The rest of the week went by with no major turmoil, and soon Sophia found herself waking up that Saturday morning with an odd feeling laying on her chest. It took her a moment to remember what day it was and her hand immediately moved to the chain around her neck. The necklace that Luke gave her hasn't left her neck since that afternoon she received it.
She glanced at the letters of her name as she felt the cool sensation on her fingertips. She couldn't help a small smile from forming. Luke really was unlike any other boy she's ever met. Although he was miles away, he still managed to make her birthday feel special.
The sound of knocking on her door brought Sophia out of her thoughts and she frowned as she looked at her closed bedroom door.
"Come in?" she asked confused.
When her door slowly opened and she caught sight of her father, Sophia instantly sat up in her bed shocked. Her heart jumped in uncertainty. What was he doing here? She knew he was home last night, she heard him arrive late, but she thought he had left early this morning. What was he still doing here at nine o'clock in the morning?
The atmosphere in her room grew tenser as each silent moment passed while her father stood in her doorway. Sophia glanced at his face, trying to find any hint of what he was thinking, but his face was as guarded as it always was.
She was so confused at seeing him. She knew what this day meant to him. If there was any day that he really made himself scarce, it was today. So she was beyond baffled at seeing him standing right in her doorway.
She watched him straighten his uniform, an indication that he was about to leave for work, when he spoke.
"What do you want to do this evening for your birthday?"
Those words shocked Sophia so that she almost turned to stone. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened as she stared at her father in absolute shock.
Did ... did she just hear him right?
"P-Pardon?" She couldn't help but let her shock show through the tone of her voice.
A muscle in her father's jaw ticked ever so slightly and his dark chocolate gaze flickered to his boots for the briefest moment before finding her gaze again. If Sophia didn't know any better, she would think her father was feeling rather awkward over the conversation.
"What would you like to do? Go out for dinner?" he asked again and Sophia blinked trying to think.
"Um..."
She was still in such a state of shock that she couldn't even think properly. Her father waited, watching her closely, that Sophia felt that she needed to give an answer quickly before he changed his mind all together.
"Um, we don't have to go out... I mean, I could make us something here."
Sophia didn't miss the flicker of surprise that crossed her father's eyes.
Of course, he would be surprised that she could cook. He hardly knew anything about her. But Sophia chased away that thought. Her father was finally attempting to reach out to her. It's a chance she's waited for her whole life and she didn't want to miss it.
Sophia's dad nodded his head once in her direction. "Very well, I'll see you tonight at seven then."
And with that, he turned and left the room, his confident footsteps carrying him down the stairs and soon out the front-door.
Sophia continued to stare at her open door stunned for a moment longer, as she allowed what just happened to process in her mind, before her eyes widened and she flew out of bed.
She was given just one chance to earn her father's favour ... and she did not want to waste it.
-
There was never a day in Sophia's life that she felt more anxious and petrified than she did at that moment. She had thrown on the first outfit she found and grabbed the keys to her motorbike before racing towards the closest store to find the ingredients she needed. This was one time she was extremely grateful for those weekly Sunday lunches with the Woods. She never would've known how to cook some of the things that she was planning to cook this evening otherwise.
After finding everything she needed, she paid and quickly made her way back home instantly setting to work on the meal she was going to make. She hardly knew of what her father liked, her mom's diary unfortunately never told her any of that information except that he loved hot-chocolates, and she didn't think that would be very appropriate for a dinner.
So, instead she went with Mrs Woods' beloved lamb shanks recipe, a meal that Sophia's gorged herself on a few too many times. For hours Sophia rushed about the modern kitchen of her house, making sure that nothing burned or looked anything less than perfect.
By the time six o'clock ticked by, Sophia had almost finished cooking everything she needed. She just had to wait to take the lamb shanks out, and she quickly moved to her room to shower and dress in something that her mother would've chosen for her to wear.
A sudden feeling of sadness entered Sophia as she thought about what would've happened if her mother was here. Would this have been a tradition? Would she have had any younger siblings?
