My Daddy || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 37 -

"Let's start you off with drinks, here are your menus." The waiter passes out a menu to each of us. He looks to Jered.

"I'll have wine. Give me your best," Jered answers, smiling at my mother. I glance at her, she's blushing profusely.

"I'll have what he's having," my mother tells the waiter. I simply mutter 'diet coke,' and look down at my lap. It's much more difficult than I thought, to pretend to enjoy this dinner.

"Right away," the waiter says, and rushes away to the kitchen. I look over my menu while he's gone, and I go with cheap spaghetti.

The waiter arrives again, a tray on his hand. On the tray is two wine glasses, filled half-way with a bubbly clear liquid. Next to that is my glass of diet coke.

He hands us our drinks and I immediately start drinking mine to avoid any conversation.

"Have you decided?" The waiter asks. My mother turns to me briefly and I nod, telling her that I have.

"Yes, I'll get the appetizer of bruschetta." My mother hands the waiter her menu. I remember once when I was eight, my father, my mother and I went to dinner. My mother ordered bruschetta, but the bread ended up being stale and the tomatoes were 'disgusting and nasty,' as she had put it.

"I'll have spaghetti, tomato sauce, no meat, please," I say.

Jered says, "ravioli for me, thank you."

The waiter smiles and whisks away with our menus, promising us to come back soon with our order.

My mother and Jered discuss politics while I observe the other customers.

Sitting in the booth in front of us is an old couple. I can only see the back of the lady's head, her hair is gray and ends at her shoulder. She's wearing a blue dress. Across from her is a laughing man, his hair is gray as well, and he's wearing a gray suit. Wrinkles appear by his eyes as he smiles at the lady.

There are tables in another area, and sitting at one is a family. A lady with brown hair that trails down her back. Her eyes are so blue I can see them from here. Beside her, a little brown haired girl is laughing. She's picking at the hem of her yellow dress. Across the table is a man, I'm assuming the husband and father. He's wearing a gray suit, and he has blonde hair shaved into a buzz cut.

"Ella? Ella!" My mother interrupts my thoughts. "Jered was asking you something."

I look at Jered and he looks at me. "Yes, Ella. How are your academics?" He asks, and the smile on his face is kinder this time.

"Great, thank you. All A's and B's," I answer.

"That's great," he murmurs, turning back to my mother. The waiter comes back soon and hands us our meals. The spaghetti is good, but not as great as my mother's homemade.

My mother apparently likes the bruschetta, because she finishes it quickly. She watches Jered eat. He eats slowly, cutting a piece of ravioli and half, eating it, and doing the same to another piece.

My spaghetti bowl is empty, and I push it away and reach for my glass of diet coke. I only get a sip in befor Jered wolfs his meal down all of a sudden.

He gulps down the rest of his wine, sighs, and then grins at my mother. "Ready to go, dear?" He asks.

"Yes, Jered." She stands up and so does he.

I stand up and scoot out of the booth. "Wait, aren't you going to leave the waiter a tip?" I ask. He's been very nice and attentive.

"No, I never do," he snaps at me. "Let's go now." My mother and him walk out of the restaurant, while I stay behind and dig through my purse. I come up with a five dollar bill and place it on the table.

I have to jog to catch up with my mother. I come upon her kissing Jered goodbye. "I'll
go wait in the car," I mutter.

I wait there for five minutes before she finally climbs in and drives out of the parking lot. When we're on the road, she asks, "so what did you think?"

"He was alright," I say.

"Ella," she says, smiling and glancing over at me. "I have a good feeling about this guy. I mean the last guy was a dud," she laughs but I cut her off.

"A dud?" I hiss. "Don't call my father a dud, he was your husband for years! Show some respect, mother."

"Excuse me?" She stops the car and pulls over near the trailer park. "He made a mistake," she says.

"A mistake, yes, a damn big one, sure. But he was your husband, and he's my father."

"If you miss him so much, why don't you just leave then, go back to America. I won't stand around and let you bitch at me all the time." I quiet down after that.

"Want me to leave?" I say quietly. Her eyes suddenly widen, as if she just realized what she had said.

"No, I went too far, I'm sorry." She apologizes.

"You called  my father a dud, the man who helped raise me for fifteen years." I shake my head. "Just drive home, I don't want to talk to you right now."

She sighs and pulls the car back onto the road. The idea of jumping out of the car and running to Ashton's trailer pops in my head, but that would end badly, I know.

The car ride is silent, and we arrive home I quickly get out and jog to the house. Upstairs, I lock my door and change into pajamas.

I crawl in bed and try and fall asleep, but I end up laying there until sunrise.

-
Hey guys!! :)

I think I'm back on schedule for updating, so it's all good.

I hope you liked the chapter, and thank you for reading! :)