I was meeting my father a coffee shop near the hotel. Jon and Joe were inside the coffee shop but not too close to me. It was the plan I had set. I did want to find out if my father's intentions were good but I wasn't gonna do it alone.
My father walked in and spotted me. He smiled when he stopped at the table. "Can I get a hug?" he asked.
"You haven't earned that yet." I said.
"Fair enough." he said. He sat down and looked at me.
I played around with my coffee cup picking at it and stuff. "You said you wanted a second chance. I'm giving it to you. But know this. If you, at all, screw this up, there will be no going back. There will be no third chance. No making it up to me. Nothing. This is your one and only chance so if your intentions are good and you really do want a second chance to be in my life then you better make it count."
He nodded. "I promise sweetie. I will do everything in power to make it up to you with what little time I have left."
"How much time do you have left exactly?" I asked.
"The doctors are saying a year maybe two." he said.
"What doctor?" I asked.
"Dr. Harrison. He's in Miami."
"I'm gonna make sure it checks out. I'm not going in to this with no facts." I said.
"I understand. You have every right to feel that way." he said.
"How do you know Bray Wyatt?"
"He came to me and he told me some things about your boyfriend. Things that were not easy for a father to hear. I was planning on asking you for a second chance then but when Bray told me those things my only concern was you and getting you away from him." he said.
"What kind of things?" I asked.
"He said that Joe was only out to hurt you. That he was forcing you to be with him. He said that he over heard Joe telling some guys that he was gonna rape you. I couldn't let that happen."
"Well, I'll have you know that Joe is a wonderful man. He treats me with respect and he's loyal. He's everything I've ever wished for in a man. I love him with all of my heart so of course Bray is lying. You do know that?"
"Yeah. I do. After I got arrested that night, I sat there and I was thinking about it all. You're a smart girl, Katie. I know that with everything I did to you in the past you would go looking for the opposite. Never let your guard down for anything or anyone until you were sure. That's how I knew he was lying. You're a lot like you mother in that aspect." he paused. "When I got out of jail the next day, I followed you to make sure Bray was leaving you alone and I wanted to make sure you had a wonderful life which clearly you do. I know you visited John. I think that was a good idea. He's important to you. I wish I could have been less of a drug addict so I could have been important to you. I'm very sorry for everything. And I know Joe's a good man. I'm happy for you."
"Here's the thing, I wanna believe you. I mean, you're my father. I should believe you but as it sits right now, I don't believe a word. You haven't earned any of it. You haven't earned my respect, my belief in you, none of it. Right now, you're just a man that hurt me. It's up to you to change that." I paused. "I have to go. I have work to do and I need time to think about this."
"Okay. Maybe we can meet up some other time. You can bring Joe. I'd love to meet him." he said.
"Let's get one thing straight. Right now it's about me and you not me, you and Joe. Joe has nothing to do with this and I will not let him be drug into this. Not by me and certainly not by you. You haven't earned the right to meet him yet. You may be my father by blood but you are not my dad." I said. I walked out of the restaurant and sat in the car waiting for Jon and Joe. I let a few tears fall from my eyes. This was too much.
The car doors opened and Jon and Joe climbed in. I turned to Joe and he wiped my tears away. "You were amazing in there. You were strong and you told the truth. I'm proud of you."
"I feel so horrible. All I wanna do is go in there and hug him but at the same time I just wanna spit in his face. How can that be normal?" I asked.
"Katie," Jon said. "Listen, I know what it's like to have a dead beat dad. I know what it's like to hate your dad but I wanna tell you this, with everything you went through, I'm surprised you haven't tried to kill him. You are handling this so much better than anybody I know would have. Your strength is inspiring to so many people including me. I wish I had your strength. I wish I had the strength to sit in the same room as my father and tell him how much he hurt me. We're always here for you but by the sound of it in there, you're gonna be just fine."
"Thanks Jon." I said. "I love you."
"I love you too sweetheart." he said hugging me.
I turned to Joe. "Let's just got back to the hotel. I don't feel well right now." I said.
"Why don't we all hang out in your guys' room for a while? I think the company would be great." Jon said.
"Yeah. I'd like that." I said. I turned to Jon. "I'm sorry I haven't spent much time with you lately."
"It's okay." he said.
We drove off towards the hotel.
