I slammed my bedroom door. I knew the man had a daughter, sure we hadn’t met yet, but that was because I didn’t care to. What news was she talking about? I didn’t know what was coming, but I had a feeling it would not be good. I wished she had told me the news here, when I had my mouth full, maybe I would have choked to death, which, to be honest, wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.
TWO
Leah
Summer had passed so quickly, it disappointed me that in only two weeks I would be back sitting in a classroom, staring out a window, wishing that summer was still here, and that Dad and I had spent more time together. Dad had been so busy working and dating Anna since the start of summer, and I had been feeling neglected. We had had all these plans before school had ended, museum trips, camping, day hiking but and not one of them had happened. The only time I had seen my father this summer had been when Anna had been with us. She was a nice lady, but I wasn’t used to having to compete for my father’s attention.
I had been the apple of my father’s eyes since I was born. Dad had fought for custody of me when my mother up and left us. He had won, and I couldn’t be happier. My dad worked hard, he owned a used car lot, and his hours were long but no matter what he always made time for whatever I needed. We were comfortable. Then when Anna came into his life things changed. I expressed my displeasure at the lack of my father’s attention, but he just laughed at me and asked if I wanted him to be all alone the rest of his life.
We had gotten into the same conversation just the other night. I was irritated, Dad and Anna had just returned from two weeks in Mexico and no sooner had she gone home, she returned and spent the night after Dad had promised me a father and daughter movie night. “Leah, I don’t understand what has gotten into you,” he said as he marched around the room.
“Daddy, I don’t want to share you. We’ve done nothing this summer, nothing.”
“Sure we have, before I left we went to the zoo.”
“Yes, we went to the zoo, with Anna,” I said emphasizing her name. My father just looked at me as I stomped my foot and threw the book I had been reading down on the table.
“Please, Leah, understand something, I’m thrilled, Anna is like a breath of fresh air compared to your mother.”
“Of course she is, Mom is a horrible person. She didn’t even call me on my birthday this year.”
No matter how much I begged for attention, my father kept telling me I wasn’t being put second, and that I was still the most important person in his life.
The next afternoon I was on my way home from my friend’s house, riding my bike past the coffee shop just down the road from where Dad’s lot was. I stopped and bought Dad a coffee and his favorite donut just like I had done so many times before. I quickly rode down the street and pulled into the car lot. I was hoping to spend time with him alone while he had his coffee. I wanted to talk to him about some back to school shopping I needed to do. I chained my bike and headed into the showroom where Judy the receptionist greeted me, “Afternoon, Leah.”
“Hi, Judy, I brought Dad a coffee and donut. Is he in his office?” I asked smiling walking toward his closed door.
“Yes, he is, Anna is speaking with him, dear.”
My stomach dropped, and the smile fell from my face. I let out a huff, of course he was. I flopped down in the chair just outside his door and peeked in through the little side window. I saw two coffees sitting on his desk and a brown paper bag.
I continued watching as Dad picked up the brown bag and pulled out a donut, a chocolate glaze, exactly what I had bought him and watched as he shoved it into his mouth. He then shoved a small piece into Anna’s mouth and they both laughed at whatever he had said. I rolled my eyes, then looked down at my hands, a coffee sat in one, the brown bag in the other. She had beat me to it, how did she even know it was his favorite snack. I could feel the jealousy pouring out of me.
I turned away, slumped into the chair and listened to their muted laughter. “Judy, can you message my father, please?”
“Sorry, Leah, he has requested that he not be interrupted.”
“But it’s me, not some stupid customer.” I pouted, crossing my arms in front of me and flopping back down on the chair.
She looked up from whatever she was working on and said, “Young lady, he said not to interrupt him for anyone, I’m sorry, Leah, you must wait.”
The anger churned inside of me as I continued to sit there listening to their laughter. I wasn’t waiting anymore. I got up from the chair and pushed his door open. They both turned, a look of guilt washing across both their faces as if someone had caught them doing something they shouldn’t have.
“Leah, how dare you barge in here like that. What if I was with a customer?”
“But you’re not, it’s just Anna. I brought you a coffee and a donut, thought you might be hungry. It’s getting cold, and I know you don’t like cold coffee,” I said pretending I didn’t see the cup and half eaten donut on his desk.
“Thanks, but Anna just brought me one too. I’ll keep this one for later.” He took the coffee and the donut from my hand and sat them up on his filing cabinet. “Now, Leah, honey, is there an emergency.”
I looked between the two of them and shook my head no.
“All right then, I’ll be home after the lot closes, and we can talk then.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard. I was dismissed—my father telling me to go away without saying it. They both stood there looking at me, neither of them said anything. I turned and stomped out of his office, tears threatening to fall. As soon as I got out into the showroom a few people looked my way. Hurt feelings combined with the embarrassment I felt sent me running out the front door and I rode my bike home.
My father never thanked me for the coffee when he got home that night, and I stopped going to the shop after that. I holed up in my room for the rest of the summer, only leaving to do the back to school shopping I needed to get done.
It was the last Friday of the summer, school was starting back on Monday. Before Dad left for work this morning, he told me to be ready when he got home. He didn’t say why but Fridays used to be our weekly Daddy—Daughter night. I barely contained my excitement all day. I hoped that we would spend the last Friday of summer together, so I chose a movie to watch and for dinner I thought we could order in, like we normally did. I glanced at the clock, Dad would be home soon. I put my book down, changed into my favorite sweater, grabbed my brush and ran it through my long red hair.