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“Oh, right. Of course. Adam and Lucas. Did you get pizza with them? Or did the others join as well?” Dad chuckles bitterly while he scowls at me. “Did you make a group date of it?”
My fork clatters onto the plate and I shove my seat back so when I jump up, I don’t bang into the table. “I’m not getting in this with you,” I say while stalking towards the door. I reach for my phone to call Alex. It’s only been thirty minutes since he dropped me off. Well, that didn’t last long.
“Wait, Rachel.”
I glance over my shoulder at Dad, seeing him with his elbows on the table, his face in his hands while he stares at my empty seat.
“Come back,” he says. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Damn right you shouldn’t have, I think, knowing I definitely can’t say that. It takes me four steps to return to the table and another to plop them on the edge of my seat. I don’t bother picking up my fork. I’m done eating.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Dad says, lifting his gaze to meet mine. I see the genuine worry in his gaze, the sadness looming there, the dark circles under his eyes. “I don’t know what got into me. You can date whomever you want.”
I reach over and take his hand. His hold on my fingers is tight as if he’s been desperate for any sort of support or affection. I suppose leaving Mom is harder than he ever thought it would be. I feel sorry for him that she’s already moved on, especially since she’s the one who destroyed their marriage in the first place.
I sound like I’m taking sides. I probably am. It sucks that Mom is living with this so-called Bryan, in his penthouse suite, dining at La Grenouille while Dad suffers in a ratty, old studio apartment, eating pickled hot dog spaghetti.
“They’re nice,” I say, watching Dad struggle not to roll his eyes. “You just don’t know them, yet. But I think if you were a little less hostile towards them, you might actually like one or two of them.”
Dad chuckles. “One or two?”
“Well, Seth has no filter, and Lucas can be a bit blunt,” I say with a giggle. “But Hunter used to play for the NFL and Alex has a lot of money.”
Dad raises an eyebrow. ”Used to work for the NFL? What happened there?”
This time I do grimace. Now is not the time to explain why Hunter quit his job. I’m sure Dad will be all over trying to get me to break up with him. “He’s actually going back to school to become a gym teacher. Isn’t that nice?”
“Teachers make no money and get shit on all the time.”
He has a point there.
Dad sighs and rubs the back of his head. “You said the other one has money?”
“Yeah, lots of it. His parents are at a charity event tonight.” My eyes widen. “Maybe they can get you a loan for a better place.”
Dad releases my hand and shakes his head. “No. No loans.”
“But Dad—”
“No, buts. Your wonderful mother has already taken everything from me. I’m not going to dig myself an even deeper hole by getting a loan. We just finished paying off the loan we took out on that art shop we had years ago, and look where that got us.”
“I just worry about you,” I say while staring at Dad. He looks so exhausted these days. I wish there was some way he could catch a break. “What if they offered you a job?”
“I already have a job, sweetie.”
I sigh. Cleaning toilets at the local high school and freelance writing for a website that only pays ten dollars an article is hardly what I would call a job.
“Don’t worry,” Dad says. “I’ll figure it out. I always do. This place is just for now. Next time you visit, I’ll be doing better. I promise.”
I nod. It’s the only thing I can do, but I have a feeling things are about to get much worse before they ever get better. If they ever get better.
“You’re going to be graduating soon,” Dad says while picking up his fork and digging into the rest of his food.
“Next year.”
Dad nods while he chews his food. I still can’t believe he can eat this stuff. “Do you have any ideas what you want to do?”
“Survive this semester, graduate,” I pause and shrug, “I guess I haven’t really figured anything out.”
