An Unexpected Girl

chapter twenty-five

Iris was frozen in shock, trying to process everything. Her father was frozen in shock too, but for a different reason. He was stuttering, trying to double back on the information that he had just revealed.

It was not until the waitress popped up next to them that Iris snapped out of the trance that she was in.

"Hello," the waitress said, her voice sounding cheery, and over the top, "are you guys finding the food alright? Is there anything you need?"

"Oh, no thank you, ma'am, we're good," Iris' father responded, seeing as Iris wasn't going to. He offered the waitress a tight-lipped smile once again, trying to get the waitress to leave as soon as possible.

How the waitress stayed completely oblivious to the thick tension right then was beyond Iris. But still, the waitress continued talking in an over-the-top, cheery voice. Iris decided right then that if oblivious was a person, it would be her.

"Well okay," the waitress said, talking to Iris' father, "if you or your daughter need anything, just let me know!"

That was it. That was the tipping point for Iris.

"I am not his daughter," Iris snapped, "and he sure as hell is not my fucking father."

Just like that, the shock that Iris was feeling a few moments ago had transformed into something else. Anger. A burning feeling of anger.

From the expression on the waitress' face, it was clear to see that she had finally clocked that the situation before her wasn't just a nice father-daughter meal after all. But Iris didn't care about what the waitress thought right then, or that she was making a scene.

"This meeting is over," Iris stated, like a judge announcing that the court was adjourned. She looked at the man seated opposite her one last time, sending him a look filled with all the hate she could muster. After all, if there was anyone under the face of the sun that she could hate. It was him.

The man that had hurt her all his life with his absence. She had managed to live, to get on without him, to survive. She had long since stopped waiting for his calls on her birthday. She had long stopped trying to look for the good in him. Yet, here he was, trying to come into her life again, and fucking things up like he always did.

As far as Iris was concerned, everything that had to do with him or revolved around him was nothing but disaster, destruction, and dismay.

Iris got up then, brushing past the waitress that was staring at her with her mouth hanging open, and made a beeline for the exit.

"Wait, Iris!" her father yelled after her. But Iris didn't wait. What was she waiting for? She had waited already. She had spent her childhood waiting for him to get it together and be a good father. Iris was done waiting, and it was all too little, too late.

But that wasn't the only thing bothering Iris right then. In fact, that was not what was causing her the intense pain that she was feeling inside. Her mom. How could she do this to her? Why would she do this?

These were the questions that Iris was thinking of as her body began to shake. She felt betrayed so deeply. Iris felt that if anybody should understand how she was feeling right then, it should be her mother. Her mother had suffered so much because of him. But yet, not only did she keep pestering Iris to give him a chance, but she was having a relationship with him after everything he had put them through.

Iris felt insulted in a way that she had never felt before. Her eyes were prickling, and hot tears were threatening to fall.

"Iris!" her dad yelled once again. She could hear him in pursuit behind her, but she didn't budge. She didn't even turn around.