Wild Ride - The Alternative Version (Book 2)

Chapter 2~Unexpected Acquaintance

Elise's POV

"I'll see you later, ok?" I said to Abigail as I helped her get her backpack on. I kissed her cheek like I always do before letting her go to the bus. I watched until the bus drove away, and then went back into the kitchen to get my coffee into a traveler's mug for work. I'd gotten up earlier today, so I was already showered and dressed with time to spare. It was kind of nice having a little time before having to leave. Just as I finished screwing the top on my mug, Eric came into the kitchen, having just woken up. 

"Did Abigail go to school already?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck and ruffling his hair a little.

"You just missed her." I answered, and he nodded.

"Still not much of a school person?"

I laughed. "No, not really. But she keeps her grades up, so I guess that's all that matters." 

"I um, I need to talk to you about something, and I want you to try and be reasonable about it." Eric said after a moment, and I looked at him. "I think you should let Abigail meet her father."

"No way, Eric. Absolutely not." I declined quickly.

He frowned. "That's not reasonable."

I gave him a dirty look. "You know why I don't want her to meet him, at least not until she's an adult. He has a life of his own, a life that is fine without us."

"But it could be better with you."

"No, Eric. You don't even know that he would want to be part of her life. How do you know that he won't think I'm just some crazed fan claiming to be the mother of his daughter?" I walked past him into the living room to get my laptop.

"Take Abigail with you." 

"I'm not going to do that. If we get there, and she sees him but he doesn't even give two shits, that would break her heart. I'm not doing that to her, she doesn't need to go through that." I replied firmly.

"Well then figure something else out. But she deserves the chance to at least meet him if he can't be there still. And don't you think he deserves to know he has a daughter, whether he cares or not? Think about if you were in his place. Wouldn't you want to know? I know that I would, if Stacy had Cameron without me knowing about him, I'd want her to come tell me we have a child together. You don't know for sure that he won't care, and you don't know for sure that he will. That's why you should at least take the chance to find out. The poor kid is driving herself nuts wanting to meet her father in person. If she doesn't, she's going to become rebellious." Eric told me, and I just stood there and stared at him for a while.

Finally, I let out a sigh. "I'll think about it, just give me a few days. But I'm not promising anything."

"That's all I ask." He said quietly. 

I glanced at the time. "I have to go, I'll be back later than usual tonight. Since you're here to watch her when she gets off the bus, I'm going to stop at the store to get a few things."

"Ok, I'll see you then." 

With that, I walked outside and went to my car. Well today should be fun, with this whole thing about Abigail and Jimmy on my mind. Hopefully I'll be able to focus for the majority of the time, I have a meeting today and if I can't focus I'm going to have a problem.

In the afternoon after my meeting, I was relieved to be free of the room and escape back to my office. I was able to focus but it was so hard, it was so easy just to slip back into my thoughts and go back to contemplating what to do.

As I was walking to the elevator to get back on my floor, I had my head down, not really paying attention. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I ran into somebody, but instead of knocking them over, I was knocked over. Whoever it was I just ran into stands like a fucking wall.