Accept My Baby

Chapter 7

Rafael was right. His linguine was amazing! Perhaps better than any authentic Italian restaurant food she had ever had…and she’d had quite the number of ‘authentic’ Italian food. After dinner, she could see it in his eyes that he did not want to take her back home. And it was not like she wanted to leave either. She was having such a good time. Rafael had put on some soft music in the background and carried their dessert to the living room. He had just poured himself another glass of wine when he sat back down next to her and she smiled at him.

“You know,” she started as she put her glass on the table and got her slice of cake. “You never really finished telling me about yourself.”

He looked at her and a smile played on his lips.

“You seem to be very keen on my life,” he pointed out and she shrugged.

“Is that so bad?”

“No, not at all. But, what about you? What’s the story behind this pretty face?”

She toyed with the frosting on her carrot cake and shook her head.

“I asked first so I guess before I can come clean about myself, I need to know more about you.”

Rafael took a long deep breath.

“Alright. Where was I?” he asked.

“Well, last time I checked I was trying to fully wrap my mind around the fact that your family is controlling…at least I think that it was getting to you or something of the sort”

“Oh trust me, it is getting to me.” He looked at her and realized that he was not really getting through to her. He needed to say everything in black and white. “So here goes,” he started as he took a long deep breath. “As far as my parents are concerned, the family name is some kind of dynasty. Like a royal family or something like that and to make sure that the ‘crown jewels’ are protected, they have to hand pick every single thing and person that becomes a part of the family.

“Everyone and everything?” she asked, a little confused and he nodded.

“We usually don’t get to do anything we want…I mean, right from when we were kids, our extra-curricular activities, our friends or…girlfriends…” his voice trailed off.

“Girlfriends?” she echoed and he nodded.

“The reason I rebel and go on rampage with all these models and socialites…it is all to show my mother that she does not control me.”

She took a bite of her cake and shook her head.

“Surely, it can’t be that bad. Can it?” she asked and he forced out a laugh.

“You have no idea. Right now, I’m actually on the outs with my mother because of the whole not taking over the business.”

“You are not taking over the business?” she asked, a little surprised.

“I have always been a little reserved when it comes to the family business. I mean, I am a strong believer in entrepreneurship and taking over a business that has been running for the better part of the century is not really my idea of helping out the universe.”

“So, what does that mean?” she asked. “I mean, I know you are a trust fund baby and all but I know that people like your family gets you to the corner by cutting you off.”

“Trust fund baby?” he asked, smiling as he showed off those perfect pearly whites. “Really?”

“What? Am I wrong?” she asked. “Are you trying to tell me a family that considers themselves a dynasty does not have a trust fund for their kids?”

“Well, look at you.” He leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you moonlight as a behavioral analyst or something?”

“You never know,” she said, smiling.

“So, yes. I was a trust fund baby.”

“Was?” she asked and he nodded.

“When they found out that I invested some money in the American oil industry, they were pissed. So, they decided to cut me off because they thought that if they did I would go back to whatever future it was that they had carved out for me.”

“And…” she was really anxious.

“Unfortunately for them, I had been siphoning my trust fund off into an offshore account…I suppose I always had better money management skills than my brother so by the time they decided to cut me off, I was already making profits in the millions of dollars.”

“Well, good for you,” she said, smiling and he nodded.

“But, it doesn’t stop there.”

She raised an eyebrow over the other.

“There’s more?” she asked and he nodded.

“So much more,” he said.

“Okay, color me intrigued.”

“My parents actually went ahead and crossed the damn threshold by choosing a woman for me to marry.”

Amanda was practically choking. She put a hand on her chest as she coughed hard.

“You are kidding me, right?” she asked and he shook his head.

“No, I am telling the truth,” he said as he looked at her concerned. She as still coughing. “Should I get you some water or something?” he asked and she shook her head.

“Oh my God…I think your mother could very possibly be worse than a Middle Age queen,” she said as he took a bite of his cake.

“Worse…but that’s about me. What about you?”

“I am not sure I can match all that…I mean my life is not perfect or anything but everything you’ve said makes my life sound ten more levels of perfect.”

“Oh come on,” Rafael said. “You have made me literally pour my heart out for you. That has never happened before.”

“It’s just I don’t have anything that matches being ‘matched up’ or so to speak.”

“Well, we all have a story, don’t we?” Rafael asked and she nodded.

“Yeah, we all have one. Sometimes a little less dramatic than what you have just said,” she pointed out.

Rafael looked into her eyes and sighed. He could see that there was something on her mind. The smile she had earlier on had faded and the twinkle in her eyes was gone. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time again. Like he had at the party.

“I know there is a story but I feel like you are struggling with the decision to tell it to me. So, let me start you off easy, okay?”