Our Time Will Come - An After Story

74

Hardin
Finally! I almost had to strangle that scrawny little shit who took my parking space. I've been circling this damn parking lot for twenty minutes now and I'm missing all the commotion. I hope to god that Charlie's so called father, isn't the Logan I think he is, because if he is ..that means that .. she .. could be his mother.

Why am I getting fucking goosebumps entering this place? Maybe it's because this is the place that Tessa found out about my despicable actions all those years ago. This is the place that I shattered her heart into a thousand tiny pieces. Fuck, Hardin, that's deep, my subconscious chimes. I scour the room and the place really hasn't changed. The music is still the same, even the decor is. I head to the bar to greet that ridiculously sarcastic sister of mine. "Abbacado" I tease as I approach her. "They're there" she huffs while pointing to a booth of people. "Nice to see you too, sis" I joke, though it's mainly out of plain anxiety at what is to come.

I head over to the said booth and I can only see Charlie and Emery. All I can see of the couple is the back of their heads. Oh.. and there's another guy. I creep closer to the booth, not knowing what has been said and what hasn't. "Fuck" I whisper to myself as I realise from the side profile that one of the men is definitely Logan. Logan from college, Logan who dated M ...Molly. I tiptoe closer to the booth and hear the woman introducing herself to my daughter and Charlie, I could recognise that voice from fucking anywhere. I'm no longer subtle with my observations and I finally show my face to the booth full of people.

"Fucking Molly?!" I scoff at the sight of the pink haired, yet rough looking woman. My heart is beating ten to the dozen. It's been what? Like twenty years since I set eyes on her? If molly ends up being Charlie's mother then I'm out of here, I'm done. What are the fucking odds?

"Hardin Scott?" She begins to choke on her own breath. "The fuck are you doing here?" She spits. "She, is my daughter!" I point profusely at Emery. "She, Is your daughter?" the tattooed, puny looking chap beside Logan pipes up. Did I stutter? I take a proper glance at him and my blood begins to boil as I realise who it is. Fuck, he's aged. "Zed?" I practically mumble. "Yep" he nods. What the actual fuck is going on. It's like I've time travelled back to twenty years ago, only my kid is here.

I get a kick out of the way that Molly is still completely speechless. I never thought I'd see the day, the longest she was ever quiet around me was when she was giving me head. I couldn't stand the sound of her whiny voice at the best of times. If this is her after seeing me for the first time in twenty years, I wonder what her reaction will be when she finds out that Charlie is her son.

"Dad? You know them?" Emery's eyes beam into mine. Fuck, how do I even explain how I know them? I mean, I know that Emery read all my books, so she knows the ins and outs of my messy college life, but obviously I didn't mention any names. I decide to ignore her question.

"Okay, she's your daughter. She's here, you're here.. that still doesn't explain what you're doing here. Don't you live in New York now?" Logan opens his mouth. I always liked Logan, always got along with him. It's just a damn shame that he ended up with bloody Molly of all people! Poor bastard. "I'm visiting my dad!" I lie, but this whole situation is too messy to get in to, especially with these fuckers.

"How's Tessa?" that fucker Zed mutters. There's no way in hell that he just asked me that. Does he want to be strangled? "They know Mom?" Emery's eyes widen. "Of course we know your mom, we go way back. We were good friends back in college" zed snaps back. I haven't punched this guy in twenty years but I swear to god if he says one more thing, then I won't hold back. Emery's jaw drops after putting two and two together and realising that these are the people who were involved in the betrayal of her mother.

"Tessa is fine, in fact we're the best we've ever been. We have four beautiful children and have been married for ten years now" I decide not to rise to his Pettiness. "Gosh, poor Tessa" the rat mutters under his breath. "Why poor Tessa? Things change, people change. You lot clearly haven't. Twenty years later and what do you have to show for yourself? Oh.. that's right. Nothing. Because you're still sat in blind fucking bobs drinking your life away at forty years of age!" I scoff. My fists start to clench and I am so close to losing it.