Daddy

Today felt like an off day. I woke up with sweat beading my body even when the AC was working at full blast. Darkness was slurping at my soul, taking away the light in my life. I had the sudden feeling that a planet was being edged between Irene and me. I had to call her to make sure she was still here, that she still wanted to be with me.

I must have come off as the needy boyfriend for assaulting her with ridiculous questions when dawn was still hiding on the other side of the continent. I just had to make sure it was me being paranoid. Hearing her voice, hearing the words leave her mouth settled me enough for me to get ready for work.

Perhaps it was really my paranoid side working on overload but everything and everyone represented a threat to me. The trees swayed too much, the professor talked too loud, and the clients ordered too slowly. They were all irritating. When my day was over and I was free to join Irene, my insides were hanging on a thread.

I met her outside of her world history class. My breath itched up when she walked out in her cut offs shorts and tank top. She hadn't seen me yet because she was smiling at an Asian girl. I leaned in the wall with my hands tucked inside my jeans' pockets. I loved to admire her from afar.

Her entire aura was glowing but it was lacking the carefree attitude. Something was bothering her.

My spine strengthened and my feet moved without waiting for my brain to fully catch up. I watched her head move slightly to my direction before going back to the girl. Then, it came back to me and the stress on her shoulders lessened.

She said something to the girl before meeting me halfway. "Joseph," she sighed with her head on my chest. "I thought you had another shift today again."

I rested my chin on top of her hair. "I called in sick."

"Why?" Her voice sent delicious vibration throughout my body.

"Because I wanted to spend some times with you."

"I like that," she smiled up at me. "I need you right now."

I tucked a stray hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she moved away until only our hands touched. "It's just another Carmen drama."

Carmen's dramas were always the same. It was her accusing Irene of doing something she disapproved – like dating me. She acted like she was Irene's mother. It scared me that here might be some ulterior motives behind her so called worried stance. "Can I help?"

"No, she's going to get over it. I'm sure of it."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," the mischievous sparks returned to her green eyes. "Do you want to go to my dorm? Carmen's not coming back until later and I don't have any more classes for the day."

That was usually how Irene's troubles started. When we were alone she always opted for pushing my buttons. There was no way I would last much longer despite my best efforts. The worst part of it was that I never failed to cave in. How could I not when she was hypnotizing me with those big emerald eyes?

"Or we can go back to mine. It's quieter."

"Deal," she said before I could retract my proposition.

Irene and I in a room by ourselves for countless of hours while she had those teasing lights in her eyes. Trouble was clouding in the atmosphere.

My mouth opened to say something else but she was already yanking me forwards. I could easily stop her. She was lighter than a twig but unlike my mind, my body did want to go along with her. I wanted to be locked away from the world with her. Just us inside the room, lost in the new territory that is each other's body.

Soon enough, I found myself walking faster with her almost skipping to catch up with me. A skateboarder slipped past us, causing me to let go of her for a second. I quickly grabbed her hand as soon as he was gone. The warmth of her skin on mine boiled my blood. It made want to run inside so I could uncover more of that sensual feeling.

I leaned in to kiss her once we reached the campus's large swamp. Leaves tickled my ears, and the smell of moisture invaded my nostrils. Irene's delicate aroma was stronger, it made my head twirled with ideas.

What was I doing?

Her eyes were watching me in anticipation, her hands held on tight to my hips as she slowly licked her lips.

"Are we going or not?" She cocked an eyebrow at me.

I casted a look towards the building. It was only a few steps ahead. My hands twitched as my legs started to move. I stopped dead in my tracks.

What was I doing? I was going to ruin this if I continue. What was I doing?

"You're thinking too much," she whispered to me. She pushed her body flushed to mine while holding my belt buckle.

"You're not thinking enough," I replied. "This can wait. I can wait."

She rolled her eyes. "It's all about you, isn't it? Have you ever thought about maybe I want this, maybe I can't wait?"

"No, not really."

"Joseph," she cried and hit my arm.

I kissed her lips once more. "I'm sorry. I just don't think we should be doing this. We're hurrying things. I want this too but I want us to take our time. We have a lifetime ahead of us, what's the rush?"

"I'm the rush," she bit my bottom lip, "and I'm going to kill you if you make me wait another minute."

With that, we hurried across the street and walked in the building. We stayed closer together as we rode the elevator with five other students. I stayed calm, only holding Irene by the hand but everything inside was rushing and jumping.

We scrambled out the elevator when we reached my floor, hitting a few of the students on the way out. I murmured apologies while being dragged away.

"I never took you for the pushy type," I joked when I unlocked the door.

"I'm daddy's little girl, Joseph," she explained as she pushed me down the bed. "I always get pushy when I don't get what I want." I trailed my fingertips down the exposed flesh of her thighs as she straddled me and helped me get rid of my shirt. "Now, I want you."

