by Hart, Rebel
I’m huffing and panting for breath as I frantically search everything one last time, partly from my run over here but mostly from panic. It’s still nowhere in sight as I flail my head back against my car seat, feeling dangerously close to bursting into tears. I tell myself I will just have to march back in there and own up to my mistake, hoping and praying that I can somehow charm them enough so that it doesn’t matter. But I know there will be some other star athlete with excellent grades who will march in there with everything they were asked to bring. It’s game over for me.
Just as I’m starting to give up, I hear the faint blow of a boat whistle from the distant shore, sparking an idea. My dad lives near here. A fact that crossed my mind more than once on the drive up here, but I kept pushing it down, telling myself it didn’t matter. Although now it could matter quite a bit. His house can’t be more than five minutes from here.
I hesitate to reach for my phone, but quickly snap myself out of it. There’s no time to have an emotional crisis over this. It’s as simple as he’s the only person within a few miles who could possibly have a copy of my birth certificate, and even that’s a stretch. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll answer the phone, have what I need, and be available to get it here in the next ten minutes. But I have to try.
My heart pounds relentlessly as the phone rings, and I’m not sure if it’s because of my urgent predicament or my nerves over talking to him again. Not just talking to him but asking for his help. Something I’ve always been convinced I would never, ever do.
4
Chapter Four
By some miracle, not only did Theo answer the phone, he had a copy of my birth certificate on hand and was able to show up with it just in time. I was in such a rush by the time he arrived that it barely phased me to see him again and accept his help. I took the document and raced back inside, barely stepping foot into the waiting area just as my name was being called. I saw the girl who had been helping me with her lips parted, ready to defend my tardiness. But I was able to breeze right past her and into the interview on time.
I was so flustered and relieved by the time I sat down that I didn’t have time to be nervous about the questions being thrown my way. The essay in my application cited my mom and stepdad as my inspirations in life, being the only people in my corner to set an example and help me along the way. I felt a slight tinge of shame as I backed up the sentiment in my answers, knowing it was Theo that helped me out today. But I quickly remembered everything he’s put me through up until now and swallowed down any feelings of guilt.
I walk out of the interview feeling like I did my best, reliving the sight of the panel’s pleased and impressed expressions. I’m more than ready to get into my car and go home and forget about all the pressure until the next one of these interviews pops up, when I will bring five copies of my birth certificate just to be safe.
“Ophelia!” Theo’s voice calls out from behind me just as I unlock my car doors.
I cringe and slowly turn around to see him running towards me. “Oh,” I huff. “You’re still here.”
“How’d it go in there?” he pants as he shuffles over.
“Fine,” I answer curtly, wishing he had just left after he handed the copy over to me.
“Thatta’ girl!” he smiles, stopping just a few feet away. “Where you rushing off to now?”
“Home,” I shoot back, having to hold back a groan. Why does he care where I’m rushing off to? Aside from when his vowed vengeance against the Elites wasn’t on the line, he never once cared about where I was before. Why now?
“Ah,” he nods, looking slightly wounded. “Well, listen. While you’re here…why don’t we grab some lunch? Ice cream? I want to celebrate!”
“There’s nothing to celebrate,” I grumble. “It’s not like I got in. It was just an interview.”
“You’ll get in,” he announces confidently. “Whether it’s here or somewhere else, I know you’ll have your pick of the best schools. I looked you up, you know. Saw the articles about your races and things from your last school. And some of your competitions with WJ Prep. You have quite an impressive record.”
I stare at him blankly, feeling a twist in my gut at the thought of him researching me. I’m convinced his only real reason to do so would be for some ulterior motive. It was likely just so he could track me down and use me as a pawn in his battle against the Elites. One that he would just as soon throw out the moment I didn’t serve him anymore.
“Thanks,” I respond half-heartedly. “But I really should get back. Mom will be waiting.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand if you stay a little longer to catch up with me,” he insists. “She’s hoping you and I will get to know each other a little better.”
I’m frozen as he stares expectantly. I want to get away from him as fast as possible, but he is right about my mom’s high hopes for me to give him a chance. Maybe to relieve her guilt about him being my biological father. But her innocent optimism only makes me angrier.
“You’re right. She has a lot of hopes for you being back in our lives,” I bark. “But only because she doesn’t know the whole story.”
He recoils with a pitiful little grimace. “I deserve that,” he offers. “And anything else you could say to me. I know…I wasn’t around and then when I did show back up…It wasn’t exactly under the best circumstances.”
I laugh scornfully, thinking back on the split second I had to look him over for the first time when he showed up on the doorstep of Jameson manor just as I was running for my life. No sooner than I recognized his crooked smile he pulled up a gun and shot Thomas Jameson to death. Not to save my life, but to finish his own little wicked game of vengeance against the Elites.
“I may not be everything you hoped I would be,” he continues.
