Mr. Gardner

Downfall

Nathan's POV

Fuck that burns.

It's 11am and I just downed my first shot of whiskey of the day. Christmas is in a few days and I am so not looking forward to it. I can just hear all the questions and nagging now:

"Where is Gwyneth? Why do you smell like alcohol, Nate? Are you eating regularly?" I roll my eyes at the thought. 

Ugh, just fucking shoot me now.

Ring.... Ring....

My phone starts ringing and I don't even think to look at who it is before answering. "Hello?" 

"About time you answered your damn phone." Great, this is just the person I need to talk to right now.

"What the fuck do you want?" I spit down the phone.

"Susan isn't returning my phone calls and a little birdy has told me you've gone off the deep end again. Some other love of your life break your pathetic heart now?" I grit my teeth and stand up quickly, slamming my hand on my office desk. 

"Fuck!" I shriek, holding my wrist. I just stupidly slammed the exact same hand as the one from when I saw Gwyneth with her ex at the mall. I had to go to the doctor the next day and get it bandaged up because I sprained it. "Listen, you have no right to dig your stupid nose in my business, alright? Susan is-" I get cut off by a small voice near my office door.

"Dad?" She asks, making sure to keep a distance from me. She must've heard me scream in pain and came rushing to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid.

"I'm done talking to you, don't you dare call again." I seethe quietly down the phone before hanging up on the bitch. I then turn to Susan with an over-exaggerated smile.

"Hey, Suzzie-Q. I'm alright, I promise." She quirks an eyebrow at me.

"That was mom, wasn't it?" I sigh and sit back in my office chair, nodding. "Why do you answer her? You know it's always gonna be a bad conversation..." I roll my eyes and run my good hand through my hair.

"I didn't look at the caller-ID before answering..." She nods understandingly. I look up at her with a small fake smile. "I'm sorry you had to hear that..." She shakes her head and sits at one of the chairs in front of my desk, crossing her arms.

"Y'know Christmas is Friday, right?" I look off in the distance, subtly nodding at her question.

"So what?" 

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay for the holidays? I don't want you getting too stressed and then doing or saying anything rash that'll get people worrying more about you..." I shrug.

"On a normal year this isn't nearly my favorite holiday." I simply say and Susan gives me a stern look. "But! I promise I'll behave and put up my best acting skills to portray happiness that I just don't have right now. Will that suffice?" I see a smirk start to form on her face and I'm reminded on why I keep going.

"Thanks, dad." She stands up from the chair and goes to walk away before abruptly stopping and turning around. "Listen, I can't imagine what it's like but... There is more in store for you that'll eventually change your life in the best way possible. You've gotten through this before, you can do it again and come out on top. You just gotta remember that people just suck and you have to really dig and work hard to find the few that are actually good and actually care about you. Okay?" She says and leans over to give me a peck on the cheek. She then turns and walks out of my office like she was going to beforehand. "Oh! And I'm also having the friend group over to bake cookies today, by the way!" She yells from the hallway and I feel my heart get stuck in my throat.