“Well, you could try..... But you'll fucking regret it, that's for sure.”
I really didn't have time for this fucking shit. Thank God Zaph was near and would relieve me of him.
Trying to concentrate on the scene again, I noticed Rick changed posture the instant he had opened the door of the cafe. He must have caught Alice and Eliza's scent immediately (not my scent I hoped) and he was scanning the place to find them. This could go one of two ways. He could turn around and avoid them all together, or, and this is what I was counting on, he would want to see the love of his life, not to mention take the opportunity to meet his daughter, the family bond too strong to ignore. Rick had clocked them almost at once and, after just the tiniest of hesitation, moved towards them.
I heard Zaphire approach and told Kas to get ready to go with her, without taking my eyes off the developments in the cafe. He started to protest but I cut him off.
“Just fucking do as you're told!" I roared.
“Hi to you too, brother." Zaphy joked when she entered at that exact moment, but I didn't have the patience for it.
“Get that fucking Dullard out of here. I need to concentrate. Just fuck off." I grumbled rudely.
“No worries Zack." At least she didn't sound pissed off.
I had missed how Alice and Eliza reacted initially, but I saw Rick and Alice talking and it looked like she was making some space at their table for him. That was a good sign. I hoped they would keep to the script as closely as possible, which basically meant for them to try and divulge as little information as possible, so that they would minimise the risk of raising any suspicion. All I could do for now was wait and observe.
CHAPTER 37
The moment the door of the cafe opened, his scent penetrated me, taking over all other surrounding smells. It was so familiar and brought me back to my childhood instantly. How could I have forgotten this scent? It overpowered my whole being and part of me wanted to jump up and run into his arms. But I couldn't. Under no circumstance should I show any hint of recognition and I had to work extremely hard to cloak any signal that was going to give it away.
Even though Zack had warned me, I hadn't been prepared for the intense feeling his scent evoked. The draw of the familial bond so strong I could hardly resist it. The incident with Kas hadn't helped. It was hard to concentrate and I was doubly glad my mum was here to centre me. Her eyes willing me to calm down as Rick approached us. I was visualising the sea with as much energy as I could muster and fought the urge to just out myself to him. I couldn't let everyone down at the first hurdle.
“Alice?" Rick spoke softly as he touched her arm.
I could almost see the sparks flying, it was that charged. Mum looked up acting surprised and shocked in the most natural way. She was brilliant. Rick was an incredibly handsome and charismatic man. I could see why mum had fallen for him those many years ago.
“Rick?!" Her two hands covered her mouth.
He was going to be able to read all the mixed emotions going through her head, as I could. She didn't need to hide any of them as they were all the ones he would expect. Anger, happiness, confusion, sadness, surprise, regret, all rolling off her like tumultuous waves. I did detect a tiny bit of guilt too, but nothing that would give anything away.
“I'm sorry to interrupt you here so unexpectedly Alice, but once I spotted you, I couldn't ignore you and walk away," he said with the most charming voice and a serious look on his face.
I could feel his nerves, but to the naked eye he was as calm and collected as anything. Poor mum was struggling.
“I....I don't know what to say...”
She looked at me and then back at Rick and she turned a bright shade of red. He picked up on the inference straight away, thinking mum didn't know what to say to me to explain who he was. He didn't hesitate and extended his hand out to me.
“Hi, I'm Rick. You probably worked it out by now, so there is no point beating around the bush...”
He paused for a moment, gauging my mood. I tried to look apprehensive and curious at the same time.
“Me and your mum go back a long way. In fact just over eighteen years ago we met and fell in love and Alice fell pregnant soon after. So there you have it; I am your elusive father."
He looked at me with concern. He was obviously trying to read my reaction and I had to let some feelings out otherwise he would be suspicious. I went with the most obvious one and that was shock. The shock for me was to see how much attraction there still was between the two of them so I focussed on that.
“Uh... what? What is this? Mum?”
I looked at him and mum with what I hoped looked like confusion, shock and some scepticism thrown in too. Mum cleared some space on our table and got him a chair.
“Please sit with us if you have time. We could talk." mum suggested.
“Yes of course, I'll get myself a coffee.”
As he walked to the counter, I noticed him checking the place out. Claude was working on his laptop, seemingly not paying attention to anything around him. My feelings were still all over the place, a strong sense of loyalty to my family overwhelmed me. If my dad was in some kind of trouble, I was determined to get him out, even though he had been an arse and left my mum
