Toni
I fell asleep clutching my cell phone to my chest, hoping all night that Sawyer would call or text me. It was silly. Deep down I knew it would take much longer than one night, but I still hoped. I had to be at work in half an hour, so I took a long shower and ate a bowl of fruit at the island, where platters of cookies and pans full of cake and brownies were still piled high. Rather than let all of it go to waste, I decided to bring some cookies with me to work. I'm sure the other employees would love it.
On the drive over, I tried not to look at my phone. I tried not to even think about it. What were they doing? Probably hung over and sleeping. Kaylee always partied all night when she was with Lorraine. From what I'd heard about Sawyer's past, he'd been the same way.
Darcy greeted me at the front desk, grinning like a four year old when I offered her a cookie. "Your father asked me to send you to his office when you got in."
"Alright, let him know I'll be there shortly." I said absent mindedly. There really was a lot of glass in this building. If Kaylee were here, she'd be making fun of everyone sitting ramrod straight, dressed to the nines. She never said it, but I knew that this type of atmosphere made her uncomfortable. She didn't grow up the same way I did. When daddy brought me into work and let me play in his office, she was walking through sketchy allies and throwing punches at all the creeps.
I shook my head to clear my mind, starting toward the elevator. Daddy's office was on the top floor. Before I went to see him, I left everyone with the cookies that Sawyer had made. Katelyn pressed several kisses to my cheek and Tommy thanked me repeatedly.
"I love your boyfriend." Greg said fondly.
"Hey now." I said in a teasing manner.
"Is that you sweet heart?" Daddy asked from the doorway of his office.
I smiled brightly at him, running over to give him a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning daddy."
His smile was strained.
Something was wrong.
He never smiled at anyone like that, let alone me.
He stepped aside, gesturing me into his office. "Come inside Princess, there's something I need to tell you."
I twisted my fingers nervously into my white blouse, taking slow steps into his office. I sat down on the midnight blue love seat across from his desk. Nothing looked out of place, nothing appeared to be wrong. Except for the look on his face after he closed the door and sat down behind his desk.
"Daddy.. what's wrong?"
His eyes were droopy like never before and his usually ironed clothes were wrinkled. "Princess.. I--I'm not sure how to say this."
"Say what?"
"I went to see the doctor yesterday."
I sat leaned back into the couch, releasing a relieved sigh. My shoulders relaxed and the tension left my body. Daddy hated going to see the doctor, he went as little as possible. I'm sure they poked and prodded him with all sorts of tests and told him he needed shots. "That's all? Don't scare me like that daddy."
He let out a long sigh, steepling his fingers together over the neat stack of papers on his desk. "They told me I have cancer baby."
The world started spinning and spinning. It's not true. It can't be happening. Then all at once everything stopped. No more spinning, no more anything. It was like the world and everyone in it had been put on pause.
"What?" I choked out.
He explained it to me the best he could. He never did listen very well when the doctors told him what was what. Terminal, that was the word that stuck out. That was the word that stayed with me when I began to tune everything else out.
How long did he have?
Would he die today, tomorrow?
Just how serious is terminal?
I didn't even realize that I'd been pacing back and forth until he was standing in front of me, placing his hands on my shoulders. My heart was racing, fear was spreading throughout my system. I couldn't lose him. Not him too.
"Take a deep breath, it's going to be okay." He said calmly.
I laughed hysterically, tears pooling in my eyes when I imagined attending his funeral. They would put him in a casket, his friends and family would tell all of these stories about him. They would expect me to write a speech. I couldn't do that. I couldn't face all of those people and be expected to keep it together.
"No daddy. No. Don't leave me."
"Shh, shh."
He took me into his arms, enveloping me in his familiar cologne and aftershave. I took fist fulls of his Armani suite jacket into my hands as sobs shook my body.
"There--there has to be--be a way." I said between sobs.
"Shh."
"Daddy?"
"Listen to me sweet heart, it's going to be alright, you'll see." He said confidently.
I believed him.
He would never lie to me.
He would never leave me.
I nodded slowly, holding him tighter. "Okay."
"Let's take today off of work, we can go to the mall." He suggested. "Have some ice cream and visit your favorite stores. For lunch, we'll splurge at my favorite restraunt."
I nodded happily as I pulled away sniffling. "That sounds nice."
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