"Little Girl" - lrh

02

"Who is Alyssa?" My head shoots up to see Alice on my phone, looking at the screen, her thumb scrolling.

"Why are you on my phone?" I say, a little more stern than usual, and Alice looks up at me with a hurt expression.

"You never said I wasn't allowed on it," her voice is quiet and faded as she goes along with her sentence. I had been keeping Alyssa from Alice and Alice from Alyssa for a couple weeks now from when I met her on the side of the road. Yeah, we went out a few times, but nothing serious. The most intimate thing we did was her hand brushed against mine while I walked her to her car after we had coffee.

"Baby, you have to ask," I hold my hand out, gesturing for my phone and she places it face down gently against my skin.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she whispers. "Who is she?"

"Just someone from work," Why would I lie to her about who she is? Shaking my head, I look at the message that Alice had read.

Alyssa:

Wanna go see a movie... Free tickets ;)

I chuckle and type back a reply. As I set my phone down, I look to Alice and my smile disappears. Her arms are folded, her head is hanging a little, her eyes are glaring at my through her bangs, and her lips are pouting. "What is it, baby?" I ask softly, tucking her hair behind her ear and keeping my hand on her cheek.

"Who is she?" She mutters, adverting her eyes away from me.

"She's just a friend," I assure her. Which, Alyssa really is only a friend. We haven't exactly clicked yet, if we will at all, but we are still very far from becoming exclusive.

"Yeah," she blurts. "just like all those other friends." She sneers the last word, referring to some other girls I had tried seeing, tried kissing, tried being even more intimate with, but always failing because they weren't what I wanted — what I needed.

Plus, a couple of them would tell me my relationship with Alice was more or less the weirdest and most uncomfortable thing they have ever encountered. It caused a lot of them to just ghost me completely.

"Excuse me?" I raise an eyebrow, straightening up and squaring my shoulders.

"All she is is just another replacement," she looks up at me, her voice angry. "She's just gonna take up all your time and you'll forget about me." I listen to her words, and start to see the irony in them. I laugh, a bitter and humorless laugh that scares not only Alice but also myself.

"Replacement? Take up my time?" I stop laughing immediately and see the terrified look in her eyes. "Alice Riley, do you have any idea that what you're saying I'll do is exactly what you're doing to me?" She flinches as I decide against calling her by the nickname I gave her many years ago and even throw in her middle name.

"What do you mean?" She speaks softly, hurt lacing between each word. She has been using her normal voice with me more frequently; everything has been sounding... off.

"You keep running off with Calum when we already have plans together. I don't mind, I'm just your dad. You see me everyday. But for you to accuse me of forgetting you just because I found a friend is absolutely wrong. I would never even dream of putting anyone above you," I rant, saying everything that has been bothering not only my mind but my heart as well.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Alice isn't looking at me anymore. Her voice is hardly a whisper now.

"It has to do with everything," I continue, trying to ignore her defeated demeanor for as long as I can so I can finish setting off my feelings. "I haven't told you about Alyssa because I don't know if I like her enough to come around more. I haven't told Alyssa about you yet because I don't like her enough to be that involved in my private life. You are above anyone and everything, Alice. You are my little girl and I will never forget you or make someone else more priority than you." She's crying now: full on sobbing with the nonstop sniffling and the hard of breathing and the heartbreaking noises that resemble that of a little child who was kicked into the dirt.