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“I did it because Roxanne is innocent!” I explode, jumping up from my seat, unable to hold back any longer. “You and Karl are behind everything, and you lied to me saying you weren’t!”
“Karl maybe, but not me!” he insists, but I don’t believe a word of it.
“So tell the judge that, and choose your family for once!” I shout, before starting to pace around his office to calm myself down.
My father’s face goes blood red before he turns his back on me, facing the window once more. “Get out of here.”
I feel a crack start to form in my heart, but try my best to ignore it. “You are such a disappointment, Dad. I used to look up to you, but now all I see is a fool.” My voice is shaking with emotion.
“I said get out!” he thunders, his temper flaring out of control. I wince, but do as he says, turning and rushing towards the door, desperate to escape the crucible this office is becoming.
Before I exit, I stop in the door frame and offer him one last heartbroken thought. “I hope one day you'll realize this could have ended differently,” I say, my voice softening. “Goodbye, Dad.”
With that, I turn and walk out of the office, closing the door behind me, my soul heavy with the weight of the situation. I can only hope that in time my father will see the truth and make amends. Until then, I must stay strong and keep fighting for what I believe in. Even if sometimes it feels like it might be the end of me.
I don’t even bother calling Dan, just telling the driver to take me straight to his townhouse. By the time I’m at his door, tears are streaming down my face unbidden. For once, Dan answers the door himself, like he somehow knew I was coming, and as soon as he gets a clear look at me, he rushes forward, pulling me into a tight embrace.
“It’s over,” I tell him as I sniffle the tears back. “I lost my entire career, all of my future plans. He fired me, Dan! His own daughter!”
“Shh,” he comforts, stroking my back as he walks me inside and shuts the door behind us. “You did the right thing. Sebastian is just a pathetic excuse for a human being.”
I feel like I’m in shock now, the tips of my fingers and toes going cold. “How could he do this to me?” I ask, my voice shaking. “How could he do this to meandAndries? I thought he loved us!”
“Don't worry,” Dan says, pulling away to look at me. “We'll make sure you get your job back after the wedding. I promise. Sebastian will realize what an ass he’s being before you know it.” Dan takes my hand and leads me over to the couch, sitting down next to me. “In the meantime, you're more than welcome to stay at my place if you don’t want to be alone.”
I nod, the idea of being able to sleep in his arms at night is a balm to my wounded soul. “Thank you so much, Dan.” I lean forward, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“You don't have to thank me,” he says with a smile. “I love you, and this is what you do for people that you love. We'll get through this together.”
We remain sitting on the couch together, Dan turning on some mindless television show while I tuck my feet up underneath his legs, snuggling close while he continues to stroke my back and reassure me that everything will be alright. There’s so much to be done in the next few days that losing my job almost seems like a minuscule problem in the big picture. But still, I can’t help but mourn.
When my phone starts to buzz again, I’m surprised to see that it’s Tatiana. I show the screen to Dan, who shrugs, so I go ahead and answer.
“Elise, it's so good to hear your voice,” Tatiana gushes. “I feel like we’ve barely talked since you got back from Capri. How are things?”
Still a bit confused, I try to keep up as she starts chatting about this and that. But eventually, I have to cut to the chase, since nothing that she’s talking about is really making much sense.
“Tatiana, what’s going on?” I ask, trying to keep the suspicion from my voice. “Do you need something?”
There is a pause, and then she finally lets out a sigh. “Maybe, yes, I, um… I was wondering if I could come to Andries’s wedding.”
I’m immediately taken aback. Tatiana might not be Roxanne’s favorite person in the entire world, and for good reason, but I’ve been under the impression that she and Andries were still good friends. “What do you mean? You didn’t receive an invitation?”
“No, I didn’t,” she answers, her voice tinged with sadness.
Even if it’s weird that she didn’t receive an invite, I can’t help but find the request a bit odd. I tell her I will text her the address regardless. Tati is thrilled, so much so that I immediately wonder if I’ve made some sort of mistake by inviting her, but it’s too late now.
After hanging up, Dan asks what the call was about. I fill him in on Tatiana's request to attend the wedding and he’s equally bewildered by the request but doesn’t seem overly worried.
“Why would Tati want to see her crush get married?” Dan asks, as if he’s trying to sort through to find the answer himself.
I shrug. “Maybe she just has FOMO. Who knows?”
“Whatever.” Dan sighs, repositioning us so he can lift me onto his lap, straddling him. I giggle at the sudden change in position. “I’m so tired of talking about everyone else being weird. Can we instead talk about…” he begins to trail his fingers up my sides under my shirt, “you and I?”
I run my fingers through his hair, lowering my face to his as his pupils go wide. “What exactly did you want to talk about?”
“This,” Dan answers, his voice deep, just as he brushes his lips with mine.
