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“Hmm?” I grumble back sleepily while I snuggle further under the duvet. “What?”
“The door,” she repeats herself without opening her eyes. “Someone’s at the door.”
As her words wash over me, my eyes snap open. The door? What could that mean? Who is it? I’m not expecting anyone so for some reason that leaves me anxious and scared. No one comes to see me at this time of the morning. I leap up and throw some clothes on at the speed of light while my mind races. This can’t be good, it just can’t be good.
I thunder down the stairs and towards the front door, looking disheveled and messy. I grab onto the door handle and fling the door open without even asking who’s there.
“Oh… Dad.” Shit, I don’t know what to do. I know I want to introduce Lola to my father, to make this much more real, but that’s something I want to do on my own terms, not by mistake. Not like this. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, son. Can I come in?” He doesn’t wait for permission, he just pushes past me and does what he wants as per usual. “What’s going on with you at the moment?”
“Erm.” I run a hand through my hair and glance towards the stairs. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the fact that you haven’t been at the office much. It isn’t like you at all. You’ve been very dedicated for the last year and now… now things are changing again.”
Oh God, this isn’t the chat I need to be having right now. I haven’t decided what I want to do yet so I don’t want to talk about it. “I’ve just had a lot going on, that’s all.”
“Yeah, Sandi told me. She said you aren’t talking about it to anyone, but everyone knows that there’s some girl in the picture.” He narrows his eyes at me. “Is that true? Are you really throwing everything away for some gold digger?”
Fucking Sandi. Honestly, what a nightmare. Even when I don’t tell her anything she finds a way to wreck things for me. This has to be a revenge thing because I’m not interested in her. I’ll fire her, if I have a job to go back to. If I even want to go back.
“Dad, not every woman is a gold digger…”
I know why he has this opinion, it’s because of my mother, but that doesn’t mean everyone is the same. He might want to throw himself wholeheartedly into work and to just screw around, but that isn’t me. I know that now.
“Son, don’t be a fucking idiot,” he dismisses me as if I’m a child who knows nothing. “They’re all up to something. You just need to figure out what…”
I part my lips, ready to yell at him but I don’t get the chance to do so. Before I can say anything, a sugary sweet voice interrupts the pair of us.
“Hello.” I spin around to see Lola standing on the stairs in one of my oversized tee shirts. “Mr. Heath-Smith, I presume?”
I give her a warning look as she moves closer with her hand outstretched. She doesn’t know what she’s getting herself in for here. I never let my dad meet anyone, which is why I wanted this meeting to be controlled by me. It’s already spiraling.
“Yes,” my dad replies coldly. “And you are?”
“Oh I’m Lola Boots.” Her bright smile seems to disarm him. She has a way of melting people, which I haven’t noticed before. “Good to meet you.”
“You are dating my son, are you?” He dives right in. “Are you the one who’s made him miss so much work.”
“Oh.” Lola is taken aback, of course she is. He’s being so rude. Her father has been nothing but nice to me and my dad is like this? It isn’t fair. “Right, well, I don’t know about that…”
“Dad, what I do is up to me. Don’t you think?”
“I suppose, but like I just said you’ve been amazing for the past year. Now you’re never about.”
I nod slowly, wondering how my morning went downhill so drastically. This is supposed to be the time that me and Lola are working things out, seeing what might happen next. I don’t want to be here in the middle of this awkward situation. It’s all wrong.
“Dad, now isn’t the time and place for this conversation…” I try, but he completely rail roads me as usual.
“What do you do, Lola Boots? Are you not missing work right now to spend time with Brandon?”
She holds her head high and answers him confidently. “I care for my father, which is why I’m in the city so he can see a medical specialist. When I’m not doing that I’m running the farm for him, working in the local store to pay for his treatment, oh and I sing.”
I cringe and slide my eyes closed as I wait for my dad’s scathing response. He won’t like this at all, he’ll see Lola as a small town, country bumpkin who isn’t good enough for me. It’ll make him even more convinced that she’s a gold digger. Then if he ever finds out that I paid for her dad’s treatment he’ll do his nut in. My shoulders hunch up around my ears and I brace myself desperately for what’s about to happen.
“Well that is impressive.” My eyes snap open as he actually sounds in awe. “You are a very hard working girl. And to look after your father like that, it’s a lot to take on. Do you mind if I ask what’s wrong with him?”
I take a step back and watch in sheer admiration as Lola somehow charms my father. I know him well and I can tell that he actually thinks she’s something special as she talks all about her father’s illness and the effect that it’s had on him. When she discusses looking after him, she does so in a way that isn’t only a show off at all, which of course impresses my dad. Actually, I’m starting to think that he might like her more than he does me. All the iciness surrounding him has thawed and he’s treating her well.
