“What do you need, Bianca?” I ask with amusement coloring my voice.
“Hey, that’s not fair. Why do you think I need something?”
“Well, first of all, you rarely call me in the middle of the day. And second, I’m not giving away your tell.”
She lets out ahmphthat I can hear over the line, and I laugh at the image in my head of her as a little girl with her lower lip stuck out and pouting. “What’s up, pumpkin?”
“I just wanted to make sure that we were still on for brunch on Sunday.”
“Of course. Unless you need to cancel that is.” I always give her an out. I’m a lucky father in that my daughter actually seems to enjoy spending time with me and our regular Sunday brunches are my favorite part of the week. But I’m not so naïve to think that there won’t be times when something or someonemight take precedence to our standing date.
“Nope, just the opposite actually. I was hoping it would be okay if I bring Hollie and Violet along this week.”
I can feel my heartbeat pick up and my palms start to sweat.
“They’re both coming?” I ask with a mixture of what I could only describe as ridiculous hope and abject dread.
“They’re both confirmed. If that’s okay with you, that is.”
I let out the breath that I had apparently been holding, lean back in my chair, and cast my eyes to the ceiling.
Violet.
Violet is the one complication in my simple, almost boring life. If you could even consider her actuallyinmy life. We have zero personal relationship. All our interactions are predicated upon the fact that Bianca is my daughter and Violet is her best friend. We’ve spent no significant time alone together. That hasn’t stopped me from becoming fascinated with her.
When we first met, she was nothing but a tiny little thing that very much looked like the child she was trying to leave behind as she entered college. I didn’t give her much thought at all honestly. She was my daughter’s roommate and best friend. Someone I cared about in only the most general of terms and who was on the periphery of my life. But that changed about a year ago. I remember the exact moment, clear as day, when I began toseeViolet Daniels.
It was Bianca’s twenty-first birthday, and she graciously allowed me to take her and her friends out to lunch before spending the evening doing things I’m sure I don’t want to know about. I entered the restaurant, eyes on the lookout for my daughter and her group of friends. As I scanned the crowd, my eyes caught on a beautiful woman sitting at the bar, her back to me. All I could make out was the miles of glossy black hair falling down her back and over her shoulders, a glimpse of delicate porcelain skin on her neck that proved she obviously didn’t spend her days out baking in the sun like me.
My feet swiftly moved toward her with no conscious direction from me. As I approached from behind, I took in her petite stature. She was just a little slip of a thing, easy to tuck into my side or carry in my arms. My eyes traveled down her back, skimming the gentle swell of her hips, her tight rounded ass that looked like it was begging to be cradled in my hands, on down to her short but shapely legs that I wanted wrapped around me.
My thoughts somewhat shocked me; it had been a very long time since I’d had such an immediate attraction to a woman. I’d certainly never felt a pull like that before. My eyes were drawn back up her body as she tossed her head back and laughed at something one of her companions said. Her laughter hit my ears, sounding both melodic and familiar at the same time. Kind of like an old favorite song that I couldn’t quite place. I took a deep breath as I reached her and just as I was about to tap on her shoulder and introduce myself, she must have sensed my presence because her head whipped around and suddenly we were face to face.
I was stunned. And not only because the woman whom I had noticed across the room was my daughter’s best friend, no it was the look that I saw on her face. For just a moment her face looked open and unguarded, her eyes filled with yearning and affection. The way I always dreamed that a woman would look at me.
Now, I’m not so far gone that I don’t realize that wasn’t how she was really looking at me. Violet has always been a little shy and guarded around me. Hell, I’m pretty sure she’s like that around most people that aren’t my daughter and their mutual friend Hollie. No, I realize I was just projecting all my hopes and dreams onto the first female that I had felt an attraction to in years. In no time at all, I saw that guarded look back on her face and the moment I had created was gone. That didn’t stop from opening my eyes to the woman that Violet Daniels had become.
For months after that I tried to purge her from my mind, but it was of no use. Violet had been firmly inserted into my head and she was living there rent free whether I liked it or not.
It’s bad enough for a thirty-nine-year-old man to have a crush. It’s downright embarrassing for it to be on a twenty-three-year-old girl. Not that I can ever see her as just a girl again.
Ever since that moment, I’ve lived in some kind of torturous limbo. Both eager for and dreading the next time that I would see her. What’s made matters worse—or better, depending on how you look at it—is that for the past few months, she’s barely shown her face when I’ve been around. If I’m ever at their house, she’s not home or seems to have something pressing to do in her bedroom. Whenever Bianca invites her roommates to one of our outings, Hollie will frequently show up, but Violet has been noticeably absent. Well, noticeable to me anyway.
I’ve begun to worry that maybe she’s been able to pick up on my attraction to her and is trying to distance herself from me. Not that I would blame her. If I was a young, attractive, college student I certainly wouldn’t want some creepy middle-aged man mooning over me.
“Dad?”
My attention is drawn out of my head and back to the phone in my hand. “Of course, sweetie. You know Hollie and Violet are always welcome.”
“That’s what I told them. Thanks, Dad. You know.” I can hear the tone of her voice shift to one I can’t quite put my finger on. “If you’re dating someone, you could bring them along to brunch one week. I wouldn’t mind.”
I try hard not to choke on my saliva and lean forward in my chair. “Dating someone? Where is this coming from?”
“Well, I was just thinking that I’ve never really met any of your girlfriends or whatever. You don’t have to hide them from me, okay?”
I let out a laugh. “Oh really? Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I just want you to be happy, Dad. That’s all. You know that, right?”