The Divorcee's Redemption

36: Sensual

"Pauses, then says
You're my best friend
And you knew what it was
He is in love"

***

"So you love her-"

"I don't." He deadpanned.

"Oh come on, Dad. You talk about her like she's your everything. You love her too much to realize."

He huffed and began rolling up his sleeves, "Why are we having this conversation at 2 am?"

"Because I don't see what the problem is!" I snapped, "I told you all that shit before and I'm sorry. But you have to admit that I wasn't wrong. Mom was young and you influenced her with your money. You abused her verbally for a hell long time till she grew sick of you and cheated on you. You even hit her but continued staying loyal. At this point, I think that both of you are equally to blame. I'm not painting you as the devil, Dad. You both messed up, we get it, but I grew up with you. Not just me, Danny, Gary, Uncle Jeff, Jay... Everybody knows how damn close you and Mom are. You guys have so much history! Why would you throw all that away now?"

Dad looked at me intently, his voice suddenly soft, "I didn't throw it all away..."

From underneath his crumpled white shirt he took a silver chain with a ring dangling from it.

"Your mom put this on my finger on our wedding day... It wasn't even a proper wedding for it to be this special but... It's the first thing that your mom gave me... Well, maybe after her virginity, yeah, second thing," he muttered, casually drinking his water.

"I didn't need to know that." I scrunched my face.

"Whatever, let's get you to bed." He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and helped me off the chair.

"If you've been keeping her ring for such a long time, that must mean something right?" I urged as we neared the stairs.

"It means that she has been the only woman that I've found to be bearable in my life, and it will only be her."

"You're so in love."

He grunted as we made our way upstairs.

"Tell me about your wedding. You never talk about it," I smiled.

"It barely lasted five minutes. Jeffrey was the only witness, actually. We shared rings, we signed the marriage certificate and I took your mom home. End of story," he sighed. "Now crawl under your covers, go on."

I did as he said and Dad kissed my head. "Goodnight, Cupcake. You don't need to worry yourself with us. Instead, keep your health steady," he smiled.

"One last question."

Dad groaned as he reached the door, "Your curiosity never grows old, does it?"

"If mom says that she's never gonna be happy with anyone but you, will you marry her again?"

"Maybe. But that's never going to happen now," he smiled before closing the door.

My dad had to work on his optimism.

***

Dad told me about the upcoming gala by the end of the week. Xander Corp had just launched a new software and all the investors that had worked with Dad for the last couple of years would be there. It was a big deal even though Dad didn't seem too excited about it.

He had never been excited about anything, but I wanted to look good for the gala this time.

There would be food, dancing, and music but I badly wanted Danny to accompany me. I always got nauseous around food these days and the last thing I wanted was to embarrass myself in front of all the big people.