to be left out, yelps a little puppy bark to let us know he wants attention too.
“Can I tell your mom you forgive me?” Dad jokes. He’s done with the emotional moment between us now, and to be honest, so am I. This is a lot more honest and deeper than we usually get and I need a break to process it.
“I’ll tell her you’reprovisionallyforgiven.”
“That should be enough to stop her from withholding her gulab jamun from me.”
I ease Dad into another topic. “Speaking of food, Mom wants to have a dinner party on Saturday. That you’re probably now reinvited to.”
“I always love your mother’s dinner parties.” He pats his stomach in preparation for the large amount of food she always makes for her parties.
“Right. About the guest list though...”
Chapter Thirty-Five
“This is a disaster,” I whisper to Gavin as my eyes dart to the closed door. We’re hiding out in a bathroom of my parents’ town house, while everyone else is in the dining room at the world’s most awkward dinner party.
Mom insisted on the party to make sure everyone in the families (the dads) were going to play nice once Gavin and I announce the relationship.
Thus far, they have not proven they can play nice. Aggravating when both men can do business with soulless millionaires regularly, but they can’t fake being cordial to each other for one night.
It started out innocuously enough, just some not-good-natured banter like “My auction house is better than yours” and “No, mine is.”
There was some “My gross profits are bigger than yours,” To which the response was “Well, my net profits are bigger than yours.”
At one point William said he had been working at auctioning longer, and Dad said he was over the hill and the industry needed some new blood.
Not surprisingly, we haven’t told the dads we’re dating yet. When we walked in, Mom and Laura were going to do it for us, but the dads started passive-aggressive arguing the second they saw each other, so I said we were all here to learn how to be civil to each other, for professionalism.
Spoiler: no one has learned anything. Except me learning this isn’t going to work.
“Hey, Riya.” Gavin grabs my cheeks and makes me focus on his beautiful blue eyes. “You’re the fiercest debater I know. You can convince those two old men about anything.”
“No. An important marker of maturity is realizing your limitations, and those two crazy men who gave us DNA are mine.” The best thing we can do now is leave and date in secret for the rest of our lives.
It’s the only logical path.
“You have some of that DNA. You’re an upgraded model,” Gavin says, sounding a little desperate in response to what I can see in the mirror is a terrified look in my eyes.
“I’m not upgraded. I have Mom’s reason, which tempers Dad’s irrationality. But that means I’m no match for his unbridled irrationalness.”
