The End

Chapter 48: I Can Explain

The laughter of a rowdy group seemed to fade into the distance. Earlier in the night they would have separated but they were drunk on wine and high on the hope of the future. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear. His lips aching to touch hers.

"Dad," Tallulah's voice cut through his dream like a dagger. He was instantly sober.

Patrick looked up into the eyes of his daughter.

Tallulah Dempsey was standing a few steps from his table. Frozen in time. Unable to approach him or run away. Just there, speechless, shocked.

Suddenly, he was hyperaware of everything. How close he was to Ellen. The placement of his hand on her upper thigh. The fact that he was inches from kissing her. The of feeling exposure so big that he was sure they'd attracted every eye in the room.

It hit his chest like a freight train. In a clumsy rush he pulled away from Ellen, immediately standing to his feet. He ran his hands through his hair, searching for some kind of distance to undo what had just happened. But no distance could undo the look in Tallulah's eyes.

They seemed to be suspended there, before anyone spoke, moved, even breathed. The rest of the room carried on, unchanged. Conversations continuing, forks moving, glasses clinking. The normalcy feeling overwhelmingly loud.

Patrick's mouth opened but nothing came out. Instead the unbearable awareness that his careful planning of this moment was completely crumbling before him. "What are you doing here?" His guilt trying to flip the script.

Tallulah's body moved for the first time since his eyes had met hers. A short disbelieving laugh leaving her lips with a huff, "Are you kidding me?" her voice slightly raised. "That's what you say?" She shook her head and walked away from the table. Patrick quickly followed her.

"Wait..." His voice was fragile, "I can explain." He caught up to her, "I was going to tell you." Patrick nearly stuttered as he struggled to recover, "I was coming to tell you tomorrow."

"Tell me what?" she stopped abruptly and turned to him, her voice loud enough to carry across the quiet patio. "That you left mom three days ago and you're already making out on a candlelit patio with an old co-star?"

And then something even more painful happened. he watched her expression shift. A tint of confusion covering the anger. Her eyes flicked from him to Ellen and then back again. "Oh god," She turned instantly pale. "I'm an idiot," Tallulah started walking again.

The similarities to when he was telling Jill enough to make Patrick nauseous. He hurried after her, "Tallulah," he called, catching her wrist, "Please."

"How long have you been lying Dad?" She ripped her hand away from him, her eyes burning, "My whole fucking life?" She threw her hands in the air, "You've certainly known her that long."

"T," he said in a desperate cry, "It's not that simple."

"It is that simple," her voice so sharp it could have cut through his skin, "It's actually a yes or no question. Has it been that long?"

Patrick couldn't answer her. He wasn't going to lie to her.  And he couldn't tell her he'd been in love with Ellen for longer than Tallulah could remember. 

His silence echoed so loudly it pulsed through her veins. She exhaled a puff of disappointment, "That's what I thought."

For the first time in the conversation one of T's friends stepped forward, "Tallulah," a young man pulled at her waist, "Come on, let's leave it for tomorrow."

"Yeah," her tone filled with a quiet disgust. "This is a waste of time."

Tallulah turned to walk back through the patio to the valet. Her friends several steps in front of her, and the young man by her side.

She walked with both a sense of urgency and defeat, like she desperately wanted to get out of there but was exhausted by the exchange. 

Ellen had been hovering just out of earshot. Tallulah brushed past her, "Don't," she said her voice still sharp with anger but trembling with emotion, "please don't." She held her hand up and put her head down as if to block Ellen from speaking to her entirely.

Patrick followed slowly behind, carving a whole new definition for walk of shame. He watched the interaction between Tally and Ellen with a heavy sigh.

Heartbreak splattered across his face. He lingered toward Ellen, dazed. "I've never seen her look at me like that," he said softly. His hand rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

Ellen's voice was breathy, unsure of what to say, "I'm so sorry Patrick." After a long moment he reached for her hand. She squeezed it softly. He intertwined their fingers. Needing something to steady him. The once romantic walk to dinner completely tainted. They made their way back to the bungalow without another word.