Ian
I look down at my watch for the twentieth time before focusing my attention on the most beautiful girl I've ever known. The one who has now been my girlfriend for two weeks. Not long, I know. But hey, I'm just happy to be able to call her mine.
Sapphire is waiting impatiently for her dad to walk into the airport—he's returning just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with her.
The nerves have her chewing on her nails. A habit I noticed just recently. And considering she takes more time looking at her fingers before biting, I'd say she has no more nails left to chew on.
I'd offer her mine, but I clip them frequently. So that's out of the question. Plus, that'd be weird. Even for me.
Her worried eyes meet mine and I offer her an assuring smile before spreading my arms for her to walk into. To my dismay, she completely ignores me and checks the time on her phone before pacing around. Could I blame her? No.
Still, I'm a bit bummed about the rejection.
With a tired grunt, I drop myself onto one of the chairs and decide to pass the time by playing games on my phone. Figure she'll come to me if she needs someone to assure her that his plane didn't crash land into the ocean and got eaten by a giant squid.
I shake my head to myself, a slight smile on my face. That girl's imagination is worrisome.
Eventually, she gives up on the pacing and plops herself down beside me, laying her head on my arm in the gentlest way possible. As if she's scared to disrupt my game by moving my arm. What she doesn't know is that I could care less about the game. Which is why I quit it to wrap my arm around her, kissing the top of her head before resting my cheek against it.
"He'll be here soon enough, don't worry," I do my best to ease her worries, smiling fondly when she lifts her head to look at me.
God, she's stunning.
Without much thought, my hand reaches forward to caress her cheek, and my heart swells when she leans against it, fluttering her eyes shut. But this girl knows how to get me, because she then turns her head to kiss my palm, her gaze locked on mine.
"You wanna know something?"
"Hmm?" Is all I could muster.
She does her best to give an innocent smile, but it's more mischievous. My nerves skyrocket when she leans forward to place her lips beside my ear, whispering her next words, "I'm not wearing any underwear..."
"What?" I sputter, mindlessly glancing down for a split second. "Why not?"
My earlobe gets sucked between her teeth and I shudder, placing my hand on her waist before giving it a firm squeeze. She recoils with a surprised laugh.
"Cut it out," I warn, my eyes bouncing around to see if anyone noticed. "Your dad could be getting here any minute."
She places her hand on my thigh, dangerously close to the one place she wants to excite. And if I don't stop her now, she will succeed soon enough. Which is why I'm glad when I see someone approaching us over her shoulder.
"There you guys are!"
"Hey, Walter." I greet with a relieved sigh.
Sapphire immediately bounces up from her seat and runs into his arms, holding him just as tightly as he does her. They only pull away so he can grab her face and take a good look at her. But then he pulls her right back in for another hug.
"I missed you." I hear her muffled voice.
He smiles after planting a soft kiss to her head. "I missed you more, sweetie."
Eventually, he looks over at me and pulls away from the hug. He walks over to me, and I nod my head in greeting as I stand, extending out my hand. Except he doesn't shake it like I intend. Instead, he pulls me right in for a hug, patting my back.
"I heard you're dating my daughter now. Which means you didn't take that interrogation seriously, did you?" He asks as we pull away.
Caught off guard, I turn to Sapphire. Silently asking her for help. I didn't expect that type of question as a greeting.
"Who would? You left it with not wanting to be a granddad!" Sapphire argues, her cheeks reddening as she releases a nervous chuckle. "I mean, seriously, dad?"
"Besides," I begin, rubbing the back of my neck to try and ease my nerves. "You asked if I would ever cheat, but you never considered that she would cheat on me."
He lifts a thick brow. "So what I'm hearing is, you're using my daughter as a rebound?"
"What? Of course not! I would never do such a thing." I begin to rant. "Sapphire is too special to me. I swear, my intentions are honest and I really do like your daughter. With your blessing, I'd like to keep dating her."
The silence that comes after lasts too long for my liking, but Sapphire's smile helps me stay calm. Her dad's expression is as stoic as can be, and I'd be shitting myself if she wasn't here to have my back if need be.
Which is why it comes as a shock when he pulls me in for another hug, patting my back a little harder than the first time.
"I was just joking, son. As long as you make her happy, I'll agree to anything." He pauses to think it over, "well, not anything, but you get my drift. Don't you?"
