Play Me - Revised

Chapter 6

"Oh, I didn't forget about you," he says walking past me. I lock the door behind him and turn around as he hugs Alice. "You didn't tell me about this Summer and Kai thing."

"Well, there's nothing to tell," Alice plays along.

"Really?" Dad questions skeptically. He unzips his jacket and pulls out the newspaper folded in his pocket. "The headlines suggest otherwise."

"The media exaggerates everything. You know that better than anyone," I tell him as I walk closer to them and stare at the paper on the coffee table.

"But pictures don't," dad retorts. I side-eye him as I take the paper and scan the picture. It's from when Kai and I were walking around, arms hooked, greeting his guests. I won't lie, it looks like a picture from a movie scene. We aren't smiling. We're intense with our gaze, stoic with our expression and comfortable with our proximity. It's as if we've always been that close. Like we've rehearsed that moment for our whole lives and it's showtime. The execution: perfect. It's as if we were meant for this moment.

Anyone who looks at this picture would say that we're dating especially if they were at the event. Kai didn't let me out of his sight and the way both of us were greeting his guests, it doesn't leave room for any other explanation. It almost leaves me questioning everything. Am I living in the right reality?

It's frustrating, to say the least, because only a certain few know what's truly going on. But Kai did this on purpose. He's a man of precision. He knew what he was doing, but again, I don't know why. All I know is that if he was doing this to frustrate me, then he has succeeded.

"Actually, pictures can lie too. It's called photoshop," Alice tries to lighten the mood.

"So are we ever gonna get past this excuses phase? I am a cop, I know when someone's trying to delay the confession," dad says looking between the two of us.

"How about coffee?" I say folding the newspaper back up before putting it back on the table. "You seem on edge."

"And is it really that surprising that I care about my daughters?"

"No, of course not, but how about we do this: Alice makes us some coffee while you tell us how the station reacted to this and then we'll tell you what's been happening," I propose. I'm surprised by my composure.

"I think that's a great plan," Alice smiles. We both look at dad, who after a few seconds, nods. "Great! I'll go make some right now."

Dad and I sit down on the couch.

"I'm on desk duty until further notice. They want to investigate everything I've done so far to collect the evidence against Kai and see if anything has been compromised," he shares without hesitation. He doesn't seem disappointed, but I am. He's been working on Kai's case for years and one night has washed it all away. It's all because of me.

"I'm sorry. I know how hard you've been working to get him in jail."

"He's not a good man, Summer."

"I never said he was dad."

"Then why are you with him?"

"I'm not with him, dad. I promise I'm not."

"Summer how can I believe that when Kai himself said that 'we need to great our guests' and you two were glued to each other the entire time. Not to mention, how he kissed you and held you. It's clearly been going on for a while," he accuses. My forehead creases at his absurd conclusions.