A.N: Hey guys! Sorry if these chapters are short but this one will be longer.
Nina put a hand to her mouth in shock with her eyes wide then she turned her attention over to Seth.
Seth exhaled and inhaled slowly to keep his calm. Seeing his father made him angry and he had to control his temper. Seth and Mr. Evans normally argued so Seth felt the need to calm himself down before going over to see his father. If not, Seth would have been over there, screaming and possibly disturb the Ridgemounts up in the penthouse.
"Well Robert, when you said you wanted to meet me I didn't expect for you to come here." Were the first words to come out of Mr. Ridgemounts mouth. "I was on my way to meet you at your office."
And not the greeting Mr. Evans was expecting to hear. "Schedule opened up and thought I would save you the hassle of traveling to my office."
"Would you rather we speak in my office then?" Mr. Ridgemount raised a brow.
"No." M. Evans replied almost instantly. "This will be quick."
"If this is a serious matter, then we should speak in my office." Mr. Ridgemount countered.
"I have one thing to say to you James and I will say it here." Mr. Evans told him, meeting his gaze. "I plan to shut down Surfer's Paradise."
Silence filled the air and the tension grew stronger. You could feel it.
"WHAAAAAAT?!" Mr. Ridgemount bellowed. Did he hear right? Did this man that he hardly knew anymore wanted to shut down the hotel? "What the hell makes you think you could do that?" He asked in a low voice.
"I have my ways, James." Mr. Evans responded calmly.
Seth chose that time to intervene and Nina and Baumer followed close behind. "Dad!" He got between his father and Mr. Ridgemount. "I won't let you shut down this hotel." He told him with determination.
"And why is that?" Mr. Evans looked at his son.
"I have 292 signatures of people who don't want you to shut down the hotel." Seth told him, showing his father the papers.
Mr. Evans didn't even bother to look at them. "I don't care how many you have. I'm shutting down this hotel."
"Why?!" Seth dropped the papers, realizing they weren't going to change his opinion.
Nina quickly picked them up quietly but no one payed any attention to her anyways.
"Why!? You know how much I love this place!" Seth reminded him. "I love to surf and when I found out about his place, I wanted to come. I enjoy it here so much, why do you want to take it away?"
"You care too much!" Mr. Evans rose his voice. "And because of this, you got into an accident!" He looked over at Baumer. "Because of him."
Baumer's eyes widened in fear.
"Dad!" Seth called out, getting his father's attention back on him. "I told you that-"
Mr. Evans was getting enraged. "What if you get into another accident?!"
"I won't! I'll be careful!"
"Oh, and what surf at night again?"
"No! I won't do that again! Why do you care anyways?!"
Mr. Evans just about had it.
"I DO CARE BECAUSE I USED TO SURF UNTIL WHAT HAPPENED."
Seth's facial features softened and he stared at his father, unable to believe what he had just heard. "Dad, y-you…used to surf?"
"Yes I did, before you were born." Mr. Evans was uncomfortable to have to recall what happened that day but he decided to tell his son the truth. "I got into an accident while surfing, I'll spare you the details but I can't surf anymore and I was devastated that I had to stop and seeing how much you love it…well I don't want you to go through that."
First the first time in his life, Seth saw how vulnerable his father was. And that scared him. "I'm sorry that happened, dad."
"And then there is that surfer who died because of surfing." Mr. Evans recalled.
"A surfer that died?" Seth couldn't believe it.
"And her daughter is right next to you."
Seth's head snapped over to Nina. "Your mom…"
"Yeah."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Seth gave her a hug.
Nina smiled and hugged back. "It's okay."
"It happened a long time ago but I'm sorry for bringing it up, Nina."
"It's okay."
"But if that ever happened to you Seth, I mean I don't know what I'd do."
Seth went to give his father a hug. It felt nice to be engaging in this physical contact with him. It had been a long time since he hugged his father and doing it now…just felt right.
Mr. Evans wrapped his arms around his son quickly. He wasn't used to this physical contact, receiving it or giving it. And he was ashamed.
Nina smiled at the scene. She was happy to see Seth and Mr. Evans doing this. She turned to look over at her godfather.
Mr. Ridgemount was staring at the father and son, unsure of what to do. First, this man threatened to shut down the hotel, and now he was sharing a moment with his son.
"But dad." Seth said, breaking the silence. He pulled away from the hug. "I still want to surf, because I love it."
"Seth, please no." Mr. Evans begged.
"I want you to watch me surf and maybe you'll change your mind."
"Seth-"
"Dad, please."
Mr. Evans sighed. "Fine."
"There is a competition coming up in a couple of days and I want you to watch me compete in it."
"Very well." Mr. Evans nodded. "I'll come back to the hotel and watch you, and make my decision." He turned to walk out of the hotel. "I love you, Seth."
That took Seth by surprise but he smiled happily. "I love you too, dad."
After he watched his father leave the hotel, he turned to his friends. "Wow you guys, he hugged me and told me he loved me, and like this is the best day ever."
Nina smiled at him. "That's great!"
"So what type of competition is coming up?" Seth asked.
"Couples." Baumer responded.
"Awesome, I can ask Lo."
Mr. Ridgemount's head slowly turned in Seth's direction. "What?"
Seth blanched. "Uh, well with your permission of course, sir." He said quickly.
Baumer snorted.
"If it's alright with Lauren, then it's alright with me." Mr. Ridgemount responded.
Seth sighed of relief. "Yes, okay."
"I need to go in my office. See you kids later." Mr. Ridgemount walked away from them and headed towards his office.
.
.
.
"Kids?"
"Seth, please."