"Glad to know," I pulled her head to me until our lips touched then swiftly tugged her bottom lip inside my mouth.

Her slender fingers caressing my chest earned a groan from me. My hands moved down her body, ending on her perky butt. I squeezed the globes before pressing her down closer to me. My stomach was quivering with her soft pants in my ears. My breath itched up when she rocked her pelvis to mine.

My fingers dig on her hipbones. "Slow down."

"Go faster," she kissed my neck before lifting her shirt over her head.

I chuckled at the amount of restraint I was putting out. My eyelashes went heavier as my gaze latched on the new found flesh. I gaped at the edge of her breasts peeking out of her sky blue bra. My muscled were on fire as I struggled to stay put and not lock her underneath me.

Suddenly that feeling of someone peeling my best side away from me came back. Even when she was on top of me and my hands were touching her body, my mind was worrying that she was leaving me. Something was happening to us. That was what I had to do it, I had to say it. I need her to know before anything could drop on us and break us. I needed her to know how much she meant to me.

"I love you," I blurred out when her fingers began to work on the buttons of my jeans. I saw her freeze on top of me.

Uh, oh, what did I do?

I lifted myself on my elbows and waited for a reaction from her. Scream, shout, denial, anything. A pair of emerald eyes looked up to me. They were soft and full of love but the fear they bear was suffocating them.

"Now, who's moving too fast?" she said before going back to work on my jeans.

"Irene," I stopped her hands. "I'm serious."

She was avoiding the subject like she had done multiple times before. I hated it when she did that – avoiding something because she didn't know what to do. Those were usually the moments when she would run to Carmen. She would go to her and come back frustrated, probably because she didn't agree with her friend. Nonetheless, she always did it. It was as if she didn't want to make a decision until hearing Carmen's input on the subject.

It irritated me that she had to run to that girl mainly because she hated me. She was doubtlessly poisoning Irene's mind with false ideas about me. That was why I made it my priority to always be straightforward with Carmen. I didn't want to give that girl something she could work with.

I watched Irene take a deep breath and swallow a large gulp. "I..."

The door chose now as the best moment to allow someone to knock. I growled at it before letting my head fall on the bed.

"I'll get it," she got off me and went to the door.

Whoever it was better had a danm good excuse for interrupting us. Irene was finally going to get me out of my misery and say the three little words back to me. I knew she was because I knew her better than she knew herself. She might not have known that was what she was on the edge of admitting but I knew. I could see it in her eyes. Despite the fear in her, love was winning.

"Mom? Dad?" I heard her say in astonishment at the people behind the door. Without thinking, I hopped off the bed and went to the door with my shirt forgotten on the floor and my jeans undone.

"Irene?" the lady in a black dotted wrap dress gasped in shock. Her big green eyes stared at me in horror while she clutched the arms of the man besides her. Her brown hair stopped right at her neck in a short bob.

The man standing by her wasn't in better shape either. His topaz brown eyes were throwing fire at me, the tips of his midnight black hair clung to the sweat tracing the veins popping on his forehead. His black suit seemed most appropriate for the occasion. It felt like they both dressed for a funeral – my funeral.

"Mom, dad," Irene started as her father stalked towards me with his eyes almost black. "It's not what you think."

"What happened to your shirt?" Her mother said, her voice coated with disappointment.

Irene's face turned red before she dropped her eyes and covered her chest with her tiny arms.

"You little..." Her dad lunched for me and hit me squared on the face. My neck cracked a little as it turned.

I braced myself for another one that never came.

"I want you out of this room right now." He shouted at me. "I want you out of my daughter's life."

"Sir," I straightened out but stayed at a safe distance away from his right hook. "This is my room."

"What are you saying?" His right eye ticked in frustration. His fists clenched and unclenched. "Are you telling me she came to you? Are you disrespecting my daughter?"

My eyes widen, "No, sir. I wasn't."

Irene came to me, her chest now covered, and held my hands. Courage-filled electricity transferred from her to me and replenished my being.

"Irene is the most important person in my life." I locked my eyes with him, determined not to cower under the hatred they contained. "I will never do or say anything to disrespect her nor anyone in her family. I give my word that I will never ever hurt her."

"You'd never hurt her but you're more than ready to deflower her, aren't you?"

"Cameron Mackensie did that," Irene answered.

She stepped back a bit when three pairs of eyes instantly bore in her face. "I was just saying."

"This is Carmen's doing, isn't it?" Her mother slammed the door shut and came to stand by her husband. "It was her, wasn't it? She told you to do this with this," she pointed at me. Her glared scrutinized me from head to toe, her face twisted as if she'd just being punched deep in her gut. "I knew this girl was going to be the end of you."

