Daphne Vs. Daddy

“He is fucking amazing in bed. Roger … oh my God. Not even the same species, I’d swear it under oath. In bed, and out of it, they just have nothing in common. And one time, Dominic started sending me sexts while I was at work, and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through the day.” I grin naughtily to myself, remembering that evening after I’d finally gotten off work. It had been worth the wait … and then some.

“I'm really happy for you, Daph,” Carla says, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand. “You’ve had such shitty luck in the past with your boyfriends—Roger, and even before him. I’m so glad that you’re finally finding someone who will make you happy.” She gave my hand another squeeze and then released it to take a sip of her strawberry margarita.

The conversation drifts on, back to Prada and Jimmy Choo, and I sit back, just basking in the glow of being accepted for who I am. For having picked out such awesome friends that they support me through it all.

Between Dominic and my friends and my awesome career, I really do have it all.

18

Dominic

I click on a different cell in Excel and type in the formula to calculate the ROI on the currency trade that I’m looking to do this afternoon. If I—

My office door bangs open and Heather barges in, looking like a wild woman. Her hair is sticking every which way, and her clothes are grungy and disheveled. I stand up from my desk, staring at her in surprise. What the fuck…?

“I’m so sorry,” my secretary says, sticking her head around the door and looking at me. “I tried to stop her and she just bust right past me.”

“It’s okay,” I say to my worried secretary. “She’s just going to stay for a minute and then leave, right, Heather?”

Heather crosses over to my desk and plants herself in front of me as my secretary closes the door behind her.

“Dominic, you don’t call me anymore. It’s been two whole weeks and you haven’t called me yet!” Her voice is a whiny, high-pitched noise that grates on my nerves. What the fuck did I ever see in this woman? I can’t begin to guess now, looking at her.

“Heather, we’re done. Remember? You threw your drink in my face in the middle of a bar.”

She may not remember, but I do. That drink is what led me to Daphne. I’ll never tell Heather this, but for that simple fact, I’m grateful to her for being a complete bitch. Not grateful enough to actually want to date her, but grateful enough not to call the police on her.

There are levels of gratefulness, you know.

“That was just a … misunderstanding,” she says, waving her hand around in the air as if to brush it all away. “I was upset. You can’t be mad at me for caring about you so much that I’d get upset when you didn’t see things the way you should.”

She crosses around the side of my desk and over to me, placing her hand on my arm to look up at me adoringly. Or at least what I’d assume is supposed to be adoringly. Up close, she looks even more scary than she did on the other side of the desk—from here, I can see things like her makeup is smudged under her eyes, instead of carefully applied like it normally is, and her lipstick is just a little off, making her lips seem crooked on her face.

Fucking nuts.

“Heather, there is nothing to see about ‘the way things are.’ You and I are done. Finished. We’ve both moved on to other things.”

“I haven’t! I love you, Dominic, can’t you see that?” Her hands, which had been so lovingly placed on my arm, are now starting to dig into my arm, cutting off circulation. I pull her fingers off me, one at a time, and put her hands back down by her side.

“We’re done. There’s nothing more to discuss.”

“I have pictures!” she crows, switching topics so fast, I almost don’t keep up with her. She digs around in her purse and pulls out some pics of Daphne and I kissing that night on the curb next to the limo. Apparently we had two people watching us that night—Carla and Heather.

“You shouldn’t be dating her, Dominic. That's a very bad thing to do. She’s your daughter!”

“She’s my ex-stepdaughter. My ex-wife approves. I really don’t see how this has anything to do with you. I’ve got work to do, Heather. You need to go home and sleep.” And stop drinking, I think to myself. The smell of alcohol on her breath is so strong, it’s almost hard to breathe.

“You’re going to be sorry!” she yells as I open up my office door and propel her through it, past my gaping secretary, and out into the bright sunshine outside. “I’ll make you pay!”

“First, go to sleep. The world will look better when you wake up. And Heather? If you come back here again, I’ll call the police.” I close the door on her tirade and with a sigh, head back to my office.

Mental note to self: Buy my secretary some flowers. She deserves them after having to witness that today.

19

Daphne

With a happy but tired grin, I walk out of the Equinox gym. I love a good workout. It’s such a good feeling—makes me feel like I can take on the world. I pull out my phone, slinging my gym bag over my shoulder, as I start down the sidewalk. I should find an Uber so I can get home and—