Salted Caramel Coffee (COMPLETED!)

Chapter Thirteen} Üñåwkwård

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They left a hole in a heart once true
A heart she meant to share with two
But now if we will just review
What's two was one and one she outgrew
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"Dad?" My stomach feels hollow, like it's been scooped out and is now lodged in my throat. "What are you doing here?"

He smiles at me, his tired eyes lighting up. "This is where my office is, darling." He tries to put a hand on my shoulder, but I step away before he can. His arm drops to his side with a disappointing thud, his smile faltering.

     "You left me there." I say, my voice flat. "You left me in Dover with mom." My nostrils flare, My mental wall stronger than ever. "How could you do that to me?"

     The light in his eyes flicker out, leaving me in the dark. "I didn't know how bad it would get, love. I didn't know I'd be traveling so much."

     I scoff, looking away from him. I can barely stand being this close to him. "Wow. That is bullshit." I shake my head. "You know how long it's been since I've seen you?"

     "I-"

     "Two thousand seven hundred eighty one days." I spit. "That's seven years, seven months, and thirteen days." I turn away, brushing my bangs out of my eyes. "But you probably knew that." My dad pulls me back as I try to walk away, making me jump.

"There is nothing more that I wanted than to come home, Sunshine. Nothing."

"Don't call me that."

"I'm sorry." He places a hand one either of my shoulders, shaking them gently. "I wanted to see you so badly. More than-"

"-anything? Yeah, you already said that." I laugh bitterly pushing his hands off of me. "You wanna know why I'm here? Mom got tired of me not wanting to do my job, so she sent me to the house of a woman I've never met before, hoping she'd convert me into liking it."

"Emma," he says under his breath, "I'm so sorry, that sounds awful."

I stuff my hands in my pockets, shrugging. "Yeah, it is. And maybe it wouldn't have come to this if you had been here."

"I told you, Emma. I wanted to see you." He begs.

I roll my eyes. "Bullshit." He squeezes his eyes shut, shaking his head in denial. "You didn't even call. You didn't text me a single time." This is the first time I've heard from him in over seven years, and he doesn't even want to admit it. He doesn't want to admit that he doesn't love me.

"Emma..."

"Do you even know my job?"

"You're an engineer, darling of course I remember."

     I hold back tears, desperate to not cry in front of the father I never knew. The last thing I want is for him to see me like that.

     "No," I say, my voice breaking. "That's Carmen."

     I'm gone before he opens his eyes.

***

     I stand outside Mario's Pizza Palace, my hands gripping the fabric inside my pockets and my feet planted firmly on the ground. I can see Blaze's distinct charred strawberry blonde hair through the glass door, but she doesn't notice me yet.