The Strength of Us

Chapter Twenty-Four - She Deserves To Be Miserable

Chapter Twenty-Four - "She Deserves To Be Miserable"

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It just started to get dark outside, about ten minutes until it was 8 o'clock. Thanks to daylight savings, it's staying lighter outside longer which I don't mind. It makes the days seem a bit longer too.

I was in my room, cleaning up a bit on this lovely Friday night, when I finally finished and told Oliver that he could come over to hang out. My friends and I aren't planning anything special tonight and there aren't any parties going on, so we figured we could just do our own things.

There's only two days until April and I can't believe that Easter is right around the corner. But it's not really a big deal – it's just going to be my dad and I eating dinner alone anyway.

I turned out the light in my room, then hopped down the stairs to see something a bit surprising.

My dad stood by the front door, fussing with the end of his sleeve on his dress shirt. I cocked my head to the side, stopped at the bottom step and held onto the railing, watching him curiously. Where could he be going looking so dressed up?

He has on a pair of dark jeans, his Sperry's that he saves for "special occasions" and a light gray dress shirt with no tie. It says dressy casual, like he doesn't want to seem like he's trying too hard and just easily came up with that outfit in under a minute. When in reality, it probably took him over an hour.

"Hey Dad," I chirped.

He jumped at the sound of my voice, looking up at me with wide eyes. Then he let out a shaky breath and looked back down at himself.

"Hi Steve," he said softly.

"Where ya goin' looking so nice?" I smirked, walking over to him now. He hesitated before answering me and I put a hand on my hip, raising a quizzical eyebrow. "Dad."

"I'm uh... I'm going out," he mumbled, still not looking up at me.

"Really?" I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes in return. At least I know where I get my smart-ass attitude from.

"I'm going out with someone," he said reluctantly.

I raised my eyebrows and the smile grew on my face. "Is this someone a lady?" I pressed. Then he blinked and looked up at me with a pained look in his eyes. I just grinned wider. "I knew it!"

A long sigh came from his lips as I crossed my arms and stared at him with my stupid grin, waiting for his answer.

"It's Lisa, from my firm. You know Lisa, right?" He paced back and forth now. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times, seeming so stressed and nervous.

I think it's kind of adorable – he's nervous for a date.

"Yes, I know Lisa," I confirmed with a nod. "She's a very nice lady."

"Yeah, well, we're just going out for some drinks and maybe appetizers or something," he shrugged.

"Dad! This is great!" I beamed at him.

"Really? You're not upset or anything?" He stopped pacing to look at me. His forehead wrinkled in concern as I shook my head.

This came as a shock to me in the first place because I've never witnessed my dad going on a date. Ever.

He's never mentioned anything about dating before to me, and since we spend a lot of time together, it'd be pretty obvious if he was ever dating someone. But I'm pretty sure this is the first time that he's gone out on a date since the split with my mom.