I felt butterflies forming in my stomach as I pulled out my phone and dialed his number. But I suddenly worried that it was too late. Perhaps my declination earlier had turned him off.
Whatever.
If that’s the case, then it’ll be his loss.
“Annie, hi.” Richard sounded a bit off when he answered the phone, but I told myself not to read too much into it. He was probably just busy working.
“Hey, I hope you’re not too busy. Anyway, um, I was wondering if you’d like to get something to eat or drink tonight?” I started to feel insecure by the pause on his end.
“I’d love to,” he finally replied. “How about eight o’clock? I’ll pick you up.”
“That sounds great!” We hung up, and I felt like a teenage girl again, getting excited about a date with my crush.
Crystal walked by the office window, and I gave her a thumbs-up. She pumped her fist, making me laugh, but it still didn’t take away my nerves.
* * *
Richard
I wason the phone with my attorney, Danielle,again. She called me as soon as she had received more information about the whole Heather saga. I found out Heather was definitely back in town and wanted everything settled right away, which only irritated me more.
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “Heather waits all of this time to tell me that we have a daughter, and now I have to rush things along? Why is she suddenly in need of all of this money?”
“Heather is getting married, Richard.”
“Of course she is. And now she wants me to foot the bill. Let me guess. Heather is marrying some epic jerk-off with no way to pay for it, so now it’s up to me! To top it off, I can’t even see my daughter. What nightmare am I in right now, Danielle? How is any of this legal?” I could feel my face turning deeper shades of red.
“Please try to calm down, Richard. I set up an emergency hearing for Monday. There’s a chance this will at least give you a few moments to meet the child. I’m told she resembles you. The attorney didn’t admit to this, but I’m sure Heather is hoping that will be enough for you to write the check. How do you feel about this?”
“Confused. But I want to meet my daughter. That, I can tell you.”
“It is at least something until the final hearing regarding the DNA test, and you find out for sure. But of course, there will be no check writing no matter how hard Heather my try to play you after you meet your daughter. Understood?”
“Yes, I get it. No check writing. I guess that’s something. I want to see what she looks like, Danielle.”
My heart softened a bit. Even if I could meet with our daughter just once, that might be enough to get Heather to open up. Maybe our daughter will beg to see Daddy more, and Heather will eventually cave in.
“I’m going to be sending you some pictures of her. So that won’t be an issue much longer. As far as being around your daughter right now, please listen when I tell you that Heather is adamantly against it. She’s not giving us any reasons, either. She just doesn’t want you to see her and, she is going to fight this until… It all goes back to the test. If you’re the child’s father, Heather doesn’t have a leg to stand on.”
I gripped the phone harder in my hand so much that I thought it would break. None of it made any sense. Even though I’d been somewhat of a playboy over the years, a serial bachelor, I was still a good man. My daughter deserved to know where she came from, too.
“I just can’t think of a single good reason why she’s doing this. I’m not a bad guy.”
Danielle let out an audible sigh. “Of course you’re not, Richard. You’re a wonderful man who deserves to see his daughter. The only thing I can think of is retaliation over the breakup. You mentioned that she wanted you to change, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, and I’m glad that I never did change for that woman.”
“I am too,” my attorney replied. “Check the pictures, breathe deeply, and know we are going to work all of this out. Okay?”
“Will do,” I said. “And thank you.”
“You are more than welcome. We’ll talk soon.”
After we hung up the phone, I ran my fingers through my hair and closed my eyes. One way or another, I was going to see my daughter.
Then the phone rang again, and it was Annie.
What a pleasant surprise.
