JOKER || LITTLE IMAGINES

Six || Deal

There were so many nights
when he would be so caught up in
what was going on outside,
that he almost forget about you entirely.

You were quiet for the most part.
Minding your little business and playing
with your toys around the apartment.
Going from the living room to your play room and repeating the process all over again,
occasionally moving to the floor of his office
but he would be occupied with papers on his desk,
or staring at the wall with a lit cigarette
in his hand like his mind was somewhere else
and when you asked him questions
or to get you something from the kitchen
that you couldn't reach,
each sentence would be short and blunt,
almost lifeless.

You tried so hard to just play with your toys
and leave your dada alone,
but you were getting too restless
when so many hours had passed by and
he still hadn't acknowledged you
in any real way.

Standing in the hallway,
your little eyes met with the clock
on the kitchen wall,
almost nine pm which meant you
had to be in bed soon
and if you didn't get to him,
there would be no time for you to play before it.

You had a very set routine and each night,
without a doubt,
you would go into his office and
ask him to play with you before bedtime otherwise you would get zero time with him all.

"Daddy?"
You appeared in the doorway to his office,
standing there in your little princess dress
because nobody told you to get changed
into your pyjamas and
you had lost track of time,
playing dress up with your dolls.

Turning his head to look at you,
intense blue eyes as he sat at his desk,
a cigarette wasting away in the ashtray nearby,
empty glasses of whiskey to the side.
He asked you what you wanted.

"What do you want sweetheart?"

"I want you to play with me"
You climbed onto his lap,
your little hands pressing against his chest
as you stared up at him.
"It's bedtime soon
and I don't want to go to sleep
without playing first"

"Daddys busy,
doll"
He told you lowly,
smoothing his hand over your little forehead
to lessen the blow of the disappointment
you were inevitably going to feel.
"Why don't we do it tomorrow,
huh?
I've got a lot of shit to go over
for the club tonight"

"But I want to play"
You breathed out in a small voice,
glossy little eyes looking back at him
like it would break your little heart
if he was to say no to you.

An irritated sigh leaving his mouth
as he looked off to the side to see that
it was ten minutes til nine
and that all he had to do was go along with
your little dramatics for a few hundred seconds
before your little ass would be in bed and
he could get on with his discrepancies.

"Alright"
He told you firmly.
"Ten minutes.
And then you're gonna go to bed
and leave daddy alone to do what he needs to do.
Deal?"

"Deal"
You took the opportunity although
it wasn't much of one,
but any time with your dada was better
than not any at all.

A cute little smile forming on your mouth,
you climbed down from his lap,
rushing off to your play room to get your legos
so that you could build a little house and
pretend that your dolls lived in it.
It wasn't going to be a mansion
like you initially had in mind,
but you were sure that you could convince
your dada to let you have five extra minutes
if you played your cards right.
And from your little calculations,
ten plus five was fifteen whole minutes
to play with your daddy without anything else
in the world ruining it.