Sucker Punch (TKO 4)

Austin: Good morning.

Paige: Morning!

Austin: I just wanted to say hey.

Paige: I’m taking Darla to meet her dad today.

I cringe as I hit send. I should have maybe called him to tell him that.

Austin: Wait, what?

Paige: He asked if he could meet her.

Austin: I thought he wanted nothing to do with her? I’m confused.

Paige: I’m confused too. We’re meeting at the park and that’s it.

Austin: Okay, well I’ll talk to you later.

Paige: Are you upset?

Austin: Why would I be upset?

Paige: I don’t know.

I toss the phone back onto my bed and walk out of the room. Now I feel even worse. Darla is sitting at the table rubbing her little eyes. I grab a plate out of the cabinet and give her a waffle. She declines syrup and just eats it plain. I grab the extra waffle and basically do the same but without a plate. My appetite has left me.

The rest of the morning goes by so fast. I was sort of hoping time would stand still for a while. I haven’t been completely honest with Darla as to why we’re going to the park, but I think I should tell her before we get there and she’s face to face with a stranger wondering who he is.

Darla is engulfed in her favorite cartoon. I hate to interrupt her, but this is the right thing to do. I grab the remote and turn the volume down just a tad. She looks over at me and moves closer to where I sit.

“Hey baby, Mommy wants to talk to you about something.” She doesn’t say anything but watches me with her big beautiful eyes. “Remember I told you we were going to the park today? Well, we’re going to meet someone.”

“Who?” she asks. “The man fwom yestewday?”

She means Austin. I have no clue why I agreed to have Brendan meet her. “No baby, not him. You’re going to meet your daddy.”

She doesn’t say anything at first. She just continues to stare at me. I’m not sure I’m liking this reaction. I was expecting nonstop questions and I’m getting silence. I should have talked with my mom about this before I agreed to it. I should have gotten her opinion on this matter.

“Darla?”

“Whewe is my daddy?” she finally asks.

“He lives here, in our city,” I tell her and I leave it at that. I can’t very well start telling her why he hasn’t been around. She’s only four years old, she’d never understand.

“Okay,” she says, then averts her eyes from me and turns back to the TV. I’m guessing she’s still okay with going to the park. I can only hope she is.

Chapter 26

Austin

I walk into Lou’s like I do every morning and head straight for the office. My mind is so warped and I don’t know what to do. Howard is sitting at his desk drinking coffee. I never see him drink coffee. I sit in the empty chair and let out a sigh. He looks up at me and sets his cup down.

“Morning, Austin,” he greets me.

“Morning,” I groan.

“Everything all right?” He raises his eyebrow.