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I missed him. I missed everything about him, his arms, the gentle soothing rumble of his voice, the way just being around him calmed my mind. I missed all of that, but I missed his presence as my daddy in my life the most.
Doing it alone felt so lonely now.
“In breaking news, Mason Pierce will be holding a press conference at twelve o’clock tomorrow. It is assumed he will be announcing his widely anticipated bid for mayor, and we will be providing full coverage of the event in hopes of finding out his vision for Hudson’s future.”
I lifted my eyes back to the television screen. They were showing images of him from when he lived in California, shaking hands with the rich and famous and I sighed.
How could I have ever thought I’d end up with a man like him? He deserved so much better than a poor orphan like me.
The news switched to another story, and I stared down into my plate of spaghetti. Feeling close to tears, I rushed off into the employee restroom at the back. It had been a few days since I’d taken a shower, so I stripped, washed up, and sobbed in silence while letting the hot water rinse my tears down the drain.
* * *
I went home with Ethel that night. Thankfully, I’d been able to get ahold of myself enough to finish the dinner that had been prepared for me. I’d helped both her and Tony close for the night. She hadn’t asked any questions and I hadn’t offered her any explanations. I simply thanked her for her kindness and went to bed early that night. The next morning, she had a cup of coffee ready for me before she brought me back to the restaurant.
I already knew most of the menu, so there wasn’t much of a training process. I took orders from her costumers, wrote them down, and passed them on to Tony. She handled the cash register, which was fine with me. Math had never been my favorite subject anyway.
The day went smoothly. By the time lunch rolled around, Ethel insisted that I take a break for lunch because she wouldn’t stand for me working myself to the bone on her account. I sat down in my usual spot, and she brought out a sandwich Tony had prepped for me. I picked it up, smiling when I realized it was one of my favorites, grilled chicken with the works. It was messy, but it was really good.
The television was playing a usual soap opera and I didn’t think anything of it until the broadcast was interrupted by a news anchor.
“We’re here at the press conference for Mason Pierce, where we hope to find out the official news of his bid for mayor. Later, we’ll talk to Mayor Richardson about his opinion of his potential competition, but for now, we bring you Mason Pierce, live and in person!”
Fuck.
I looked around, but the restaurant was getting busy. Ethel had started taking orders herself and when I tried to get up to go help her, she shooed me away with a harsh scolding to sit down, relax, and enjoy my lunch hour. I did as she said without argument. A part of me wanted to flee because it felt like the safer option, but I didn’t want to make a scene, so I stayed seated.
I couldn’t take my eyes away from the television as the man I loved stepped up onto the stage. I knew where he was. They’d set him up in front of town hall with an expensive-looking podium. He was surrounded by reporters with cameras and microphones, along with several people that lived in town.
But I stopped looking at the crowd when he looked into the camera. From that moment on, all I could see was him. It felt like he was looking deep into my soul, and I couldn’t turn away. My eyes watered and I blinked away my tears, trying to hold myself together.
He was just as handsome and perfect as ever, but he looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes and as his hands grasped the podium, I could have sworn they shook a little bit. He looked down for several moments, before he took a deep breath and turned back to face the camera.
When he began to speak, I had to look away for a second to compose myself because the sound of his voice nearly undid me.
“Most of you are here today because you expect me to announce my bid for mayor in next year’s election, but I’m sorry to say I’m going to disappoint you. I’m not here to announce anything of the sort.”
The crowd started blurting out questions, trying to get his attention and he held up his hand. After a moment, the audience quieted down, and he looked back out at them.
“I’m not here to tell you that I’m running for mayor. I won’t take questions on my plans for Hudson’s future or the subject of my political aspirations. I called this press conference for a singular reason. I need to get a message to the woman I love.”
When he paused, no one said a word. Mason Pierce didn’t openly date. He never had. I’d googled him one time and read one story after the next about how he was one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. He’d been featured in several magazines, but he never gave an opinion or comment as to the reason he’d never been open about any of his relationships in the past. There’d been speculation from time to time about who he was seeing, if anyone, but no one had ever shown any concrete evidence of the sort. Many of the stories guessed at the cause of his scars, but no one knew where they had come from, just that they gave him a mysterious and dangerous edge.
I knew why, though. Mason Pierce was a firestorm in bed. He liked to be the one in charge, and he enjoyed putting a woman in her place, be it with a hard spanking over his knee or a rough lesson with his cock.
I blushed at the thought because I was the type of girl who enjoyed all of that.
“So today, I want to tell you a story.”
He paused again, gathering his thoughts as my heart pounded in my chest.
“Several months ago, I bought an abandoned house here in Hudson. Many of you know it as Bryson Manor. I had dreams of bringing the old place back to life as a way to pay it forward to the city, to take something that had fallen into disrepair and make it beautiful again. I expected to find rusted-out pipes, asbestos, worn-out tiles, cracked walls, graffiti, and whatever else typically comes with a home that hasn’t been inhabited for a long time, but what I didn’t expect was that I’d find a nineteen-year-old orphan living in one of the bedrooms upstairs.”
I froze.
“She was a beautiful little thing, but she was far too skinny and malnourished, a broken byproduct of a foster care system that took a brilliant mind like hers and defeated her so soundly that she couldn’t think past where she would get her next meal or a bed to sleep on rather than where she would go to college or what she dreamed of doing with the rest of her future. All her life, people had turned their back on her, and she expected me to be no different.
“I remember that day like it was yesterday. I’d just bought the house and I’d only just arrived to start arranging renovations as soon as possible. I was taking stock of the house and when I opened the door to the guest room upstairs, I’d found her cuddled up and sleeping away in one of the beds.