I nod, chuckling. "I understand, sir. Thank you."
"All right. I don't know about you guys," he sighs, pulling Sapphire into his side. "But I'm dying to get out of here. Combine starvation and jet lag and you get a very grumpy old man."
"Believe me, it gets nasty when that happens. So we'd best be getting out of here. Like now." She proclaims while reaching out to grab my hand to pull me along with them, with her dad guiding our way out of the airport.
Whether that's true or not, I don't want to find out.
* * * *
"So," Walter begins after swallowing a mouthful of his burger. "What's your plan now that I'm back?"
Sapphire looks up from her phone to lift a confused brow at her dad. "What do you mean?"
"You know," he begins to explain after setting his half-eaten burger on the wrapper. "Will you keep living with your boyfriend or will you be coming back to keep me company?"
Sapphire meets my eyes, and I shrug. Why would I have a say? It's her choice, after all.
After narrowing her eyes at me — as if saying, you're no help — she turns back to her dad and offers one of her own shrugs. "Honestly? I no know."
"You no know?" He repeats, amusement evident on his face as he picks his burger back up. "Why you no know?"
She shrugs again, looking back down at her phone to avoid the question. "I just no know."
"If you want to stay with him, all you have to do is say so, dear. You're eighteen, you can do what you want now." He assures her, taking another bite from his burger.
With the longing look she gives her father, and the same one she gives me, it's obvious she's conflicted on what to choose. But it's something she has to figure out all on her own. I won't encourage her to choose one or the other. And I won't be upset if she ends up leaving. Sure, I'd have more rent to pay, but I'd just cancel my subscriptions and avoid eating out from now on.
Then again, my parents said they would take care of it if I ever needed them to. Though, that would make me dependent of them, which is what I don't want. They've done enough for me and it's time for me to live my own life.
"What about you, son?"
I realize I zoned out when the question gets directed at me, and I blink a few times to come back to the present. "I'm sorry?" I offer lamely, a bit ashamed that I wasn't listening.
But he doesn't look the least bit bothered or annoyed. "What are your plans for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" I turn to Sapphire for help. But she simply offers an innocent smile and a shrug. Payback, I quickly realize. Having no choice, I turn back to her dad for help. "Uh, what's tomorrow?"
Walter, however, is patient enough. "Thanksgiving," he answers simply. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving tomorrow?"
"Ah," I pause to think about it. "I have no plans yet, but I figure my sister will pick me up at the very last minute. She does that every year, which haves me anticipating it now. So, technically, yeah I do have plans."
"Very well," he nods. "If your plans don't turn out, feel free to join us at our place."
"Thank you, Walter. I'll keep that invitation in mind."
"Can I know why you two are talking so formally? We're in fast food restaurant, ya know? It's far from being fancy." Sapphire interrupts in a flat tone, arching a questioning eyebrow at us. "It's so unlike you two. Especially you, dad. You're only formal at your job. Look around us," — she spreads her arms out to motion at the restaurant — "we're not at your job."
"You want me to curse at your boyfriend?"
Her eyes widen. "What? No!"
"That's what I'm getting."
"I just mean that there's no need for formal talk! Talk casually," she argues defensively.
He leans back against his chair and crosses his arms over his chest, inspecting his daughter with a serious expression. "Maybe I will curse at your boyfriend, if that's what you want. Because in case you have forgotten, my only two modes are: a formal business person... and a cursing sailor. And since you want me to drop the formal, the only option is for me to curse like a sailor."
"Dad," she warns. "Cut it out."
"You're the one complaining about our formal talk."
She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, but she's far from annoyed. I've seen her when she's really annoyed. Right now, she's just going along with him for amusement. "Fine. Go ahead and talk formal. I was just trying to get you to talk normally. But I prefer formal over profanities."
"Watch your profanity," both her dad and I say in a high-pitched voice, turning to look at one another before laughing.
That gets us a smile from her.
"I already know you two will be trouble."
Author's Note
Check out that new cover!
I changed all my covers because I wanted to own the rights of the images. So now I can't get in trouble. Boo-yah!
Reminder that if you can buy the rights to an image, please do so. Standard Licensing works for Wattpad covers, which is a lot cheaper than an extended license—which isn't really needed for ebooks. Support artists!
Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this long awaited, average chapter. Sorry it took a while, but I'm trying my best!
Much love,
Kim