God's Lonely Man

Dinner for Three

"Let me get this straight," Laura father growls from the other side of the bars of the holding cell. "Not only did you disobey my order to stay away from Carmilla Karnstein, but you lied about it for weeks, only to start dating her and then trespassed tonight?!"

His voice booms through the space, and the straggling deputies scramble to leave the room.

Laura steels herself next to Carmilla, who flinches at the man's anger.

"Only because you wouldn't listen to me about her!" Laura swallows hard. "She's a good person, dad."

He turns and slams a table nearby and Carmilla jumps, but Laura simply grabs her hand, immediately calming her down.

"She is the daughter of Lilita Morgan. The Dean. The crime lord, the Dean!"

"Yeah, and I'm the daughter of Charles Hollis, but clearly I'm not a friggin' saint," Laura retorts.

The chief whirls back towards the cell and almost presses his face against the bars.

"This is not a joke, Laura!"

"Who's laughing?" she demands. "Am I no longer the respectable daughter of a chief deputy? Because I'm dating Carmilla Karnstein?"

"Not if you're going to keep doing things like underage drinking or trespassing!" he yells.

Laura lets go of Carmilla's hand and rises from the bench they're sitting on. "So you're gonna disown me? Is that it?"

"Maybe I should, to teach you a lesson," he says icily.

Carmilla's eyes widen and she stands up, placing herself next to Laura.

"May I say something?" she asks quietly.

They both stare at her, but neither objects so she continues.

"Sir, I understand that it's very... difficult to look past my relationship with my mother. I don't know if I could ever convince you that I'm any different than her. But I do hope that I can convince you that I really care about your daughter, and I would never do anything to hurt her, or let anyone harm her."

He stares at her, pressing his lips together.

"I apologize for the underage drinking and the trespassing," she continues, finding the small contact Laura's arm is making with hers enough to give her strength. "I just... I didn't want her to feel like she had to be treated differently just for being your daughter. She never made me feel that way about my mother, and I just wanted her to have some fun and not feel alienated."

His face softens a bit, but he maintains his glare.

"But I'm very sorry for the trouble I've caused you and your daughter," Carmilla finishes.

He stands there for a while, his eyes shifting between the two girls. After a couple minutes of silently staring, his gaze lingers on Laura and he lets out a sigh and nods to himself.

Without a word, he walks around the office desk and opens a drawer, producing a key. He unlocks the cell. "Out. Both of you," he says sharply.

Laura walks out first, followed by Carmilla.

"Dad..."

"Dinner. Tomorrow night, 6pm. My house. I hope to see both of you," he continues, before brushing past them on the way out.

Laura and Carmilla stare at each other, confused.

What?

~*~