Forbidden Love of the Ballet Dancer and the Hockey Player

Chapter 7

When Gareth arrived home, he couldn't stop thinking about how much Charlbi had grown up before his eyes. She has always had a fitted body, but tonight she looked different. He opens a bottle of cranberry juice. He hadn't drunk alcohol since that night at the Sphinx with Andrea and those four gold diggers. He's walking upstairs, mumbling, "She's looking sexy. Damn it, Gareth, calm your ass down. Regardless of how old Charlbi is, her father will always believe I'm too old for her."

He takes a shower and sees that he has several text messages. He smiles when he sees Charlbi's name. Gareth opens it and chuckles as he reads, “Do you miss me?” He texts back, “Yes, from the moment we left the restaurant. Goodnight, Ms. Charlbi Phan.” Gareth gets into bed. "I can't call you Kido anymore." He notices one of the texts is from Andrea. " What in the hell does he want?" Gareth deletes the text without reading it.

Andrea constantly texted and called him. Gareth refused to answer or reply. He told his father that Andrea did something that he couldn't forgive him for. But he didn't go into details. Gareth thought the less his father knew, the better. That is one night he prefers to take to the grave with him.

Darius, his father, knew there was more to the story, but he didn't want to pry into his son's life because Gareth had always been a private and responsible young man. His son has never given him any reason to believe he'd do anything wrong or hurt anyone.

Gareth watched TV for a while. As soon as he nodded off, his cell phone rang. He answers his phone without looking at the screen, thinking it must be important for someone to call him so late. He looks at the clock and sees a little after one. He never expected it to be Andrea yelling those bitches were blackmailing him. Andrea wanted to know if Leni and Elke had contracted him to blackmail him. Gareth tells him that he had warned him s**t like that might happen. Not to call him again. He hangs up. “Now, maybe he’ll slow his ass down.

Gareth not only stopped drinking after that night. He hasn’t dated either. He put all his energy into the future company that he plans to make an empire.

*****

The following morning, Charlbi had already left the house. She's meeting Jasmine for breakfast at Joe's Café. When they were younger, they always went there. Jasmine's mother would drop them off and sit in the car so they could be alone and feel grown up. The two young ladies always order Chicken and Waffles and a Cappuccino.

Two young men sitting at a table can't keep their eyes off the Asian beauty and her beautiful 5'9 blue-eyed blonde friend. They finally get the nerve to ask Charlbi and Jasmine for their phone numbers. The ladies let the two handsome men down easy with a sweet no.

Jasmine keeps staring at her friend. 'It's something different about you. I can't put my finger on it. Oh my, you have a boyfriend. No, that can't. You're still in love with that handsome Gareth Cartier. Tell me, don't make me guess."

Charlbi giggles. First, she tells her about her plans for her birthday. She isn't letting anyone spoil her day because she knows her mother won't be happy about her plans for the future.

Neither one can believe that everything they have talked about doing with their life is finally coming true. Jasmine always wanted to follow in her father, grandfather, and great-great-grandfather's footsteps to become a detective. She would be the first woman detective in her family.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Charlbi sips her cappuccino. Jasmine rubs her forehead.

"I didn't hear anything after you told me your plan for your birthday. Wow!" She leans back in the chair, still looking at Charlbi with her mouth open.

*****

Jee and Bae are in the den when Charlbi arrives home. Jee was already upset about Charlbi having the car. Her mother wants to force her into telling them her plan. Bae tells her to be patient and let their daughter tell them when she's ready.

Charlbi walks into the den and kisses her parents' foreheads. "Is there anything I need to do for my party?"

Her father shakes his head. " It's all under control. I still don't know why you wanted such a small party. But it's as you asked."

She notices the way her mother is looking at her. "You want to know which college I'm attending?"

"Yes, it would be nice. I was thinking Harvard or Princeton." Her mother smiles and picks up some letters from colleges that she wants her daughter to attend. Jee is hoping it's far away from Gareth.

Her father nods, folds his arms, and gives her all his attention.

"I won't be needing those. Let's get this over with. Father, Mother, hear me out before you yell." Charlbi takes a deep breath. "The reason I won't be needing those are because I'm not attending college. The day after my birthday, I'm already booked for a flight to New York, and I'm opening a ballet studio. Before you say you won't support me financially, I don't need your money. I have been saving for this day since I was eight. There isn't anything either of you can say that'll change my mind. I hope I have your blessings."

Jee jumps up. "No, you're going to college." She looks at her husband for support.

He's still looking at Charlbi and taps the arms of the chair.

Charlbi took her mother's hand. "This is my dream, and a wonderful man told me not to let anyone stand in my way of making my dream come true. Not even you, the man I love, and him." She looks at her father.

Bae stands up. "Charlbi will move to New York. You have our blessings and support." He walks out of the room.

"You won again. I take it that you’re proud of yourself." Her mother smirks. "That man has always had a blind eye when it comes to you. One day you'll show him who you are." She snatches her hand from Charlbi and walks out of the room.

Charlbi couldn't believe her mother had said that. She wipes the tears from her cheek and walks out the front door. Charlbi sees Gareth coming back from running. She doesn't want him to see her cry, but tears keep coming.

Gareth notices she's wiping her face. "Kido, what's wrong?" He runs over to her.

"Nothing. It's nothing," she mumbles and wipes her face again.

He hugs her. "It must be something for you to cry about. Come on, tell me about it."

Charlbi tries to keep everything inside, but can't. She tells him what her mother said. But not her plan to leave. Gareth consoles her and tells her not to let her mother's words discourage her. Parents sometimes say things but don't mean them. Then he asks if she wants to go get some ice cream.

"Ice cream sounds good." She closes her eyes as he wipes her tears and kisses her forehead. "Do you feel better?"

"Un-huh," she mumbles, walking beside him to his car.

Jee is standing at the window watching them. Bae walks beside her. "The one thing you don't want to happen just happened. You pushed our daughter into Gareth's arms. He's a good man. Regardless of what we want for Charlbi, that's the man she wants. Charlbi and Nuala aren't traditional women like you are. I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing. I'm saying she's grown, and the heart wants what it wants. Gareth Cartier is who she wants. We can't force her to attend college. That had never been part of her plan. I also heard the harsh words you said to her. Have you forgotten I know our daughter better than you do?" He walks away.

She looked at Gareth, opening the car door for Charlbi. "I never said he wasn't a good man. I want her to go to college and be more than I am."