Forbidden love

Twentieth part

"Veronica Lodge?"
"Yeah"
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I was scared, you didn't recognize your own daughter"
"I haven't seen you in like sixteen years!"
"You haven't seen pictures of me?"
"No. Your mom wouldn't send me ones, but I did ask"
"I'm sorry for not telling you. After all that my mom told me about you I was scared you wouldn't be the person I wanted you to be"
"Who did you want me to be?"
"This nice and caring father figure. I wanted you to tell me and prove to me that all mom said was false"
"I could tell you that I never cheated on her. But I also told her that and she didn't believe me"
"Then why would she think you were"
"When she was pregnant we were living in this awful apartment-"
"We still live there"
"Oh, well it had its good sides I guess. Anyway we were living there but I wanted us to have a bigger house, you know, for you and potentially more kids. So I met with this realtor who was helping me surprise your mom. One of her friends caught me being out and having coffee with the realtor so when Hermione found out she was furious. I managed to persuade her that she was just a realtor, but your mom didn't want me to see her anymore. She forgave me but when you were two I wanted to get a house again. I called the same realtor again but obviously your mom found out I was meeting with her again and here we are"
"That can't be the whole story. Mom could easily check if she was a legit realtor and you could've just showed her you plan"
"Veronica... things had been bad between us for a long time. She wanted to believe I was cheating cause that would give her a real reason to divorce me, not just that we 'fell out of love'"
"Why haven't mom told me the real story"
"I don't know. Maybe she didn't want us to meet so making me an asshole was a smart plan"
"Well here I am"
"Are you really dating Jacob or was that just made up?"
"I'm really dating him, I guess"
"You guess?"
"Things haven't been the best lately, but we're hanging out later tonight"
"Sounds fun"
"I'm really sorry but it feels super weird doing this whole father-daughter thing"
"I know, I'm not sure what a father should say"
"You never started a family of your own?"
"No. I dated a little bit when I first got to New-York but then work took over and now I'm to old for anything new"
"You're never to old"
"I'm still busy with work. What are you even doing in New-York by the way?"
"I go to college here, NYU. I'm majoring in business"
"Really? Just like me?"
"Just like you. I guess I've always been into business so it felt like the right thing to do"
"Are you living on campus?"
"No, I'm living in an apartment near Bryant Park with my friend"
"Wow, those are expensive. If you ever need to borrow money just tell me"
"Oh no, I won't. I don't borrow money" it wasn't a hundred percent true. I just didn't want to borrow money from him, I had just met him.
"Well I should get going. I promised my roommate I would make her dinner"
"Yeah of course. You're welcome to come here whenever you want to. In fact..." he walked over to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and took out a card.
"This is a VIP card. You can get past the front desk without talking to Sandra and then you can get up the elevator without me. You can visit Jacob or me whenever you want to"
"Thank you" I said taking the card from him. I started walking out and waved him goodbye. I got to use my new VIP card on the way down and then walked out to my car. I drove home to start cooking dinner. A few hours later both Arizona and Jacob came walking up the stairs.
"Oh my god Veronica, it smells amazing" Arizona said.
"What have you made?" Jacob asked.
"I made some 'Pasta Alfredo'. It felt easy"
"God, I'm starving" Arizona said before sitting down and grabbing a plate. Jacob sat down next to me and we all ate in silence. Afterwards Arizona sat down in front of the TV, but I could hear she wasn't watching. She was talking on the phone with someone, either her parents or someone new she had met. Jacob and I sat down on my bed.
"So what happened with Archie?"
"Nothing special happened"

Flashback, 1 week earlier:
I called Jacob. He picked up immediately.
"Hey beautiful"
"Hi, I just wanted to ask if you're still coming over later?"
"Yeah of course I am"
"Good, cause I've found a movie that I'm dying to see with you"
"Well I will come over right after work. Should I buy some candy?"
"Yes please"
"Okay, see you soon. Bye"
"Bye" I hung up and walked out to the kitchen. Arizona was sitting there drinking some tea.
"Is he still coming over tonight?"
"Yeah"
"Are you excited?"
"I guess I am. This is our second official date since we started dating. I'm almost a bit nervous"
"Don't be, he's totally falling in love with you already"
"What?"
"What what?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that he likes you a lot and soon he'll start liking you even more"
"I got that, I just mean that I'm maybe not ready for that"
"You guys have been talking for over a year, is it that weird that he might love you?"
"Yes cause I have only had one other person love me in that way before"
"Archie" just as she had said his name my phone started ringing. It was Archie and I had no idea why he was calling. But since we weren't speaking anymore I convinced myself that it was important.
"Archie?"
"Veronica, hi. Ehm I didn't mean to call you..." I could hear that he had been crying "my dad he passed away last night. I don't know what to do. There's a storm in Riverdale so I can't fly there until it's over and I'm just really stressed-"
"Archie calm down. Do you need me to come over?"
"No, my house is a mess"
"You can come here if you want to" I totally forgot about Jacob. Just thirty minutes later Archie was knocking on the door. I opened and he looked like a mess. I pulled him into a tight hug. I could hear him cry in my ear.
"I'm so sorry Archie" I walked him into the living room. Arizona was sitting there, but she moved to her room after telling Archie she was sorry too. I heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was one of Arizona's friends I just yelled 'come in'. I heard the door open.
"Veronica? What are you doing with him?!" I turned around to see a very mad Jacob.
"Oh god, Jacob I can explain"
"Yeah, please explain to me why you're hanging out with him after telling me you two were over" Jacob started walking out. I ran after him.
"Jacob, please let me explain"
"I knew that you still loved him. I just though that one day you could love me like that too, I guess I was wrong" that was the last thing he said before disappearing down the stairs. I didn't run after him, I knew it wouldn't make a difference.