Tough Love

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

We were at work before 6am that Monday morning. The night wasn't very restful and I didn't see the point in trying to sleep any more. I'd been up before 3am, so I managed to sneak out of the room to do a session on the treadmill. I didn't want to wake Eli so I kept all the doors closed. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I think I'm going to need gallons of it to function today. We're even in before the Captain, which doesn't happen very often.

Almost as soon as the teams are all in, they're called out to various places and the floor is a flurry of activity. The Captain drops a stack of files on my desk and gives me a list of things I need to do before the day is over. As I gather up the files, he stares at me for a little while. Eventually he asks, “Are you ok, Dani?”

“Yes sir.”

“You don't look ok. Do you remember what our little agreement was?”

“Yes sir, I remember. I'm just tired. It wasn't a very restful weekend, that's all. I was working until late.”

“You sure?”

“Yes sir. I'll be ok.”

He nods. He doesn't look convinced but he doesn't say anything more on the matter. He leaves me to carry on working and I don't even look up from my work until I feel someone's presence near my desk. My head shoots up and to my dismay, I see Paul standing in front of my desk. My pulse quickens and my breath catches in the back of my throat, but I try not to let it show on my face. He gives me his signature smirk, the one that fully creeps me out, and he says, “Is the Captain in?”

“Yes sir. I'll see if he's available, one moment.”

I pick up my phone and call through to the Captain. He explains that he's got a phone conference scheduled, so Paul will either have to come back or wait. When I explain this to Paul, he says, “I guess I can wait for a little while. I think we should catch up, don't you? I don't think I saw you last week.”

Mentally I roll my eyes and think, 'I didn't miss you, that's for sure.' But I know I can't say that, so I say nothing and try to concentrate on my work. That is a difficult task, because I know Paul has no respect for personal space and if I take my attention off him for even a second, there's a good chance he'll appear right at my side.

“So, Cain's been released. He got out last week. Have you spoken to him?” I shoot him a quick glance, but don't answer.

“No, I suppose you haven't. He would have called the Captain directly instead of coming through you. Although, you should probably see him again. Maybe he'll pop in to visit the team at some point...”

I involuntarily stiffen at the thought of seeing Cain again. Paul notices this and he immediately comments, “You don't want to see him again? Was it really that bad? It goes much deeper than this situation with Cain though, doesn't it?”

He's thoughtful for a few seconds, and then he says, “Do you have daddy issues?”

I can't stop the anger that flows through me. How dare he talk about my father! Who does he think he is?! I clench my fists and grind my teeth, not knowing what to do with such an emotion. I don't get angry, I never feel like I have the right to judge someone or get angry at them; not after everything I've done in my life. However, I'm angry at this. He has no knowledge of my parents. He has no right to talk about them and he certainly has no right to insult my father in such a way.

I manage to grind out, “Don't talk about my poppa that way. You don't know what you're talking about.”

He smirks, “Nope, no daddy issues. There's no mistaking or faking that anger or disgust. So, someone else then. Hmmmm, I'm sure it'll come to me.”