The Elijah Walker Fanclub

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

My eyes opened slowly, blinking at the harsh light streaming in through a gap in my bedroom curtains. I yawned and rolled over away from it, grumbling incoherently to myself as I rubbed my eyes awake. Once the sleep had cleared from my eyes, I reached over and grabbed my phone to check the time. As always, I'd woken up naturally ten minutes before my alarm was due to wake me. This was a normal occurrence, one I despised. Something I despised more than losing an extra ten minutes of sleep, was lying in bed doing nothing.

I crawled out from beneath the covers and stretched before going to my window ledge to check on my boys.

"Oh no Charles," I murmured in concern as I touched the leaves of the plant. "You're looking a little wilted again. Don't you dare die on me." I reached for my spray bottle and gave him a couple more squirts before turning to the others.

"Sorry guys, none for you today, you had enough yesterday." I set the bottle down and went to my dresser to fix my makeup, feeling slightly despondent. A possibly dying succulent was not a positive way to start any day.

Just as I was perfecting my eyeliner, I heard the sound of cupboards banging downstairs. Dad hadn't gone to work yet! I finished dressing with all the haste of a pigeon racing for a piece of bread amongst a flock of starving birds. After checking myself in the mirror to make sure I didn't look too terrible, I darted out my bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, I quickly swiped a couple of mugs and filled them with morning caffeine, keeping dad's plain and boring like he liked it, and adding lots of sugar and syrup to my own. I found dad in his office; his briefcase open on his desk as he sorted through the papers within.

Dad's office didn't look much like the rest of the house. It was all dark wood and heavy old-looking furniture. The only sort of new thing in the room was his computer, which he spent long hours parked in front of when he wasn't at work.

Dad fit in with the style of the office more than he did the style of the rest of the house. His slightly too long brunette hair was streaked in grey, his cheeks plastered in a grey beard which had grown due to lack of personal grooming rather than due to taste. Dad wore suits that looked like he'd inherited them from his own father possibly even his grandfather, though he could easily have afforded nice designer suits made to fit him. He was an old soul, and always had been, even when I was little. It was mum who decorated the rest of the house and to be honest, they were never really very similar.

"Good morning," I chirped at him excitedly. "I got you a coffee."

Dad looked up at me through his square framed glasses and his brown eyes softened. "That's why you're my favourite child."

I laughed as I crossed the room to him, holding out his mug. "That would mean more if you had any other kids."

He closed his briefcase and took the mug from me, but not before giving me a swift kiss to the top of my head. "Why would I need more kids when I have you?" he said smiling at me before taking a long sip of his coffee. "Now that's good," he said as he set it down on his desk.

I stepped forward and moved the mug onto a coaster. It was a fight I wouldn't win as the dark wood already had plenty of circle stains, but I'd be damned if I stopped trying.

Dad picked up his briefcase and started heading toward his office door. We rarely got these mornings together; he was always rushing off somewhere.

"Oh, are you going already?" I asked, trying hard to not sound disappointed.

He paused as he passed me, giving me a sidelong glance. "Sorry darling, I'm working on something big at the moment and we just don't have enough people on hand at the office to get this done right. It's going to take up a fair bit of my time for a while."

I pursed my lips and nodded slowly. "It's ok I understand, don't worry."

He reached out his hand and patted me on the shoulder. "Do you want Chinese for dinner tonight?"

My brows raised sharply in surprise. "You're home for dinner tonight?" My lips stretched into a wide smile. "Chinese would be awesome."

Dad cleared his throat and at least had the decency to look incredibly guilty, as he held out a couple of folded notes he grabbed from his wallet. "I wish I could. But I have this dinner thing I have to attend in the city."

My heart dropped straight to the floor. I couldn't keep the disappointment from my expression. He hesitated upon seeing it.

"Maybe I could cancel it..." he said, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "Or rearrange for another day."

I shook my head and tried to force the expression off my face. It was kind of silly to feel so disappointed when dad worked so hard to be able to give me so much. I was very lucky, and it must be so hard to be a single parent of a teenage girl.

I took the money from him and smiled earnestly at him. "Don't cancel it, I was going to hang out with Rosa and Cody anyway." I wiggled my hand that held the money. "Now I can treat them to Chinese with all this cash."

"That's my girl," he said, giving me another quick kiss on the head before leaving the room with a wave of his hand. "I'll see you later darling. Work hard at school. Every step forward is a step closer to success."

Then he was gone. Like a passing rainbow, colourful and full of life, and gone as quickly as it had arrived.

I tucked the notes into my bra—my most handy storeroom—and moved behind dad's desk. I plonked myself into the giant cushy chair and went to set my mug on a coaster when I accidentally spilled a little on the desk. Jumping up from my seat, I reached to wipe away the spill before it stained the desk and knocked the keyboard with my elbow. The monitor came to life, and a webpage filled the screen, momentarily stunning me.

Dad had been on a dating site. A dating site of all things.

It wasn't like I hadn't thought about whether he'd want to remarry, I mean it had been a few years since mum had left now. But he was so busy all the time, I guess I'd just assumed that maybe he wasn't interested in dating.

Frankly, I couldn't even imagine him with a woman. He was just my dad. I'd never seen him flirt with anyone before let alone ask someone on a date. When would he even have the time for all that kind of thing?

A part of me was intrigued by the prospect of him dating. What kind of person would that be? What would they look like? Would they have their own kids? Would they live here? Would I not be the favourite child anymore?

I gulped. Mostly the idea terrified me. This was my home and it was dad's home, and it used to be my mums home too. I couldn't see someone else being here.

I stared at the screen too scared to look away. It was like those weeping angels that came closer every time you blinked. I was afraid that some tart of a woman wanting to date my dad was about to crawl out of the monitor the second I stepped away.

**Authors Note**

Finally we get to meet Mae's dad as brief as the encounter was. What do we think? Let me know in the comments below!