He seemed uncomfortable with my question as he wiped at his chin and mouth, thinking how to proceed. “Listen, son, I don’t know if what I’m about to tell you is what she’s upset about. To be honest, it’s not even my story to tell. She should be telling you.”
I flung against the back of my chair, my impatience getting the better of me.
“Well, she’s not here now, is she?”
“When your mother left,” he started. That startled me. I was not expecting his story to start with that. At all. “There were so many parts of life, our lives, that changed. I was not good at being a single dad, I knew that. I do owe you and your brother an apology for that, but I did the best I could at the time. I had a huge corporation I was responsible for as well as two young boys. Splitting my time between the two became impossible. That’s a story for another time…
“This story is more about me as a single man. There were a lot of things that came along with the career path I’d chosen that were made more difficult being single, at least back then. It was easier when I had your mother to bring to events, for example. She was so good at socializing and helping bridge the gap between the people we were meeting for the first time. Better than I was.”
The pause in his story, his talking, made me wonder if he was going to continue. He looked around the room, but not once at me. He cleared his throat, eventually.
“Keep in mind, this was almost twelve years ago. You were young.”
Another pause.
“And so was Maryellen.”
My eyes widened. My stomach dropped.
“I was naïve. When I researched how to hire an ‘escort’ I literally thought it was simply a person who could ‘escort’ me to an event.”
I shot out of my chair. My heart pumped out of my chest as my hand pulled at my hair. This could not be happening.
“What the fuck!” I shouted. “How old was she? Was she even eighteen?”
“Chase,” my father said, calmly. “Sit down, let me finish.”
He came to stand by me and put his hand on my shoulder. Even as I tried to shrug him from me, he wouldn’t allow it. He pulled me back to my chair and sat me down.
“You need to hear the entire story,” he said. “There are many reputable escort companies out there, but she wasn’t with one of them. When she showed up at my doorstep to come to a work event with me, my heart sank in my chest when I saw her, and how she was dressed. She was just a baby.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sat and stared straight ahead. Shaking his head, he looked at me before continuing.
“I canceled my plans that night. You and Gage were upstairs and I had no idea how to handle it, but I knew I couldn’t go out with this young lady. I brought her into our kitchen. And I remember, as soon as I did, you and your brother came down for some chips because you were both playing video games and wanted a snack. So, you actually met her when you were twelve,” he said.
I remembered that night. We thought he had gotten us a babysitter, and Gage and I went upstairs complaining that we were too old for one. We decided we would be jerks to her,so she’d never want to come back. By the time we went back downstairs she was gone.
“I offered her something to eat or drink but she declined. She was so nervous because she thought she’d done something wrong since I canceled our plans. That made me feel even worse. So, I took some cash out of my wallet to pay her for the night, and I offered her double what her company planned on paying her.”
He shook his head.
“She grabbed the money and ran out of the house.”
Right then, Gage and Harper found us. They stepped into the dark space, unsure if they should be interrupting.
“Hey, guys,” Harper said. “Sara told us we could find you back here.”
I stood and faced the back of the room, unwilling for them to see the unshed tears in my eyes.
“Most of the guests are heading out, we wanted to let you know in case you wanted to see anyone before they left,” Gage said.
It was not perfect timing; this story was far from over. But there was no way my father and I could finish talking here or now. He came to my side.
“Son, how about I come by later tonight or tomorrow?”
I nodded as the first tear fell. He gripped my shoulder before walking away with my brother. But I could still feel Harper’s presence.
“Chase,” she whispered behind me. “I have no idea what’s really going on, but I need to tell you I know where Maryellen is.”
