The Piano Man

XX. Forget the Past

"Nobody deserves your tears, but whoever deserves them will not make you cry." Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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XX. Forget the Past

Sophie glared at Beck, not believing his audacity. She then had to mock herself because she knew that Beck was capable of being this giant of a prick.

"Go and sit down," Sophie encouraged firmly. "I'll take your order. But if you continue to take that tone with me, then I will have Tony throw you out," she threatened.

"Who the fuck do you think you are putting your hands all over her?" Beck snarled, poking Noah in the chest so hard that he knocked him off balance for a moment.

Noah quickly righted himself, and took a step forward, purposefully positioning himself between Sophie and Beck. "You heard Sophie," Noah said coolly, "take a seat."

Peering around, Sophie could see the hard stare in Noah's eyes. He stood about five inches taller than Beck, but that only made her moronic ex puff his chest out more and flex his tree trunk arms.

"Are you fucking him?" Beck demanded to know, his filthy glare moving to Sophie. He looked upon her like she was a dirty, worthless slut.

"That is none of your business," snapped Sophie. "You have no right to be sticking your nose into my life, Beck. Bugger off back to your mates and leave me alone," she hissed. Sophie placed her hands on Noah's arms, attempting to drag him away from Beck. Even though he was shorted, the man was stupid enough to punch Noah for the hell of it, and there was no way Sophie was going to allow that to happen.

But Noah stood his ground, not wanting to be the one to walk away and concede. Stupid male pride.

"Who the fuck is this guy? What the fuck do you think you're doing going around fucking people with my kid in the picture?" Beck seethed.

Sophie scoffed, nearly laughing. "Your kid?" she repeated. "That's rich considering you don't want anything to do with her. If it weren't for your mum and dad, you wouldn't even know Maddie's name." Sophie stepped around Noah, bypassing the arm he outstretched to keep her behind him. She stood up to Beck, glaring up at him. "You haven't bothered concerning yourself with Maddie in eight years. Don't start now," she growled. "My life, and who I choose to spend time with, is my own affair."

Beck's eyes narrowed as a smirk teased at his lips. "Say what you want, but that kid is half mine, legally, biologically, and anything in between. If I don't like who you're exposing her to, then I might just have to do something to change our arrangement. Who's going to look better to a judge? A dad with a stable, full time job, owns his own flat, has a car, didn't drop out of school. Or a university drop out teenage mother, who's achieved nothing more than waitressing?"

All of the blood left Sophie's face as she saw crimson red. She screamed as she threw her hand up, it colliding with Beck's face, her nails digging into his cheek and drawing blood.

Noah immediately wrapped his arms around Sophie and pulled her away. "Don't you fucking threaten her," he snarled. "Don't you dare threaten her. You can't control her, and you have no right to Sophie's daughter. If you even think about coming near her, or this bar, again, then you'll be leaving with much worse than a scratch on your cheek."

Beck pulled out his phone, and quickly snapped a picture, positioning his cheek in the frame. "For my lawyer," he said snidely. "Evidence. Poor Maddie's got an abusive mum who shags anything that moves. Particularly yanks who can't do much better than playing a fucking piano for five quid an hour."