out of my limit #wattys2016

Chapter Two: The promotion

6 months later:

it's been 6 months since my mom died, since the funeral and since I've seen my dad smile. Of was just he and I now and I felt as though I had to be strong for him. I'm his soldier, his rock. my dad was head of marketing at a big advertising company he worked with different record companies to get their artist promoted in commercials and on ads on YouTube videos. his job has always been his pride...it was what he loved doing and in some ways it kept him going after my Mom died. I returned home from school to find the house empty. that wasn't surprising since my dad often worked late so he didn't have to be in the house. he said he could sense her.....her smell, her voice and at one point he swore he saw her face. my mom's memory haunted this place. that was the reason he couldn't stay but also the reason he didn't want to leave. I dropped my backpack on the couch and proceeded to the kitchen to make a sandwich. my mom was always home before me and had a sandwich and a bowl of soup waiting for me after school daily. I smiled as I put a pot on the stove for soup and turned on my Pandora. fall out boy rang through the house and I sang along as I made my snack. I got into it grabbing a ladle out of the drawer and pretending I was Patrick stump. I jumped on the counter top and air guitared during the chorus, I heard a throat clearing loudly behind me and I quickly. hopped off the counter to face my audience member "hi dad" I weakly muttered, the embarrassment. on myface made him chuckle. my dad actually chuckled. .. "sorry to interrupt your concert but I have some news to tell you so I thought we would go out for dinner tonight" he smiled. "tonight? you and me?" I questioned. "yes you and me, it's been a while since we have spent any time together and plus I need to talk to you" he said. I turned off the pot and went upstairs to grab my coat, the ride to the restaurant was quiet my dad kept glancing at me as though the news he had might spill put of him any moment. I was worried at what he might say and a million different possibilities ran through my mind. I put it out of my mind and vowed to enjoy this moment with my dad. we arrived at our favorite Italian restaurant and went inside. "reservation for montoya" My dad told the host and after confirming our reservation we were led to a table by window over looking the lake. I didn't need to look at the menu anymore and we had been here countless times, me and my dad placed our order and sat in silence. "so" I started, " about this news..."I trailed off expectantly. my dad shifted in his seat and waved me off" we will tall about that later, tell me how's school?" "school is good" I said dismissively "besides get good grades I didn't see my benefit if going to school I had no friends and there was no way I could ever get a boyfriend. my dad looked up at me sympathetically. he knew my struggles to make friends and he knew it didn't help that my mom's death made me that much more of a hermit. pur food arrived and we ate in silence. after an eternity it seemed my dad put down his fork, wiped his mouth and cleared his throat, I looked up. " so I had a meeting today with the president of my company." "ok" I said not understanding. "and they offered me a promotion and I have accepted." he announced proudly. I smiled big and said "congratulations dad! this is great news!" as I rejoiced I noticed dad's face fell, I had a feeling the news didn't end there. "Karla sweetie, the promotion is vice president of AMC" "ooook" I said slowly still not understanding my dad shook his head and said slowly "that stands for Australian marketing co, it's in sydney" I wondered if my dad would work from home, my friend Kerry's dad worked for a company in Japan and he only had to go once a month. the other times he worked from his webcam. my dad as though he read my thoughts grabbed my hand and said" honey we are moving to Australia."