LEECH

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - VAANI (NOW)

I haven't spent a day with dad in so long.

He's always busy, which is justified, but I'd begun missing him despite living together. That is why when he said he was free today the whole day, I even took a leave from school just to get some time with him.

A daughter shouldn't have to yearn to spend time with her own father, but when your dad is someone who is in as high of a position as mine with a job that is as demanding and uncompromising, work comes first. And I can't even complain because...I have to understand. And I do. So, I cherish the little moments here and there which keep me grounded when doubts begin to creep in.

We're sitting in Midnight Glare, the biggest restaurant of our city, where I'm also supposed to meet Aisha, Samaira and Tara a bit later. It's just me and dad for now, though. And I like it when it's us. Just like the old days, when the Hospital didn't exist and Sundays used to be fun.

Not that I don't want the hospital to exist. Oh gods, I'm mind-rambling again.

"So, what does my angel want to eat?" He asks, smiling. I chuckle, taking another sip of the soup I'd ordered for the both of us. I flip over the menu, conflicted over the myriad of choices presented to me. Ugh.

"You choose." I slide the menu back to him. He laughs. "What if you don't like my choice?"

I roll my eyes. "Dad, I am your choice. How can I not like your choice when I myself am one?"

He pretends to mull over the thought, then shrugs and ruffles my hair. I scowl, glowering at him. He always likes ruining my hair.

"How do you fancy some sushi? He asks, and before I can nod my assent, he's already calling the waiter over. He places the order, and I take that time to text my friends that I'm already here with dad.

"How's everything at work, dad?" I ask.

"Don't." He warns. "Don't take that name. It's cursed. You'll invoke the curse."

I giggle, erupting into laughter before I can stop myself. "Dad, stop being overdramatic!"

"It's true though." He shakes his head. "Leave it. How's school?"

I sigh. "The usual. Cluster's going on, so everyone's a bit busy, but it's fun." I wish he was there to see me perform on the Inauguration, but there's only so much I can expect, and parents weren't allowed anyway. It was the first time I'd danced in a year, though, so it felt a little empty without the man who was the reason why I started dancing in the first place.

Sensing the shift in my mood, he says, "Oh, but I just know you would have done amazing. You're my angel. How can you not do anything well?"

I stare at him, astonished, my lips curving into a smile. "How did you know I was thinking of that?"

He raises his glass. "I'm your father, Vaani. I always know."

And nothing has ever been truer.

Just then, his phone rings. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, trying not to frown at the urgent note in the speaker's voice or at the way my dad's shoulders tense up when he listens to their words.

He nods, quickly muttering something under his breath directed at his phone, and then he looks at me, eyes full of heaviness. And I immediately know our time is up.

I close my eyes, disappointment washing over me in waves at the thought of ruining this evening. Is asking for just one night too much? What God is so cruel?

"Guess you invoked the curse, kid." He says. There's guilt in his voice, and more than that, a strange sort of weariness that tugs at my heart, and I can't even be angry or petty about it because he looks so dejected already.