Behind The Limelight

40: Two Kinds Of Fathers

Ashton couldn't help but feel nervous as he walked into the restaurant. One of the servers was leading him to the private booth that Malcolm had reserved for the two of them, and Ashton was picking at his nails as he followed her.

There were a lot of things that he needed to discuss with his agent. Not only about Ryker, but regarding his mother too. Ashton wondered whether Malcolm was aware of his father's deeds or not, and if he was, then did he keep it from Ashton?

Malcolm was already seated at the table, a glass of white wine in front of him that he sipped as he read something on his phone. Once Ashton arrived, he took off his glasses and kept them on the table. He got up to give Ashton a hug, which the actor returned. Regardless of everything, Ashton had missed the old man while he was in London for work.

The two ordered dinner as they made small talk, mainly about Malcolm's time in the UK, how the shoot was going and what all other projects Ashton had ahead in his schedule. Once all these matters were dealt with, the actor knew it was time for the more serious topics of conversation.

"So," Malcolm cleared his throat as he cut into his steak, "the other day when you called me. When you...weren't feeling well. What happened then, Ash?"

"I want to ask you something else before we talk about that," Ashton said. Malcolm furrowed his brows in confusion, but nodded nonetheless, motioning Ashton to go on. "Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"About my dad?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be a bit more specific here," Malcolm muttered.

"Did you know that my father impregnated a woman half his age and that my mother is trying to threaten her into signing an NDA?" Ashton asked.

Malcolm paused what he was doing, he stared at his plate for a few seconds, before finally looking up at Ashton. There was a soft frown on his face, he exhaled deeply, before nodding. Ashton's jaw tightened as he stared at one of the only few people he trusted in the world, wondering why the hell would he keep something like that from him.

"I suppose you finally spoke to Rebecca," Malcolm said.

"I did," Ashton replied. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"She didn't want me to," Malcolm answered. Ashton scoffed as he leaned back on his chair, staring at the older man in disbelief.

"You're not her agent anymore. You're mine," Ashton retorted. "And you know that you're more than that too. How could...how could you keep me in the dark about something this massive?"

"It's not so simple, Ash," Malcolm explained. "You had just accepted the movie offer and were already stressed about having to work with Ryker. I didn't...I didn't want you to worry about the fucked up shit your family is doing too. I was only trying to protect you."

"Then why—"

"Why do you think Rebecca showed up at my office instead of your house? Because I told her you weren't home. I only took her to your place after checking with Vivian and confirming that you weren't there because I knew how much you wanted to avoid her. I know the kind of damage that woman is capable of doing and I...I just wanted to keep you away from that," Malcolm spoke.

"Mal..."

"I apologize if I was out of line. Maybe it wasn't my place to do so but I just... You've been making so much progress and I didn't want to see her ruin it," Malcolm said softly. "She's already done enough."

"I understand," and Ashton did. He really did. Malcolm had tried to protect him from his parents ever since he was a kid. He was originally his mother's agent, but stepped down from the job when he saw what a horrible mother she was. Ever since then, he's the only actual parent figure Ashton has had. "You don't need to apologize. It's fine."