the kink club • luke hemmings ✔️

04. the one where sophie has daddy issues.

chapter four:
the one where sophie has daddy issues.

"Soph, can you come here a sec?" I look up from my daily task of wiping tables, my eyes landing on Luke with a bunch of flyers in his hand. A stapler is clutched tightly in his other as he attempts to sort carefully through the papers.

Nodding, I leave the towel underneath the counter before making my way over to where he is. It's only now that I see the paint on his fingers, the same light blue that stains his leather jacket and his ripped black jeans.

"What's up?" I ask, and upon further inspection, I see the navy mark on his chin. "And why do you look like Papa Smurf?"

"Huh? Oh," Luke grins, wiping at the dried up paint on his face. "I was helping out at the Nursery and the kids were painting potato shapes."

"You still work there?" I ask, genuinely surprised. I turn the coffee machine on and take two empty mugs out. "I thought you quit once you guys paid off the apartment."

Luke shakes his head. "I still volunteer from time to time. Corey says it's weird how he never sees me anymore because I quit so, my afternoons are spent making triangles with uncooked vegetables."

"Ah, I see." I nod, pouring the hot liquid inside the two mugs. I leave one black and one with enough creamer to make it a dark brown, before sliding the most bitter one over to Luke.

"Thanks," he smiles, wrapping his large hands around the warm porcelain. I give him a small smile back, deciding to get comfortable seeing as it's a Sunday and the café closes early anyway.

We spend a while in silence as we wait for our drinks to cool down. It's a comfortable silence, because I'm nothing but comfortable with Luke; when you're friends with someone for this long, nothing can ever really be awkward anymore.

"So," Luke finally starts, taking one small sip from his mug before turning to his side to face me. He still looks a little dazed as he distractedly traces his finger over the rim of the cup, and I don't think he himself is aware of what he's saying. "I was in your apartment earlier, and your Daddy called-"

"My Daddy?" I interrupt, not sure if I'd heard him right. He pauses.

"Your Dad," his eyes widen ever so slightly and I giggle. "I meant your Dad. Sorry, I've just... I've been around little Corey and his friends way too much," he chuckles uneasily, and I nod.

"It's fine."

"But, uhm, yeah. Yeah," Luke says, words falling on top of each other in a cluster. "Yeah, your Dad called," he repeats, choosing his words carefully. "Said something about Uni."

"What did he say?" I ask, though I'm not in any particular mood to talk about my father or even acknowledge him.

Luke shrugs. "I didn't get all of it, I'm sorry. I didn't want to stick around just in case it was one of those personal things, you know?"

"It can't be that personal if he's nagging at me to get back into Accountancy," I sigh, folding my arms and leaning my elbows against the counter. He nods.

I look at Luke, biting down lightly on my bottom lip. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure,"

"Do you think I made the wrong decision?"