“I didn’t hope for anything about you at all!” I cut him off. “You weren’t around, and I was prepared for it to stay that way. I figured if you cared about me at all, you would have never let so much time pass without finding me. Brendan has been around since I was ten and has been more of a father than you ever were. I’m glad things turned out the way they did.” My voice cracks in exasperation as I rant, prompting me to turn back towards my car and pull the handle to get in. I refuse to let him see me get emotional.
“It’s not so simple,” he says quickly, stepping closer to keep me from leaving. “Didn’t she ever tell you?” His brows raise. “I did try to see you, Ophelia. I may not be perfect, but I was prepared to be around for you. Everything that happened between your mom and I…it was too much. And still too painful for her when I tried to see you as a baby. She was afraid and I can’t blame her.”
I start to argue but stop myself. I can’t imagine my mom refusing to let Theo see me without at least mentioning his attempts when I got older. Even if a parent is absent, knowing whether or not they tried makes a big difference in a young girl’s life. But anger boils in my gut as I consider why she would be afraid to let him see me. He beat her. Of course, she was afraid of him.
Theo did think my mom had cheated on him, but it turns out that was just another stab from the Elites trying to put him in his place after he squandered so much of their money. Regardless, his reaction was inexcusable. Emmett may be fucked-up and I don’t doubt that he would beat up the other dude in a heartbeat if I ever cheated on him, but he’d never lay a finger on me...right?
That thought catches in my throat as I remember all the times Emmett has harmed me, threatened me, and a long list of other offenses. He claims he had no choice under the pressure from his father and the other Elites. I quickly remind myself that they seem to have a knack for making good people do horrible things.
“Why do you think your mom is so insistent on us having a relationship now?” Theo says. “She feels guilty, I think, for shutting me out all those years before. She made a choice that should have been yours.”
My inner conflict over Emmett has my guard down as he speaks, and I can feel his guilt trip t
aking hold. I look down at the envelope of documents in my bag. Deciding who is good or bad or what did or didn’t happen is too much to process on the spot like this. But for now, Theo did save my ass at the last minute. The least I can do is have a quick lunch with the man.
“Fine,” I groan. “I’ll come with you. But not for too long. I want to get home before it starts getting dark.”
He lights up before motioning for me to follow him back to his car. I can’t help but feel paranoid that something terrible could come out of me being so trusting and riding off with him. I can’t forget everything I do know about Theo. No matter what he says, if it were in his best interests to kill me, he’d do it in a heartbeat. And with people like him, there’s always some larger game at play that I don’t know the details of.
Things seem normal enough aside from the awkward silence as he drives me to a diner towards the center of town. I slowly start to relax, telling myself that this will be over before I know it. It’s like Brendan’s yearly family dinners with his senile grandparents. They’re inconvenient and seem like a waste of time, but they go by fast and make everyone else really happy. I just have to grit my teeth and smile and get through this.
“I love this place,” he says as he opens the front door for me.
A bell chimes as we step inside and a waitress greets him by name. He leads me to a corner booth, citing it as his usual spot. It’s crazy to think he’s been so close long enough to have a regular hangout spot with a preferred seat. It breaks into my resolve, making me wonder if he really has been trying to keep an eye on me all these years. Is that why he ended up so close to Jameson?
“Order a milkshake,” he tells me as I look over the menu. “Doesn’t matter what flavor you pick; it’ll be the best one you ever have.”
“The usual today, Theo?” the waitress chimes as she pulls a pen and pad from her apron. “And who’s this young lady!?” Her eyes light up across me.
“This is my daughter, Ophelia,” he beams. “She just had an interview over at the university. She runs track and is hoping to get a scholarship.”
“Ophelia!” she sings back with wide eyes. “It’s so good to see you here! I’ve heard so much about you!”
I’m too stunned to do anything but stare up at her wildly, blinking in shock. She takes our order and vanishes off into the rush behind the counter, and I can’t help but notice the pleased look on Theo’s face. I’m not sure if he’s genuinely proud to show me off, or if he just knows I’ve been proven wrong in some small way.
“Did you pay her to say that?” I quip, only half-joking. I’m convinced Theo doesn’t care enough to have ever mentioned me to anyone.
“How’s Emmett?” he asks, ignoring my jab. “I heard about the Hendersons taking over the company. He got gypped.”
“I’d think you’d know how he’s doing,” I remark bitterly. “I thought you two were good buddies. I know you have a tendency to meet up behind my back.”
“Don’t hold that against the boy,” he grunts, looking annoyed that we even have to talk about it. “You two weren’t even an item yet. He was just a poor kid in a fucked-up situation and so were you. He helped you in the only way he knew how.”
“And who were you helping?” I sneer, fidgeting a plastic straw between my fingers. He sighs and lays his hands flat across the table, looking lost. It may be a ploy, but it works. I start to feel bad for holding onto my grudge so tightly and have to remember that isn’t the point of this lunch. Laying into him will only make it worse for me. I know he doesn’t have the answers or explanations I’m looking for, so it’s better just to let it go. At least for now.
