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Screech.
Bang.
But her shoes should have been the last thing on my mind, a fact that becomes blindingly obvious as the cool night air whips me up in its shawl. She hasn’t broken her ankle, instead Olivia has raced right out into the road, into oncoming traffic, causing one of the cars to slam right against her drunken rag doll body, sending her flying in the air.
It takes a moment for my brain to catch up with me, for me to process the blood now pooling around her head. Once I catch on to what is happening, I realize the horrible wailing sound surrounding me, making everything so much harder to bear, is actually my voice.
It’s me.
ChapterOne
ELIJAH
She isn’t going to like this…
Great. Just great. This isnotthe time for my brain to turn into my enemy. But it’s seemingly determined to make this giant leap more challenging for me than it needs to be.
“It’ll be fine,” I mutter to myself as I scan my eyes up the walls of the unfamiliar apartment block that towers into the sky. “It’s going to be fine, June said she wants this.”
The shock of getting a phone call from my ex, June, was surprising enough since it’s been years… decades. But learning the reason why only made it harder.
My daughter being involved in a car accident has shaken me. I have to be honest. It’s really turned everything on its head and made everything else in my life seem much less important. I don’t usually up and run off when my advertising company is in the middle of such a massive campaign, but then I don’t usually get the chance to be in my daughter’s life.
She isn’t going to be pleased to see me, I’m all too aware of that, especially if she’s going through a shitty time. But I also know, there’s no way in hell that June would have reached out to me if it wasn’t super serious and if she didn’t think that I could help.
I know it’s only money June is thinking of really, but since I haven’t been able to do anything for the first twenty-two years of Olivia’s life, it really isn’t an issue. I don’t mind forking out whatever I need to in order to make my girl feel better after the horrible things she has been through.
I have alotto make up for, and I intend to make the most of this chance. Even if it’s going to be hard and we’ll both have a lot of feelings hanging in the air between us. Guilt will be the main one for me.
A hungry, heavy guilt that I have been carrying with me for far too long. I don’t expect to ever be able to leave it behind. At forty-two years of age, I’ve gotten used to it being a part of me, but I’d like to give it a try.
All I need to do is stop staring up at the building as if it holds all the answers to the universe, and get my sorry ass up those stairs to speak with Olivia directly. Nothing will be resolved while I’m standing here, taking no action either way.
I sigh deeply, looking around to make sure no one is watching – although why I care about that I have no idea – before I finally pull my head out my backside and head inside. My heart hammers wildly as I make my way up the stairs, following the directions June gave me, until I see the door. Number twenty-three. Her friend’s apartment that she’s staying in while she recovers from the accident.
With a bit of luck, once we’ve bonded, Olivia will let me buy her a place of her own. She doesn’t need to be living on someone’s couch if that isn’t what she wants.
Knock, knock.
Why do I feel all on edge as I wait for the door to swing open? I can’t stand still, which is weird for someone who has always been described as a‘cool cat’. Maybe I’ve always hated that cheesy categorization, but right now I’d love to be exactly that.
Anything other than this nervous twitching.
“Hello?”
I open and close my mouth a couple of times, probably looking like a clueless goldfish as a stunning curvy blonde woman stands in front of me, running her eyes curiously all over me. The tight-fitting yoga clothes she is wearing, is working wonders. Her cleavage begging to be touched as it spills out of her tight-fitting top and the skin tight leggings leaving nothing to do the imagination. She actually has me speechless and not many people can say that.
“Hello?” she repeats, “Is there anything that I can do for you?” she continues, irritation lacing her tone. “Because we are actually in the middle of cooking here, so…”
“Dad?”
Oh my God! There’s Olivia. My daughter. In her early twenties, but right now looking like a broken shell of a person. She has my dark eyes but her mother’s curly hair. A perfect blend of me and June. Staring at her actually makes my heart ache with all that has been missed.
“You are my dad, right?” Olivia steps forward to stand beside the blonde with her eyebrows furrowed at me curiously. “What the hell are you doing here? This is a bit… weird.”
“Erm, yeah, it probably is.” I shake my head, trying to get myself sorted out because this isn’t going well at all. I didn’t think my being speechless would be the issue. “But I’ve been speaking to your mother, and…”
“Urgh, Mom,” Olivia groans, tossing her head back. “I wish she would just accept that I’m okay. Really. I don’t need her interfering all the time, it’s driving me mad…”
