Chapter 4

Dad could hardly wait for the interrogation, beginning his detective job before Matthew could down three spoonfuls of his food. I was sure he’d done a background check on him and was only asking questions to catch him tell an untruth. I had a hunch his file was lying somewhere in Dad’s home office and I was intent on uncovering it.

He did that to Nick and never divulged a word to me because his history turned out to be impeccable. I only found out when I stumbled on the file while tidying up his office and when I asked him about it, his reply was, ‘I was only being a dad to you and besides, the world is full of barbarous people. We can never be too scrupulous.’

“What are your names, age, background, parents, education, work? In short, who are you?” He peered at Matthew who froze for a fraction of a second before regaining his relaxed posture.

His questions had my eyes bulging out of their sockets, the talk of taking it easy flying out the window. The silence that ensued was so piercing I felt bad for Matthew.

He cleared his throat and glanced directly at my father as he answered, “I’m Matthew Morgan, 24years of age. I was brought up in Austin, a city in Texas. My mother traveled for an outreach last year and my father is late. I made it through high school and recently finished college. I own a company around town, Morgan’s Painting Company is the name. I think that’s just about it.”

Since we couldn’t do much to help the rigid situation, we darted our eyes between Matthew and Dad consistently as they spoke, hoping the result would be favorable.

He cupped his chin, bobbing his head lightly. “That sounds good. Asides from the beauty that lies within, what do you like about my daughter and what do you want from her?”

They said the old know better, and I agreed, wholeheartedly. I asked Matthew a similar question, his answer was beauty, and I took it. I did know there had to be more a man should see than just the guise but for some reason, I didn’t think of digging deeper into his answer.

“She’s an intelligent, understanding, and caring woman that any man would be lucky to have. I would love to go out with her.” He turned to me, giving me a smirk that had me feeling hot all of a sudden.

But I could read into Dad’s countenance, he still didn’t like Matthew for reasons best known to him and was hell-bent on making him foul up.

“Where do you live and with whom? Do you have anything that you need to tell us?” His gaze never left Matthew who by then seemed uneasy. I signaled for Mom to do something, she got the message, whispering into his ear but he was unbothered by her request, waiting for his reply.

“I live alone, about 20 minutes from here and no, I have nothing to hide,” he said, crossing his hands together before him.

“Alright. It’s been nice meeting you.” Dad stretched his hand out to Matthew who sighed in relief and shook it vigorously. “The pleasure is all mine, Sir.”

“Thank goodness for hotpots cause my food is already cold,” Mom changed the topic, getting on her feet to add hot beef stew to our warm plates of rice.

“Dad, do I get to have a boyfriend too?” Ashlie leaned forward and widened her eyes in anticipation.

“You wish,” I replied, secretly sticking my tongue out at her because it got on her nerves.

Dad hoisted his spoon and pointed in her direction. “You know the answer to that.”

“I know, I know. Books over boys.” She rolled her eyes and fell back in her seat.

“This meal is so delicious, it’s been a while since I ate something so tasty,” Matthew acknowledged as he took more bites from his food.

“That’s nice of you. Thank you,” Mom’s lips curled into a smile.

“I like your family.” Matthew leaned over to whisper in my ear and I smiled. I was about to answer when Dad’s question interrupted me.

“So, Matthew, what’s your take on monogamous marriages?”

From the looks of it, he didn’t like me cozying up to Matthew but he had to get used to it at some point because he was going to see us together more often.

“This is the last question,” I eventually got the courage to warn him.

“I don’t have anything against either marriage. Whether someone chooses to be monogamous or not, it’s their choice,” Matthew said. That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear but decided to take him up on the topic some other time.

After dinner, I walked Matthew to the door, hugging him for the first time. “Your father is a difficult man. He doesn’t like me one bit,” he voiced out his observation.

“He’ll come around,” I said, wishing he would sooner or later.

“See you soon?” he asked as I unlocked the door for him.

“See you soon,” I confirmed and he smiled before stepping out and striding to his black BMW.

Shutting the door behind me, I giggled to myself as I dropped on the couch. Everything had gone quite fine. It was a relief that Dad didn’t kick him out as was his original plan.

“That guy is a liar!” Dad jolted me from my reverie, my eyebrows lifting questioningly. I was worn out of the issue already. “His background check doesn’t match what he told us,” he continued.

I knew it! My hunch about the background check was right after all.

“That’s not possible.” I shook my head from side to side as I sat up. “What does it say?”

“There was no Matthew Morgan until last year which is alarming.” He folded his arms against his chest with a look that said I told you so. There had to be an explanation for that, at least I thought.