Roses

Chapter 39

Adam

"What happened between the two of you?" My father demands with the stubbornness of a toddler.

It has been a week since Zoey left me and as a consequence, quit her job. The first two days she didn't come, I clung to the hope she just needed a couple days off. As much as it annoyed me to see her give her attention to someone else, it had brought me solace to see her form bonds with the people in my home, especially my father. I had foolishly hoped she would keep coming back to my place, if not for me then for them.

It had been a mistake.

None of them mattered enough to her, to tolerate coming in my vicinity. Once I realized that, I waited for her to convey her resignation, thinking I deserved at least a text message. But no, I didn't get even that. She literally disappeared out of my life.

She blocked me everywhere. She doesn't get out of her house. So I can't "run into" her. I haven't talked to her or even seen her in a week. And it's killing me.

So much that I am a hair's breadth away from breaking down her door and forcing her to be with me. The only reason I'm not doing any of that, is because it would do more to push her further away than bring her closer to me.

I could force her to be with me, but she would still reject me in her heart. And her rejection is the worst fucking thing I've ever felt.

"Nothing. I'll find you someone else," I mutter.

"First of all, I don't need someone to take care of me. Never did. The only reason I agreed to let her-" He clears his throat and looks away, catching himself before he reveals something he thinks I don't know. Funny.

"I liked talking to her," he continues, his eyes shiny. "So you're not finding someone else. You're getting her back."

That I am. But he doesn't need to know that.

"I'll see what I can do." I start making my way out of his room. Now that Zoey doesn't visit, he spends his entire day holed up in his room.

"She loves you," he says just as I'm about to step out.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me, son."

I turn around and cross my arms. "You're mistaken. Gravely."

He smiles as if he's privy to knowledge I'm not. "Don't go by her words blindly. She has a hard time opening up. Like you."

I laugh without humor. "Don't act like you know me."

My words instantly wipe out the smile from his face. Under normal circumstances, I probably would have felt bad. But my chest still hurts every time I think of Zoey, which is all the time, and I don't have control over all my faculties. Meaning, I downed half a bottle of bourbon this morning and I'm drunk as fuck.

Watching my father's downfall because of alcohol during my formative years instilled in me the habit to face difficulties head on, instead of using alcohol to cope with them. It took less than twenty four hours of losing all contact with my girl to obliterate that habit.

In other words, I'm on the fast track to becoming my father. He should be proud.

"I know I haven't been a good father to you-"

"Good?" I laugh like it was the funniest shit I've ever heard. "Were you even a father?"

He looks heartbroken. I still don't care. He mentioned I have a hard time opening up. I'm interested to see what he has to say when I do.

"Tell me, Dad. Between making sure you didn't die of alcohol poisoning and our family name didn't end up in the fucking dust, don't you think I took on the role of the fucking parent?"