“Gwen, right?”
“One and only.” She smiles sweetly.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Kyle holds out his hand and Gwen takes it.
After a few moments, Kyle releases her hand and turns to me. “What are you doing here?”
“My dad. I think he’s here. All the money has been taken out of our account. Everything’s gone.”
“Shit.” He lets out a sigh. “Come on.”
He steers me past blackjack tables, roulette wheels and slot machines, his hand on the small of my back, Gwen following closely at our heels. We search across the endless sea of people, scanning each face carefully, none of them are my dad.
We head up the grand staircase to the poker tables on the first floor, waves of déjà vu wash over me. We scour the tables, again, none of them are my dad. The fact that he doesn’t seem to be here gives me a small glimmer of hope.
“Do you really think he’s here?” Gwen asks.
“I don’t know, I really hope not,” I reply.
At that moment, someone catches my eye. A man. I look closer at the man sitting in the back corner of the room, up against the wall, engrossed in a poker game, standing out against the sea of tuxedos wearing a plain plum button-down shirt.
My dad.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I charge in his direction, Gwen and Kyle following close behind me.
My hurried steps eat up the floor. As I near the table, my dad looks up, giving me that same look of remorse as he had the last time we were here.
“How could you? After everything!” I shout.
The men sat around the table turn their attention to me, some of them in shock, some of them looking at me like I am an inconvenience, interrupting their poker game.
“Hayley... I...”
“No more lies and excuses, dad. I think I’ve heard enough of them, don’t you think? Unbelievable.” I turn on my heel and march back the way I came.
“Hayley, wait!” my father calls after me.
“Hayley,” Kyle says softly, reaching his hand out to my arm. I shrug out of his grip and carry on walking.
Tears well in my eyes, the backs of my eyes stinging with hurt and betrayal. I storm down the staircase, through the crowds of people and out the main doors into the cool evening air.
“Fuck!” I shout, kicking the wall with my foot in frustration. My toes throb. I spin around, leaning against the wall, taking slow deep breaths to calm myself.
Kyle and Gwen step through the doors and head towards me.
“You okay?” Gwen asks.
“Oh, I’m great,” I reply sarcastically.
“I had no idea he was here, I’m sorry,” Kyle says, edging towards me, reaching out his hand to touch my arm, squeezing comfortingly.
“I can’t believe him. How... how could he do this again?” I cry, tears cascading down my face.
Kyle swipes my tears away with his thumb. I reach up on my tip toes and wind my arms tightly around Kyle’s neck, my face buried in his shoulder, his arms wrapping securely around my waist.
“I missed you,” I whisper close to his ear.
His hold tightens, I feel his warm breath tickle my neck as he buried his face in my hair. “Me too. Fuck, I missed you too.” His voice comes out muffled as he nuzzles his face closer to my neck.
“I wanted to call you. I can’t count the times I almost did, but I chickened out at the last second.”
“You’re here now, that’s all that matters,” he says softly.
He pulls back slightly, his nose and lips grazing across my cheek, just as he captures my mouth with his. His fingers grip my chin gently, angling my face in a position that grants him better access, his other arm still wound around my waist, his kiss is slow and tender. My knees give way as I fall deeper into the kiss, the world around us disappearing.
This is what I’ve been dreaming of this for the past five days. The feel of his body against mine, our lips fused together. I bring my hand up to the side of his face to pull him closer, holding him to me, never wanting to let go.
“What the fuck?” My dad’s voice cuts through the air.
I jump at the sound, and Kyle and I break apart.
My dad stands a few meters away from where we’re standing, looking between me and Kyle, a look of anger and confusion. His gaze finally settles on Kyle. “You little prick. Who the fuck gave you the right to touch my daughter?”
“Back off dad,” I warn.
“Hayley. Wake up! Can’t you see he’s using you. He’ll use you up, get bored with you and throw you out like trash. I brought you up to have respect for yourself and your body, I didn’t raise you to end up a whore.”
I’m shocked into silence by my dad’s words. Did he really just say that? Tears burn in the backs of my eyes, but I force them back down.
“So that’s what you think of me? Well, thanks dad, at least I know where I stand with you now.”
“With all due respect, Sir, I happen to care about your daughter a lot. She’s the most important person to me right now. Regardless you being her father, no one calls her that, no one.”
“You stay out of this! You’ve done enough already as it is,” my dad snaps.
“Dad, stop.”
“How can you stand there and defend him after everything he's done? How can you stand there and choose him over your own father?”
“The same way you chose that money over me, when you decided that money was more important to you than your own daughter,” I spit out.
He winces. His gaze stays fixed on mine, I watch as all his anger drains away, replaced by sadness. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sorry at all, if you were, we wouldn’t be here again. Dad, all of those apologies and promises you made last week, they