"Come on guys, you're overreacting," Irene pleaded. "It's not like Joseph is my first boyfriend."

I found my shirt at the head of my bed and put it on. I thought it was best to not have this conversation with an easy evidence implying what Irene and I were doing before they barged in.

"He's trying to take advantage of you," her dad argued. "Why can't you see that?"

She rolled her eyes, "Right, like the other boys didn't try to sleep with me."

"Irene!" They both warned.

"What? Exactly what is your problem?" She shouted.

"Irene," I placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Seriously," she shrugged my hand away. "You don't even know Joseph. You barely even know Carmen. You just want me to stay caged inside that house by myself. You just want me to your little puppet and do everything you want. You're just mad because I made a decision without asking you. That's always the same reason why you're mad at me."

"See right there, Hugh," her mother said to her husband, "that's them. That's not our daughter. I told you that girl was poisoning her mind. We should have ripped that Carmen out of her life a long time ago. She probably pushed her to him so he could get something from her. No doubt they're working together to destroy her."

"Great, mother. You just can't handle the thought of me having friends outside of your entourage. You can't handle the fact that unlike you there are people who love me in this world."

"You think that girl loves you?" she snorted. "You think she cares about what happens to you? If she did, then why did she call us to break your perfect relationship?"

"What?" Irene and I said simultaneously.

If I say I was surprised, I would be lying because something like that didn't seem too low for Carmen to stoop to. She was exactly the kind of girl that will light your happiness on fire if her side was dark. She only saw what benefited her not anyone else.

"You're lying," Irene said. The desperation was easily detected in her voice. "Carmen would never do this to me. She was mad but..."

She plunged her fingers in the root of her hair and held on them for dear life. Her tears were resting on the corner of her glassy eyes.

"She doesn't even like you," she screamed at her mother. "Why would she call you? She can't stand you. I know my friend. She may be mean to some people but she's always there when I really need her. She wouldn't just do that even if she doesn't like Joseph. She would never go to you, that's not Carmen. She will never betray me like this."

"I didn't think I raised a stupid girl," her father said. "I gave you the best education so you would know how to identify people like her, like him."

Irene sat on my bed, her hand covering her mouth. Her hair hid her face from me. She brought her feet up to her chest. I bit the inside of my mouth not knowing how to make anything better.

"Wha..." she croaked. "What do you mean?"

"Something tells me you know that's exactly what she would do," her mother started to walk towards her but then stopped at the foot of the bed. She brought her hand up as to attempt a comforting touch but retreated. "You should know by now she's just using you, darling. Her parents' business has been going under for years now. They don't allow her to spend as much as she used to so that's why she sticks with you everywhere you go. She needs your money not you."

"You're lying," Irene snapped. "Her parents are greedy but they have enough to give her."

"No, they don't," her dad continued. "They're almost bankrupt. They're using their girls to extend their financial books. The girls befriend and date children of wealthy families, children that will trust them enough to invest in their family business. Words have been going around the club for a while but we refused to believe it until we had concrete proof. Carmen probably had an arrangement with that boy that went wrong. He probably wants to keep everything that's why she called us."

"You're wrong," she yelled. "You are wrong."

She pushed her mother away then stormed out of the room. I sprinted after her but her dad stopped me before I reached the door.

"Leave. My. Daughter. Be," he said between his tight teeth. "She doesn't need people like you in her life."

"You don't know me."

"I know people like you and that's enough for me. You are not part of the future I envisioned for my daughter."

"Maybe Irene has her own future in mind," I shrugged.

"And you're expecting to be part of that future?" her mother appeared behind me. Her piercing green eyes unsettled me. They were exactly the same shade as Irene. So was her hair.

"I'm not in it for the money. I'm building my own future with my own sweat and blood."

"I'm sure you are." Mr. Clark was right in my face, his anger coming off him in strong ripples. "I'm sure it isn't easy either considering your mother's low paying job and your dad's current divorce settlements."

Divorce? Again? What now, his new wife was getting too old again?

"How do you know about my dad?"

"I have connections," he handed me his business card. "Call me when you have decided on the price for you to leave my daughter alone. It doesn't have to be monetary, I can arrange to give the rest of your family residency if that's what you want."

"Think about it," Mrs. Clark emphasized.

"Sorry to disappoint you." I teared up the piece of paper while holding his gaze which darkened when he saw my actions. "My love for Irene is not available for sale."

He chuckled but his eyes remained hard. "We'll see how true that love is when she no longer has a dime to her name."

He opened the door for his wife then slammed the door shut once he was out.

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This chapter is far more intense than what I thought it would be. Wow, and it only took me three giggles to get through Irene and Joseph's alone time.