After thinking about what I should do, (for a really really long time) I decided not to tell Cris until I got back. I finally had worked up the courage to see my dad and I wasn't going to let him talk me out of it.
I chose a simple outfit cause I wasn't exactly in the mood to dress up. I went with a plain navy t-shirt and some light jeans with brown sandals. I tiptoed downstairs, careful not to wake any of the guys. It wasn't that hard though, considering they were all basically passed out on the floor. I took a deep breath and I walked out the door.
The drive to Starbucks felt like it went on forever. I didn't know what I should feel toward my dad right now. I guess anger would be a good place to start considering he left us when we were little. I decided to stick with that until I figured it out.
I walked in to the little cafe and looked around. I was surprised that I actually recognized him even if I hadn't seen him in years. Man, Cris looked exactly like him. But if I ever told him that, I'd probably just piss him off. Anyway, he made eye contact with me and walked over with the biggest smile on his face.
"There's my girl!" He said, walking over with his arms open.
"I kinda don't do the hugging thing." I blurted out.
"Oh well that's fine. Come sit down, I have a lot of explaining to do." He said.
What was I getting myself into?
I had been there for 45 minutes already but I hadn't said a single word while he "explained."
"Katalina, you know that sometimes marriages don't work out and people divorce for different of reasons. Lots of things happened between me and your mother. None of them are even worth bringing you kids into, they're just so hard to explain. But my love for you was always there. It still is."
I exhaled from how mad his last two sentences made me. "Look. I don't know how the hell you can sit here and tell me you love me when you weren't even there for most of my life. You left us 16 years ago without a second thought. You didn't care that I was a little kid who was gonna grow up without a dad. You didn't give a damn about me. You weren't there when I won state in track twice. Or when I won at the junior Olympics. You weren't there for Cris when he made it to the pro's. You never even bothered to check up on how we were doing. How can you say you love me at all?"
He stared at me like he wanted to cry. "Look I know I don't deserve you kids or your sympathy but I really don't understand why you can't find it in your heart to forgive me."
"You can't forgive a sorry excuse for a man who leaves you, your mom, and your brother alone without giving it a second thought. You don't know what the hell you put me through. You don't know what you put my mom through. And you definitely don't know what you put Cris through. He was the worst affected by it but you didn't care."
"So that's what this is all about? Cristiano's feelings getting hurt?"
"It was more than that you asshole. He's so protective of me because he's paranoid that every guy will leave me hurt and crying the way that you did. He takes care of me like if I'm his daughter instead of his sister. At age 16, he had been a much better father figure to me than you ever had." And with that, I got up and I walked out.
I heard the door to the café slam and footsteps behind me.
"Look, just hear me out. Cristiano always told me things for leaving you all. He never was sad about me missing so I don't understand why you say I hurt him."
"Just leave me alone." I said, getting into my car. I wouldn't let him see me cry. Ever. I drove away and left him there with words still in his mouth.
