Promise

chapter 32

Elijah
I closed the front door of the penthouse after we entered. It was just me and Avery now and she hadnt said a word to me. I didnt know how to approach the situation but before I could she goes and walks to the corner of the room. "Avery what are you doing" i ask. "Y..you s..said y..you w..would d..deal w..with me when we get back" she stuttered and i felt a wave of sadness. "Yes we will deal with that tommorow,  tonight though I think it's best we talk about what just happened"  I tell her. She looks scared, no she looks broken and it was all my fault. If I hadnt shouted at her she wouldnt have left. "Come sit with me" I say and sit on the sofa, she joins me but I see the distance she put between us which I hated. "Avery I need to know did he..." I couldnt bring myself to say it. "No" she whispers knowing what I meant. "He tried but I kicked him a few times" she said and I smile. I was so proud of her. "I'm proud of you Avery" I tell her, making sure she knows. She looked at me clearly confused "you are" she asked and I nod. "But I shouldnt have left, If I didnt then that wouldnt have happened"  she said lowering her head. "Then I should have been calmer. You left because I hurt you right" I say taking responsibility. "It just got to much for me, I was struggling to breath and couldnt stop crying I needed fresh air and it worked" she told me. Fuck. I really did hurt her. I was a crap father.  "I'm sorry Elijah" she whispers and I find myself debating whether to hug her, in the end I pull her into a hug, probably selfish of me but I didnt care. "I'm sorry I should have asked you what happened" I say and she hugs me back "she told me I didn't belong and I'm just some girl you took pity on. I guess she threw herself on the floor to get me in trouble. Shes right though, I'm just some orphan you are keeping around out of pity" she cried into my chest. Fuck. No. How could she think that.  Now was a good time to tell her I was her father but I was to much of a coward. I hated not telling her but the way she rejected me earlier made me doubt telling her even more. If she still hadnt accepted me as a person how could she accept me as her father and I certainly wasnt going to force it on her. But she thinks shes an orphan, she thinks shes only here because i pity her. Those could easily go away if i tell her.
"Avery..."
"I'm sorry Elijah please can I go to bed" she said interrupting me. I silently nod. My poor baby. I had really messed up this time.

Avery

I couldnt sleep. Everytime I closed my eyes I saw him. I was taken back to the alley but this time it wasnt just that man it was garrows too.  Tears ran down my face. I just wanted to start over but each time I tried my past came back to haunt me.

*The next morning*

I got up early, not by choice i was tired, i must have got no more than two hours sleep but i couldnt stay in  bed any longer it was boring, not only that I had school. I was in no mood to go though, I just wanted to be on my own.
Nevertheless I got ready and went to the kitchen. Elijah was there drinking coffee and making breakfast. "You're up early" he comments not even turning around. "Not really, its monday and I have school" i say not feeling like starting a proper conversation. "There is no school today it's an inset day" he informs me. I was curious to know how he knew and I didn't. "Why didn't I know about it" I say, beth would have mentioned it, being the principals daughter.  "Not a clue, I only found out an hour ago from a email" he says and pulls out his phone, a few seconds later he passes it me and the phone has the email displayed on the screen.

Dear parents and guardians,
The school will be closed today due to a inset day. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused
Sincerely A Matthews

I was a little disappointed knowing I wasnt going to school. I loved learning and I was looking forward to spending some time with Nathan and Beth, even Alec.
I didnt particularly want to spend all day with Elijah either. I would no doubt make him annoyed and then we would be back to before.
"So after breakfast I'm going to go to work, I will be back at lunch" he told me and I nod. "Does this mean rico is coming over" i ask and he looks annoyed by the mention of him. "No rico wont be coming over anymore" i wanted to ask why but his tone left no room for argument.

Like he said he left not long after breakfast and I decided it would be best to tidy my room but then I realized I had an essay to write so I took a break from tidying and got to work on it.

Meanwhile.

Elijah
I hated how she asked about rico. Of course I didnt fire him completely, that would be petty and totally not me....turns out it wasnt optional because he had signed a 2 year contract and can only be broken if he betrays me ect....I checked.
No instead I removed him from the job of looking after Avery. He was to close, I asked him to make sure nothing happens to her and thrn he goes and befriends her.
I had not found a replacement so instead I decided I would work till 1pm, 5 hours what could go wrong. I was hesitant to leave  but I did anyway.

As I sat in my office going through files and emails I get a new one from an unknown sender.
I open it and look over it
Dear Mr West,
Thought you might be interested to see what your beloved little girl gets up to when you're not there

I was curious as to what the link was  after all whoever wrote it was talking about Avery. I clicked on it and was taken to a picture of Avery, Beth,Nathan and some older kids all sat round some alcohol.
She was drinking??
But who tf took this picture.
Another email came through and I quickly opened.
All it said was not so innocent after all with a picture of Avery holding a bottle. Fuck. How could she. Why the hell would she drink.
I figured this was one of the older kids who took the photo, I didnt know what to think. I wa angry at her but at the same time had my doubts. I decided to question her when I get home, hopefully I'll do it calmly.