“But you’re right,” I add, trying to swallow down my frustrations. “He did get gypped. It’s a shame he made the sacrifices he did and still got everything taken from him. He would have done amazing things with Jameson Automobiles. He was going to make it a legit, honest company.” I stop myself from adding that that’s more than Theo could ever dream of doing with anything in his life.
He nods and looks away. I see his wheels turning, likely over some new scheme. He never stops looking for some new way to get rich or take advantage of a situation. But he’s interrupted by the arrival of our food. I do my best to participate in tense small talk as we chew through our burgers and fries.
“You were right,” I concede as I sip the thick milkshake through my straw. “This is a really good shake.”
“I told you!” he laughs proudly, as if he had made it himself. “Just think. If you get into that school, you’ll be able to come here and have these all the time! Maybe we could even make it a regular thing.”
My chest tightens at the thought. Me and Theo meeting up for regular lunches as if we have anything close to a normal father-daughter relationship. I could never let go of everything that’s happened up until now to let that happen. Him living so close is one of the things that makes me not want to go to that school at all.
“I haven’t made up my mind about where I’ll go yet,” I reply politely, thinking its more kindness than he deserves. “I applied a bunch of different places. All of the top collegiate track teams across the nation. Coach Granger will help me decide what’s best for my career.”
I almost hate to even bring Coach up to him. After what the Elites did to him and his family, I want to protect him in any way I can from Theo and people like him.
“Well, whatever he suggests or whatever you decide…you should be able to go wherever you want. You’ve worked hard and earned that much. And I know I haven’t made it easy on you, when I was around just as much as when I wasn’t,” he admits. “Money shouldn’t be a factor. I may not have the fortune I once did, but I’m certainly not hurting for anything and neither should you. Once you decide on a school, you just send me the bills.”
“That won’t be necessary,” I shoot back, sounding a little snide. “With my grades and track record, Coach expects me to get plenty of full scholarship offers.”
“But what if you don’t get one from your top pick?” he suggests.
“Whatever scholarship money doesn’t cover, I’ll get a part-time job to pay for the rest,” I shrug. “Plenty of people work to pay their way through college.”
“Don’t be so stubborn,” he sighs in an irritated tone. “You’re an athlete. You need to focus on training, not killing yourself to work and go to school full time when you don’t have to. You’ll need to keep your body in shape and keep your grades up. Why add the extra stress of a job if you don’t have to?”
Rage starts rushing through me as he talks, sounding like such a concerned father all of a sudden. I told myself I’d stop being so resentful just for the sake of getting through this, but there’s only so much I can take.
“And just how do you think being kidnapped last semester helped me?” I bark, staring him down intently. “Being held hostage? Threatened to be murdered? My life suddenly depending on my absentee father that I’ve never met who can’t even bother to respond to the hostage notes.”
“I had a plan,” he hisses defensively, leaning over the table in a hushed tone. “You made it out of there, didn’t you? Because I showed up.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” I sneer. “You were planning to kidnap me yourself. Maybe even kill me. Just so the Elites wouldn’t have the chance to use me against you. If Emmett hadn’t talked you into letting him take me as a part of your little agreement, how do I know you wouldn’t have shot me just like you did Thomas Jameson?”
He sits back, running his hands over his suddenly tired face. Once again, I have to remind myself that he’s not going to have the answers to satisfy me. If he did, he would have played them long before now.
“Look, just forget it,” I add curtly, grabbing my bag to hint at how ready I am to get the hell out of here. “The past is the past or whatever. You can come around for these little dinners to ease your guilt and make my mom happy. I’ll let the rest of it go enough to play along. And thanks for helping me out today, but beyon
d that…I don’t need anything from you. I’m fine, okay?”
I’m too mad to care that he looks hurt, even if it means anything beyond hating that I can see him for what he really is. But I force myself to thank him again as he drops me off at my car to drive home. I’m more than ready to go back and be with the people who really care about me. The ones who were around long before he showed back up again.
5
Chapter Five
Everyone was excited to hear the interview went well, and my mom was especially excited to hear Theo was able to help in some way. I resisted the urge to ask her if what Theo said was true about her turning him away when I was younger. We have enough on our plates without letting any more of his drama seep between us. I trust that whatever she decided then was for the best. And she was so happy to know that I attempted to have another cordial meal with him that it almost made the whole ordeal worth it.
“Coach Granger thinks it might be one of our top choices,” I explain to Emmet in excitement over lunch one day. “But…I don’t know.” He looks at me questioningly. “It’s awfully close,” I add with hesitation. “Just a couple hours away. I don’t know if it’s far enough from Jameson for me to feel comfortable.”
He doesn’t try to talk my fears down the way Coach did. He’s just as eager as I am to get the hell away from all of this.
“Well, the Theo complications aside, I’m excited for you,” he beams as he chews through a sandwich. “My college girl! Wherever you decide to go, it’ll be great. A whole new life for us!” He leans over and plants a playful, sloppy kiss on my cheek, getting mayonnaise on me.