Allyson In Between ✔︎

Noah | Deleted Scene 5

|photo by Glenn Carstens Peters from Unsplash|

Content Warning: There's a lot of Josh in this scene—and therefore, quite a bit of unsavory language. *author grimaces, thinking of one reader in particular.*

The rain stops before I get to the club but the golf course is a wet, soggy mess so the head pro lets me go at 5:30. I hang out in the parking lot for another hour listening to music because Dad has a date tonight and I'm hoping to miss him. But when I open the garage door, his car's still there and the kitchen stinks of aftershave.

I hope to God that woman isn't coming over here.

"Dad?" 

"I'm here," he says from the downstairs bathroom.

"I invited Josh over."

Dad leans his head out the door. "Is that a threat?"

It's hard to know for sure, because of the toothbrush in his mouth, but it sounds like he's joking. "No sir," I say, polite, just in case. "It's more like a warning. It's not too late for me to un-invite him."

But I'd rather not. I'm still worked-up over my conversation with Ally and I need some high-def, post-apocalyptic, mutant-blasting therapy.

"No," Dad says. He finishes his teeth and comes out finger combing what's left of his hair. "We've been invited to a party down in The Fan." His eyes get all narrow and suspicious, like he's getting ready to remind me about the house rules. But then he takes a breath, exhales it quick and says, "How was your visit with Ally?"

And that right there is the question I was trying to avoid.

"Did you get out of the car?" he asks.

I nod once. Yeah, I got out of the damned car.

"Did she remember you?"

"No." I hold up my watch. "Shouldn't you be heading out?"

"Janice had to work late."

Perfect.

"Are you all right, son?"

"I'd rather not talk about Ally if that's okay with you."

"You'd rather not talk to me or not talk at all?"

Now see, that's a trap. Neither answer is acceptable.

"Not talk right now," I say. "It's been a long day and I want to take a shower before Josh gets here."

"Okay," Dad says. Then he nods and says it again, like there's a whole lot of agreeing going on inside his head. "So, which one of us is taking the old man shopping this week?" 

And there's the excuse I was looking for. "I'll do it. I'm off all day Wednesday."

"It sure would make life easier if you could talk him into moving in with us."

"What makes you think I can talk Gramps into anything?" I ask, sort of pissed now.

"I don't know. You look so much like my brother did at your age and Patrick had a way about him. He was just about the only person in the world who had any kind of influence over my father."

"If you're asking me to pretend I'm—"

"No, son, I'm not. I'm just looking for answers."

* * *

Josh brings beer from his garage refrigerator because nobody at his house ever notices it missing—unlike my house, where Dad takes inventory on an hourly basis.