"Little Girl" - lrh

23

"You want me to what?"

"I need you to come over and let me talk to Alice."

"Right now?" The timing of this woman was horrific.

"I'll forget if I don't do it now!" Elise whined in my ear.

"Elise, I have to be at work in 30 minutes. I'm already running late as it is considering it takes almost an hour to get there. What is it that is so important you just have to talk to her at this very instant?" I was rummaging through my closet, the phone between my ear and my shoulder, water dripping everywhere. "She isn't even awake yet."

"It's about her father," my movements slowly came to a stop and my phone almost fell.

"She never asked to know anything about her father," I deadpanned. My anxiousness rode up again and so did a little bit of anger, and maybe a dash of sadness. What if he found out that Jessica died and his daughter was left with me? He was never around when Alice was growing up but maybe now he thinks he has to take her. Which probably wouldn't go over well since she is technically an adult and can make her own decisions. She'll throw a fit and tell him to screw himself and she'll tell them she wants to stay with me. But God forbid she's adult enough to do her own laundry.

"Luke, honey, I know what you're thinking and it isn't like that," she exhaled a very heavy sigh. "listen, he has been found and I need to talk to her."

"Found? I didn't know he had a search party."

"Come by after work. Make sure Alice does not drive. I know how emotional she gets," my eyebrows came together at her words and of course I immediately thought the worst.

"Am I allowed to know?"

"I figure I should just tell you when you both get here."

"Alright, don't forget then."

As anyone could imagine, my entire day was spent thinking about Alice's dad and what Elise needed to tell us about him. I only remember a few things about him: he had blondish hair with a smile like Alice's, he was pretty tall, and he always made Jessica laugh. One day, he just disappeared and everyone thought he decided to ditch his child and Jess and I haven't asked about him since.

Not even Alice ever really asks about him. We don't even know his name. Jessica only ever brought him up once and that was to tell me that she didn't know where he was. That usually comes off as "he left us". I felt bad though, because I think Jess loved him a lot, but he never stuck around.

I pull into the driveway, honking the horn so Alice can hurry up and come with me so Elise can tell us about her dad. I watch the door, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel, when I see someone that is not my girl walking out of the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" I roll down the window, yelling out to Calum. From where I am sitting, I can see the look of terror on his face before he takes off across the lawn to his house. Not even a second after, Alice walks out, adjusting her shirt. "What was he doing in the house?" I ask as soon as she opens the door.

"We were just talking," she mutters, plopping down in the passenger seat and buckling herself in, not looking at me.

"What happened?" Pulling on to the road again, I steal a glance at Alice, dressed in a cute little skirt that I don't remember buying for her. Her hair is ruffled, and her shirt is still a bit lopsided.

"Nothing important. We were just talking. He said he misses hanging out with me," her voice is fairly quiet as she talks.

"I don't know how I feel about you two being together if I'm not around," I tell her, being careful not to step on thin ice. "I haven't forgotten that he tried to have sex with you." The car is silent and an uneasy tension fills the atmosphere. "Alice."