Come on, skinny love

Chapter Three: No Drinks Today

The last time I had spoken to my father, I was probably 9 years old. The day that he left my mom.

I asked him where he was going; he told me he was going on vacation, and I remember getting very excited and asking if he was going to Disneyland. He laughed and he smiled, and said no, but he promised he’d take me there again someday.

That was the last time I saw him. I always remembered having a great relationship with my father before he left. I guess as a kid you don’t expect your parent to just… leave, without a goodbye or an explanation.

He never took me to Disneyland.

As I grew up I came to terms with it but I had never imagined speaking to him ever again. I sat down very slowly, blinking rapidly. “What did you tell him?”

She pursed her lips and shrugged; something she always does before telling me something I won’t like. A sigh escaped her mouth. “I said it would be a good idea.”

“A good idea? Mom, he left you! He left us!”

My mother took a few slow steps closer to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “I know, but he wants to get to know you and Tessa again.”

I glared. “He never knew me.”

“Sweetie, when you were younger…”

I stood up furiously and stepped back. “I know! We were close, but he’s not my dad anymore. What has he done for me in the past five years? Not even a phone call at Christmas! I’m not wasting my time on him.”

I walked hotly up the stairs and into my bedroom. Maybe I had overreacted… a lot. It was a touchy subject for me though, and I thought I had all the reason to be completely upset with him.

***

After a few days of arguments about my dad, my mother finally convinced me to stick around for the dinner. Apparently he didn’t say when he wanted to do it, but he asked to make sure it was okay with “the girls” before making any plans.

Yeah, right. He wants to act like nothing happened.

On Saturday, I was meeting up with the gang at Jaycee’s house. Before we hung out, we always gave one person the duty of going for a Starbucks run. And today, on this dismal, rainy excuse for a weekend was my turn.

I ran from my car to the door with my hands hunched over my head, cold and dripping wet by the time I got there. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when I noticed it was empty.

“Hi,” I paused to catch my breath. “I’ll have a…”

I recited the orders and paid, waiting at the other end of the counter for the drinks. After what seemed like hours, I had an empty wallet and six steaming drinks in my hands. I spun around on my heel and the coffee went all over the person behind me.

There was a guy standing directly behind me, soaked in the drinks and looking angry. I looked up into his green eyes and quickly backed away. “I’m so sorry!”

He scoffed. “Yeah, you should me. Try watching where you’re going next time?”

I glared. “Excuse me?”

He ran his hands through his tousled brown hair and let out an irritated sigh. “You heard me, kid. Now move.”

If I hadn’t been so set on proving myself right, I would have walked away right then. But that wasn’t the case today. “First of all, I have a name, but I won’t give you the pleasure of knowing it. Second of all, if you weren’t so incredibly close to me I would never have run into you.” I sighed. “This all comes back to you.”