Stepbrother Bad Boy's Baby Boxed Set(29)

It felt good to get clean, and afterwards I looked into the mirror for a long time, wondering just what it was that was making me look so damn young and refreshed, considering I'd slept like hell. You're happy, dumbass, I finally whispered to myself when the realization struck me like a lightning bolt. Now go make things right.

I knew exactly what I needed to do while waiting for Krystal to finish her taping. I went back into my room and changed into some fresh clothes, and looked at my phone. It had some charge, but more importantly the cord stretched enough I could do what I needed to next. Opening the phone's memory, I found the number I was looking for and called. "Yes, Castelbon Manor."

"Hello Yuki," I said, a smile on my face. "Is Jo... is my father around?"

I could hear the surprise in Yuki's voice when she answered. I hadn't referred to Johnathan Castelbon as my father vocally in years. "Mister Julian..... uhm, no he's not, but Mrs. Castelbon is here today. Would that be okay?"

"No, thank you though. I really need to talk to my father. Also, Yuki?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I.... I just wanted to apologize for being a tremendous jerk to you for so many years. I know there's a lot to make up for, but I want to turn over a new leaf. Just..... I'm sorry."

The silence on the other end stretched out for a minute, then Yuki replied. "No offense Mister Julian, but have you been drinking or taking drugs?"

"Not at all, Yuki. I'm clean and totally sober. Just sorry for being a jerk."

"Well then, apology accepted. I see Krystal has been a good influence on you. She called a week ago and spoke to her mother, told us you'd been staying in Chicago with her. Your father was worried."

"Krystal is great, Yuki. She's helped me a lot. I'd love to tell you more, but I'm going to call my father now. He has his cell I assume?"

"Most likely, Julian. He's supposed to be out doing some grocery shopping, he insisted on doing it himself for some reason."

I laughed, a sound that surprised me when it came to my father. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Thanks, Yuki.."

"Okay. Thank you, Julian. Goodbye."

The line cleared, and I smiled as I reflected on the fact that for the first time since a week after she'd been hired by my father, Yuki had called me Julian. I guess things were looking better already. Flipping through my phone's address book again, I found my father's cell phone number and dialed. It only rang twice before he picked up. "Julian, are you alright?"

How could I have been so stupid for all these years? I could hear the concern in his voice, the love and patience as I spent over a decade throwing tantrum after tantrum at him, cursing him and treating him like the lowest form of scum on the planet. And all the time, he'd been there, concerned and loving me, hoping his prodigal son would return to him some day. "No, nothing's wrong. I just.... I just called to say I'm sorry, Dad."

The next sound I heard was a sharp click, and I thought the call had been cut off before my father's voice came over the line again. "Sorry Julian, I just dropped the phone. You caught me off guard, son."

I looked out the window of my bedroom, across the river towards another high rise, and felt a smile on my face. "I'm sure. Is your phone okay?"

"A bit of a chip on the case, but who cares? Julian, are you sure everything is okay? I've been so worried about you."

"Not everything, not yet Dad. But things are getting better. Listen, I'm just going to put it on the table now. Dad, I read the files of your divorce from Mom last night. I've got a lot of questions, but they're ones that I'm not quite ready to ask you yet. I still need to get my head straight on all of it. I just wanted to tell you that while I don't quite understand, I know you were trying to do what is right. And that I've treated you horribly for a long time. I'm sorry about that."

I could hear the tears in my father's voice as he answered me. "Son, it doesn't matter. You don't need to apologize. Julian, I love you. You're my son, how could I not love you?"

"I know. I... I love you too, Dad. I've gotta go, but we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Okay son. Take care of yourself, and your sister."

"I will. And tell Sandra, well, tell her that I'd like to get to know her more too. She's raised a wonderful daughter, and well, that's pretty damn special, you know?"

"I know. Goodbye, Julian. I love you, son."

"Talk to you later, Dad. Love you too."

I hung up the phone, and lay back, trying to think about what to do for the day. I knew that Krystal wouldn't be available to call until at least seven or eight o'clock, and I wanted to be able to use a video chat anyway when we did talk. I thought some more, and what kept breaking into my mind was the comment by Kimberly that Krystal wasn't interested in my money. She was interested in me as a man, and I knew I wasn't that great of a man yet. I wanted to be, and as I thought, I realized part of what made Krystal such a great woman was the fact that she was willing to stand on her own two feet, and not depend on her trust fund like I'd done most of my life.

The biggest problem was, I didn't really have any skills. I'd dropped out of two colleges, and to be honest, I wasn't much of a student anyway. With my run-ins with the law, it wasn't like a lot of places were willing to just hire me either, even with my Castelbon name. While I was sure that my father would let me learn under him at the family business, I didn't want to just be taken under his wing, I wanted to learn to stand and fly on my own like Krystal did.