A Dream, A Destiny 2

Meeting

Serena POV

"It's good to see you again... Serena," Mark hesitantly explained to me once we were seated at a window booth accompanied by other people around us. The lights ray shone down from a flatted window onto the top modern table between us with nothing but a few flowers inside a plain pot that stood alongside me.

Ash had discretely disappeared, saying he would be back. I appreciated the fact that he knew I needed space to think, to absorb this massive surprise. Shock had rendered me emotional and all I could do was stare at Mark. My very own Dad. It seemed unreal to me. I couldn't even figure out what to call him. "The thought never crossed my mind. I met your mom at school when I was 14. She told me she was older and I believed her. It was nothing more than a fling. I haven't seen or heard from her since. And now, 11 years later, I find out about – about you." His voice broke as he patted my visibly trembling hand.

"How did you find out about me?" I asked, my voice barely a monotone whisper. My eyes darting down at my lap. It had something to do with Ash, that was certain. Now I know why he was acting so shady when I asked him where he was taking me.

Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic beyond belief that I was sitting opposite my father at that moment, with the chance to ask him all the questions my mom wouldn't have answered, but I was still curious enough to wonder how Ash had contacted him. And what would my mom say if she found out that we had met? All my life, she'd been keeping me from him. She'll freak the hell out.

"Your friend, Ash. He found me on Facebook." Mark laughed shakily. "Of all things, right? He sent me an old picture of me and my wife, Grace. Then one of you." He swallowed and I blinked back a few tears in my eyes, hardly able to breathe. "We Yvonne's have the same eyes."

"Where did he get the picture of you and my mom?" I asked, confused. I had never seen a single picture of Mark in our house. Where had Ash gotten his hands on one?

"From your mother!" I raised both my eyebrows in surprise as Mark continued. My mom had a picture of her and Mark that she had never shown me? "Ash apparently had to go through quite the interrogation just to get my name from her. But he finally convinced her that you meeting me was for the best and she broke down." His voice turned thoughtful. "I remember Grace. Real tough cookie, she never trusted me. She's really protective of her family, I can tell."

I nodded slowly. "She is," I whispered. It was wrong of my mom to hold me back from meeting my father. She'd swore up and down that she had no idea where he was or If he was even alive. She's even lied to my face that she didn't know his full name, but I knew that she was just, in her own way, looking out for me. I can't fault her for that. I loved her too much. It was just amazing to know that, for the first time in my life, my mom wasn't the only person I had to fall back on. I mean, if Mark didn't want to be in my life, he wouldn't be here, right?

"She should have informed me about you, though. I missed so much of your life."

The questions from me started, hesitantly at first, then quicker as I realised that Mark loved to talk almost as much as I did.

"What do you do? Do you have a family? Where do you live? How did you meet my mom?" I wanted to know everything, but unfortunately, Mark had to be on the 9.30pm plane back to hoenn, so we didn't have much time to bond.

As our conversation went on, I discovered that he was an accountant with a fairly uneventful office job, which was 'just how I like it' as he said. He met my mom through his friend, who went to the same school as her. "I was only in Kalos for a couple of weeks, but we spent a lot of time together. She had a wild spark in her. But she was totally hilarious."

For a second, I thought of telling him mostly about my mom for her hard work, but I decided not to. He obviously didn't know, and just letting that bomb drop on him right now would be enough to send him running to the nearest exit.