Page 68 of Mine to Promise
“Should I order them now?” I ask, and her eyes go big.
“That was sarcasm,” she retorts. “You aren’t going to buy her anything because then she is going to think that she is going to get something every time you go away.”
“But she will,” I assure her and she rolls her eyes.
“Goodbye,” she says, “call me tomorrow.”
“Night, baby.” I look at her and she disconnects. I order some food before taking a shower and eat in my bed before going to sleep. “This is my life,” I say, hunkering under the covers.
I don’t even know when I fall asleep, but the phone ringing fills the room.
I sit up in bed, looking around before I realize where I am. I get the phone and see that it’s Avery calling me. I press the connect button and see her sitting in the car. “Dad,” she says, her voice high. “See, Momma, I told you he would answer.”
“Hey,” I say, lying back down in the bed, “how are you, my beautiful girl?”
“Good, I’m at daycare,” she reports, and the back door opens and she jumps out.
“Already? Okay, have a great day,” I tell her and she hands the phone to Addison.
“Why didn’t you call me?” I ask her.
“Because I knew you would be sleeping, and if you are anything like me, you tossed and turned all night long, so I was being nice.”
“You missed me.” I smile into the phone.
“I have to go,” she deflects. “Say bye.”
“Bye, Dad, call me tonight,” Avery says, and then the phone hangs up. I lie back down in the bed, turning to the side and seeing it’s just after eight. I get up and get dressed to go to work, grabbing a cup of coffee right before walking back into the office. The joy I used to get walking into the office feels like it’s gone.
I nod at the receptionist, who greets me when I walk in. Most people aren’t even in yet, so I go through the mail I have on my desk. By the time Levi gets in, we get back into the war room, and just like the night before, it’s after nine when I finally look up. After lunch, I didn’t even see the time move. I felt like I looked down at it after one in the afternoon, and then we started talking about our next client. It would be a big one that would keep me working for days on end. I am not going to lie. I was itching to get started, especially since I was the one who wanted this company.
Everyone gets up, this time slower than yesterday. I look down and see I don’t have any missed calls, but I have a video. I grab my stuff and head to my office, sitting down and opening Addison’s text. I press play on the video, and Avery’s face fills the phone.
“Hi, Dad. It’s me, Avery. I’m going to bed, and Momma won’t let me call you because you’re busy.” Her voice trails off sadly. “Call me tomorrow. I love you.” She gives the camera her princess wave before it turns off. My hands grip the phone as my eyes close.
“We fly out tomorrow morning at six thirty,” Levi says, sticking his head into my office. “Meeting starts at eight sharp.”
“Sounds good,” I say, getting up and putting the phone in my back pocket, “then we've got to talk,” I tell him, and he just looks at me, nodding. “Let’s nail this client, and then we talk, yeah?”
addison
“Is Dad coming back tonight?” Avery asks me when she gets on the chair in the kitchen. It’s been four days since he’s been gone. Four long fucking days. Four days I’ve felt like I’m in a daze. Four days I’ve felt like the hours are years. I went four years without him, and now I can’t even go four days without him. It’s insane and also something I will never, ever admit freely.
“Not tonight, sweetheart,” I reply and she groans. I look at her and I want to say, “Girl, same,” but instead, I shake my head.
“How about we have a pedicure night?” I try to change her mind. It hasn’t been easy with her these past few days, and I wonder if she thinks he won’t come back for her. I was even going to cave and ask him if we could go and stay at his house tonight, just so she knows he’s coming back. I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. I have no idea because I’ve never had to do this before. It was always her and me without anyone between us, but now it is all about her dad. Where is he? What is he doing? Do I think he misses her? It was fucking brutal, and as the day wore off, so did communication with Stefano, which I refuse to think about. He went from calling me at night to just sending a quick text. Which I only answered in the morning. I would send out a text, hoping he was up, but the text only got answered after I was at work. Yesterday, all I got was a “good night” text after midnight. I refuse to think about it, but I know deep down that change is coming. I also know, no matter the change, I will say I am okay. I survived worse than being left by Stefano Dimitris. I will pretend I am okay and I will do it with a smile on my face. I will do it for my daughter.
“Can I paint my nails red like Grand-mère?” she asks me and I close my eyes.
“Only your toes, not your hands.” I compromise and I think she knows it, so she smiles as she eats her pancakes. I have time to wash her hands quickly when she is done before ushering her to the car. I have never been late in my life, and I am not about to start now. I continue with our routine.
Dropping her off, I kiss her and head to the office. I don’t even try to call Stefano this morning because it was past eleven when he returned to his hotel room. Or at least that is the time he sent me the text. I didn’t answer him back. I saw it come in and swiped it away while I spent hours on Instagram looking up wedding ideas.
I’m the first one in the office, so I open the shades and then make myself a coffee before walking over to my desk. The front door opens, and I look up to see Sofia and Shelby walk in, talking to each other. They look over at me as I smile at them, making them both stop. “What is wrong with you?”
“What?” I get up, shocked. “Why would you ask that?” I gasp.
“I don’t know, you look like your dog ate your homework,” Sofia replies.