The Reckless Marriage

Chapter 4: Frank Tells The Truth

“Dad, why do you want me to attend this interview?”  I looked at him with glistening eyes. My mind was hungry for answers.

After questioning him, he took off the straw hat that he wore to protect his head from the harsh sun’s rays and marched towards me.

“Come with me!” he ordered while walking inside with his dusty old bag filled with the gardening tools.

I followed him like he asked and made my way to the house basement. I had no clue what was going on but I trusted my dad to tell me the truth wherever he was taking me.

I immediately started coughing after inhaling the dusty air of the dark eerie basement. The place was caked in dust as if it was not cleaned in ages. I do believe it was the most ignored place of the house. 

Dust bunnies were seen in every nook and corner of the room. The old furniture that was tossed there was draped in a thick white cloth. 

I covered my nose and mouth with the face mask that dad gave me. I stood near the entrance of the basement while dad went deep inside the basement in search of something. 

After a while of waiting which seemed like forever, I heard dad’s footsteps approaching me from the near distance.  Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as the heat was getting to me along with my curiosity.

I was finally able to see him amidst the darkness due to the small light bulb that was fitted near the entrance. 

I saw a green file wrapped around his fingers and I stood in my spot confused. What was in that file? Was that file the reason for dad to take Katie’s side?

“Read this!” I heard him say to which I complied. I slid one of my fingers under the covering of the file and opened it up, revealing the pages inside.

I flipped through the file, page after page before I got a huge shock after placing my eyes on the fine printed words of the pages. 

I looked up to my dad whose head was facing the dark ground, in shock and disappointment. 

I couldn’t believe what eyes just saw. This did not make any sense. How did dad hide this from me? For those many years?

Without me even uttering a single word, dad spoke up, “I hope you understand why I told to go for that interview now!” 

With that being said, he marched up the dark squeaky staircase without facing me again. 

“Why did dad keep this from us? “Why didn’t he tell us that we were in debt?” I thought to myself.

He hid this information from Katie and me for years. He took up all the load on his shoulders without even letting us know about this horrid condition that we were in.

Now it all made sense. It made sense why dad took up extra work hours to try and get money to pay off the debt we were in. 

Still, he barely made ends meet. With the little money we earned combined, we were only able to go through a day living a simple life.

Except for Katie of course.

No wonder why dad wanted me to get this job. It was the only way to make our lives easier, better and out of this debt.

I was in a tough spot, to choose between my foster parents and my deceased biological parents. I held my head tightly after feeling like my mind was exploding.

I felt like I was selfish by even thinking about not attending the interview. But what about the investigation? I needed to stay connected with Mr Jones all the time! And with a new job, a new schedule and a new life in a different faraway city, everything was going to be difficult.

Hell, working for a billionaire was a tough job in itself. How was I going to take up such a huge responsibility? The only job I had worked at till now, despite graduating from university was in a restaurant. 

This was a huge jump that I was scared to take. 

After having a huge battle with myself, I marched upstairs to announce my decision to Katie and dad. I appeared calm and collected in front of their eyes but in reality, I was freaking out on the inside. 

As I reached the main floor of the house, I noticed Katie and dad eating some snacks while reading the newspaper of the day.

I took a deep breath and with a sigh, approached the both of them. 

With a heavy heart, I announced that I would take up the job and attend the interview that was going to take place that day. 

The response I got from both of them varied a lot! While Katie sprang out of her seat and jumped with joy, dad sat on his wooden chair and gave out a proud smile.

After seeing his smile, I felt some peace in my heart.

However, that peace was short-lived with Katie forcing me to get changed by pushing me to my room. She was not happy or concerned for me but rather the extra cash going to flow into her pockets.

All I asked was to be left alone for a day from that witch! Was that too much to ask?

I didn’t resist her and hopped into the shower to clean myself up for the interview.

After I was squeaky clean, I  went ahead and changed into the business suit that I had bought months ago when I was planning to join a marketing company but that never happened as I wanted to give all my time for the investigation.

I gazed at myself in the mirror, wearing the sharp suit and felt some pride in myself. I was really proud of myself for taking such a huge step!

But I quickly remembered that I wasn’t going to be involved that much in my parents’ investigation. But keeping my dad happy was also important and we needed to get out of this debt so I was willing to sacrifice that for some time until I was able to earn an income that would keep this family afloat. 

A few months wouldn’t hurt and plus, Mr Jones would continue the investigation on his own so it shouldn’t be a huge problem even though at the back of my mind, I had a feeling I was in for a huge surprise...

I wrapped my hair in a tight bun and sprayed my favourite lavender-scented perfume all over myself. 

I applied a fresh coat of lipstick and proceeded to walk downstairs.

Katie still had a sly smile over a face and was super happy as she could be able to count the extra money in her hands. I could only hope that she would change her horrid ways one day. 

Dad remained decent like always. and gave me a hug before I could go and put on my black polished heels.

As I finished gathering my documents, I unlocked the door and headed out to attend the most important interview of my life! There was no chance of error that I could afford. I had to ace the interview and hold the job for as long as I could.

I hope everything would go as planned!