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𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻, 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆
𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟒
Rain and thunder reverberated through the bustling streets of Metropolis as a heavy sigh escaped Valerie's lips. She stood outside Metropolis airport, drenched to the bone, her dark curls clinging to her face and shoulders. Three hours in the relentless rain, hoping her father would show up.
Hope.
It was cruel, always setting her up for the same disappointment.
It's always the same, isn't it, Dad?
Valerie had grown accustomed to this pattern.
Fifteen years of waiting for a man who could never fully face her, not after her mother's death. The pain in his eyes whenever he looked at her was a reminder that she was both a cherished daughter and a painful memory. Her brother told her not to take it personally, but how could she not? Her very presence was a reminder of his loss.
How don't you take it personally?
Whenever your father sees your face, it reminds him of the love of his life.
When Valerie was abducted for a month of darkness and torture, she clung to the hope that her father was looking for her. That he wanted to save her from the agony she was enduring.
But he didn't.
Valerie pressed her phone to her ear, her gaze dropping to her knee-length brown leather boots as the cold rain pelted down. "Where are you?"
"Oh, honey, Braxton didn't tell you?" Her father's voice came through the line, too casual, too distant. "I'm not coming until tomorrow."
A surge of anger flared within her, mingled with a familiar sense of resignation. "No, he didn't."
"I told him last night. The board meeting and negotiations in London are taking longer than I thought."
Valerie closed her eyes, trying to keep her emotions in check. "It's fine," she said, though her eyes flickered between brown and purple behind her lids. "I'm used to it."
"Now, that's not fair, honey," he said, sounding more annoyed than apologetic. "I'm trying here."
She hugged her arms around herself, feeling the chill seep into her bones. "I'll believe it when I see it."
"What do you want me to do? Drop everything and head on the next flight home?"
Her throat tightened as she watched taxis move in and out of the terminal. "I want you to want to be here."
"I know since the kidnapping that—"
"No," she interrupted, her voice trembling with suppressed fury. "You don't get to do that. You don't get to make what happened to me something to push to the side when it's inconvenient for you." The ground beneath her feet trembled with her rising anger. A glass window of a nearby car shattered, causing people to cry out in surprise. "I needed you, and you chose work over finding your daughter." Another window broke, closer this time. "Mom would be so disappointed in you."
