Since You - A WWC Spin Off

6; Queen of Pool

"Huh," I say. "I really can't imagine Mr Malik owning a bar."

She laughs. "I know, he's so uptight now."

"What was it like?" I ask. "Growing up in a bar?"

Riley shrugs. "It was pretty fun, I guess. I didn't get to see my dad much though. Only during the day when mum took me to the bar, and he'd come home really late. It was harder on my mum."

"What made him want to become a teacher?"

"I don't know. I guess he just thought he had something to say." She makes another shot and I applaud her and she takes a bow.

"Thank you, thank you." She giggles.

I line up my next shot, my arms tensing as they move. I pull back and point, and the balls just miss the pocket. 

"You're not bad yourself," Riley says. "You have experience playing?"

"Similar experience to you," I say. "Except my dad didn't own the bar."

Riley looks down. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I say. "It was a long time ago." Now my dad brought the bar to him.

"I remember your dad," she says. "He's the writer, isn't he?"

There are a lot of things I like talking about, my dad is not one of them. But when he's a bestselling author, his name often comes up. "Yeah," I say, looking at the balls on the table. 

"That's so cool. What's it like having a dad who's famous?"

"He's not that famous," I say.

"Oh, come on. My dad never wrote a bestselling book."

"Your dad could write a better one."

"I don't know about that. It's cool," she says with a smile. "You should be proud."

"I guess."

"Is he working on anything right now?"

"He doesn't work on much these days," I say.

"I suppose it's a hard life being a writer. Your career depends on what you think and feel, and how well you can explain it. I bet he's really inspirational to you."

I laugh and shake my head. "Inspirational? He's a low-life drunk who's always too fucked to actually do anything. That's why mum left him. Now he lives in an apartment in Liverpool trying to be someone he's not. Believe me when I say he's nothing to be proud of."

Riley gives me a sad look. "I'm sorry, Eli." I can tell she really means it. "I didn't mean to overstep."

"You're lucky, you know," I say. "Your dad really gives a shit about you."

"Maybe a little too much."

"No. There's no such thing as too much. One day you're going to look back and he won't be there. That's an emptiness you're never going to be able to get rid of."

Riley's just looking at me like she's trying to understand me. She wouldn't be the first. Her eyes move behind me and she looks back at me before leaning towards me. I think she's moving in for a hug, and I go to back away. I hated hugs, and the last thing I wanted was her sympathy.

"She's looking," she whispers in my ear.

I freeze up at the feeling of her voice on my skin. "Who?" I whisper back.

"Bec."

I gulp. "Okay, what about it?"

"Lets make her jealous."