me nodding and smiling as she sat there taking in the moment.
“When I was sixteen, my mother grabbed me one night and demanded that I get all dressed up in a new suit she had bought me. Then we went out for the night. She showed me all the dos and don’ts on how to treat, respect, and honor whomever the lucky woman I chose to take out when it was time to date.” Iliana’s eyes began to swell as if she was ready to burst into tears. I felt the car stop signaling we’d made it to our destination.
The driver opened the passenger door letting us out. Together, the two of us walked into one of Chicago’s finest restaurants.
“Reservations for Smooth,” I said to the hostess who began skimming her list for my name.
“Right this way, Mr. Smooth.”
As the hostess sat the menus down on the table, I walked over pulling Iliana’s chair out so she could be the first to sit down.
“Order anything you’d like, sweetheart,” I said to Iliana and then kissed her on the forehead. I could not stop smiling as I watched her looking through each page of the menu.
“Dad, you know I’ll turn eighteen next month, so do you think we can do this again?” she asked.
“We can do this anytime you’d like. Iliana, we’re here tonight so you can have the clear experience and expectation of how a man should treat a woman when they go out on a date. The man should always want to open any and every door, pull out your chair for you to sit first, let you order what you want, and most of all enjoy being with you. When it comes to dating, it’s all about give and take without compromising who you are. If any man can’t offer you these things, he’s simply not worth investing your time in!”
“Thank you for taking me out tonight. I would have never guessed a night like this was going to happen. This is a way better night compared to when Mom took me out.”
When Iliana said that, I felt a small knot building in my stomach. I didn’t want her to feel like I was pressuring her to talk about meeting David, but now it felt that way. I had to be the one to take the high road, play mediator, and disrupt the good vibe yet again for the benefit of her mother. The time had come for me to get on with it and let the chips fall where they might.
“Well, aside from this being a father–daughter date night, we need to briefly discuss this whole David situation.” Iliana immediately stopped chewing on her shrimp and slowly placed her fork on her plate, never looking up. A few seconds later, she took a drink of soda and finally allowed her eyes to meet with mine. “Iliana, I didn’t ask you to get all dressed up for an enjoyable night only to hurt your feelings. This is our time together, and I wish this night would never end, but we cannot avoid the inevitable truth that you have a biological father who is requesting to meet with his daughter. At the end of the day, Iliana, I must respect the fact that by law he is entitled to see you. Iliana, I am asking that you honor my request to sit down and meet with him. Once the meeting is done and everyone has said what they needed to say, you do not have to meet with him again if that is your wish.”
I felt I had done the best I could to convince Iliana to meet with her dad when in reality, the last thing I wanted my daughter to do was meet another man claiming to be her father. With tears in her eyes, Iliana just stared at me for a moment. There were some things that went without saying, so the moment Iliana’s eyes locked onto mine, I could feel that she knew that I really did not want to ask her to do it.
“Sure, Dad, if that’s what you need from me, then I will do it,” she said, reaching across the table grabbing my hand. I smiled, masking the pain of having to ask my child to do something she didn’t want to.
“Iliana, if you feel wrong about any part of the meeting, you need to call me.”
“Wait. So you’re not going to be there?” she asked in a panic.
“I think for this first time that it should just be the three of you. There would only be tension if I came. I’ll be in New York for work, so I feel this is the perfect time for you all to talk.” I leaned across the table, wiping away the tears that began to fall down Iliana’s face. “Now, I think it’s time that you and I enjoy the rest of our night together.”
Iliana finally smiled back at me and nodded. “Yes, I agree.”
Lifting my hand in the air, I signaled the two waiters who were standing close by to come over. As they walked to the table, they each carried a dozen roses. A huge smile appeared on Iliana’s face once the vases were placed on each side of her.
“These are for my beautiful daughter whom I love so much and would do anything in the world for. Although we are not bonded together by blood, you will always be my daughter. You are one of the best things that have happened in my life. I’ve always said if I was ever blessed to have a child, I wanted a daughter first.” Emotions filled the room as we shared joyful tears together ending the night on a very high note.
Chapter 8
It was 4:00 a.m. when my alarm clock blared its familiar tune. Instead of going to my gym run, I dressed in comfortable travel clothes for my flight to New York. Before leaving the bedroom, I walked to the other side of the bed, sat on the edge, and leaned over to kiss Janet on the cheek as she drifted in and out of sleep.
“I’ll see you in a few days, love. Hope the visit with David goes well and everybody gets closure,” I whispered. Janet sat up on the bed wrapping her arms around me. I could feel the warmth of her naked body pressing against my back as she laid her head on the back of my neck.
“Okay, baby,” she replied in an extremely groggy voice.
I made my way into Iliana’s room to deliver a kiss on her forehead before plugging in her favorite Kermit the Frog childhood nightlight. Iliana would deliberately unplug the light so that I could plug it in whenever I would go out of town. It let her know that I was in her room and kissed her goodbye before I left. I thought she had grown out of it until the day I was running late for my flight and bypassed her room. She immediately called me, crying uncontrollably because I did not come in. I had the worst trip because I knew I had really hurt her feelings, and because of that, I never skipped stopping by her room when I was on my way out.
Waiting in the den for my limo, I heard a knock on the door. It was Féch.
“Want some company?” she asked with a big smile on her face.
“Absolutely.”
She walked into the room carrying two fresh cups of coffee.
“Thank you, Féch. You didn’t have to do that. How are you this morning?” I asked as I stood up to help her to an empty chair to sit down.
“You’re welcome, Kahlil. I’m doing well, no complaints this way. I figured you could use a warm cup of coffee at this hour, so I took a gamble. I’ve also noticed that you’re either stressed or you’ve had some things weighing on your mind these past few days. So I believe the question should be directed more your way versus you asking me.”
Laughing out loud, I replied, “Damn, it’s that obvious, huh?”
A worried expression suddenly appeared on Féch’s face. “Oh, I didn’t mean to pry, Kahlil. We have known each other for some time now, so I just caught the vibe that you haven’t been yourself lately.” Féch attempted to leave the room when I placed my hand on her right thigh halting her escape from the chair.
“I’m sorry if I came off pissy, Féch. You’re spot on with your observation. I haven’t been myself these past few days. Don’t leave. Stay. I need your company.”
She glanced at my hand that rested comfortably on her upper thigh for a moment and then looked up at me with an even bigger smile. “Okay. I was worried I had offended you,” she said.
“Come on now. We’ve known each other far too long for that. So where do I begin? I have two huge business deals that are coming up back-to-back. One of them I had to put on the back burner because the other one was dominating