Shaking the thoughts away instantly, Sophia set to work on doing her minimal and natural make-up. No, she couldn't focus on things like that right now. There was nothing she could do about that, so she would rather focus on what was happening right now.
She glanced at her mother's diary which lay on her bed. After that last entry she read, she had seen that there was only one entry left; dating a few years later. Sophia had wanted to read it. It would undoubtedly explain how her parents found their way back to each other, but something stopped her. She wanted her father to tell her that story himself, she wanted to hear him talk about her mother, and tonight might just be the chance she could get him to do that.
Sophia slid a jacket over her white top, which she paired with denim jeans and brown heeled boots. It was one of the closest things she had to being a normal teenage girl. Sophia glanced at herself in the mirror for a moment, raking a hand through her straightened hair and adjusting the now permanent piece of jewellery on her neck.
The necklace, in some weird way, calmed her. Almost as though Luke was in her room right beside her, giving her that handsome grin that always made her insides flutter and lift her spirits. Sophia took a deep breath to steady her increasing nerves.
This is what she's always waited for ... and she hoped that things would turn out like she's always hoped.
-
Cole sighed as he stood in his office, giving his stiff shoulders a firm rub. His day went worse than he'd thought it would. They had been dealing with a threat the whole day. Someone tried to hack into their system, and it took hours for them to clear it.
Normally after a day like this he would stay at the base, too exhausted to go home, but he had made a promise to his daughter that he would be there tonight ... and so there he will be.
He closed his eyes for a moment as Sophia came to mind. He knew what he was doing to her; he wasn't blind nor stupid. He knew that his absence from her life affected her more than she let on, but ... he just couldn't get close to her.
He was petrified of what might happen to her if he did.
Images of that day, a day that happened exactly eighteen years ago came to his mind, and his eyes snapped open as he quickly shook his head. There was a reason he battled to connect with his daughter.
It had nothing to do with her, she wasn't to blame at all. It was all his fault. All his fault that his beloved Elizabeth died.
Without even realising, a lone tear slipped from his eye.
The sudden sound of his office door bursting open jolted Cole from his thoughts and he quickly wiped the tear away from his cheek, turning his back to the intruder to recover himself as he grabbed his jacket to head home.
"How many times have I told you to knock, Kruger?" he demanded in a hard voice, concealing his feelings as he turned to glare at his subordinate.
"I'm sorry, General, but that hacker is trying to get into our database again," Kruger rushed out, shaking out of terror from his superior and his nerves.
Cole's eyes flickered dangerously. "What?"
Kruger swallowed. "T-The hacker-"
"I heard what you said!" Cole snapped. "Why haven't you done anything to prevent it?"
Kruger stood there at a loss for words, a light coat of sweat glittering his forehead.
Cole sighed, reigning in his temper. He looked back at Kruger. "Tell the specialists to do whatever they can to track down this person and heighten the security system of the database."
"Y-Yes, sir," Kruger stuttered and rushed out of the room.
Cole took a deep breath and pulled out his phone, noticing the time read 18:45. He would have to stay to sort out this panic and will undoubtedly be late.
He had thought long and hard about tonight. He knew that he should celebrate his daughter's birthday, but he never had the courage to face her. Especially considering that this day also marked the day that Elizabeth ...
If it wasn't for Susan's constant nagging for him to spend some quality time with Sophia, he never would have taken the step he did this morning. He wanted to be a good dad to Sophia; he just didn't have the courage to do so.
Pushing the thoughts aside, he began scrolling through his contacts to Sophia's name. He clicked on her number. He was planning on telling her that he was running late, but the phone barely rang once before a massive red block came on his screen.
CONNECTION LOST
"Sir, they've hacked into our system!" Kruger screeched as he barrelled into the room.
Cole's eyes immediately shot to Kruger's alarmed grey eyes and he put down his phone before rushing out of his office.
"Get the specialists in now!" he yelled.