No Regrets

Chapter Fifty-Nine - Not Everything is the Same

JUNE 2014

DOMINICK'S POV

They're thirty minutes late, my monthly visit with Mollie is today and they're late. I have checked over and over the address of location for the supervised visit and the people at the front desk say I'm in the right room. I have been here for a little over an hour, arrived thirty minutes early because I was extremely scared of being late.

No replies to the texts i've sent to Aria and unsurprisingly no answers to my calls to Mrs. Wilton. I pace around the blandly painted small room with a few toys on a table.  Mom, Dad, Tyde, and Linkon all reminded me to keep my cool, be very polite, and to enjoy my time with Mollie; and I am reminding myself these things as I feel frustration grow.

My phone dings and I whip it out so fast it nearly flies across the room. "How's the visit?" The text from Tyde asks.

"Would be going better if they were here." I reply.

Almost immediately I receive a reply that sums up how I feel, "That is f*cking ridiculous and unacceptable!" I am about to reply when I hear the door open. I stuff my phone back in my pocket, I see the woman from the front desk.

"I am sorry Mr. Benji, but I have been informed the legal guardians of your daughter are unable to make the appointment. Something up suddenly causing them to cancel. They will reach out to you with a new time and date. I am sorry." She says.

I keep my calm as I thank her for informing me. I grab my wallet and car keys off of the table, I leave the room. I sign out at the front desk and make my way to the elevators to go to the first for. From the elevators, I walk out of the facility and to the car. I wait till I am in the car and am sure my phone won't butt-dial that I yell, "F*CK!" I punch the top of the dashboard. I knew, deep down, I knew they wouldn't honor the commitment. They'd find a way to get out of it.

I lean down and hang my head down with my forehead against the top of the steering wheel in something beyond defeat.

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Coming out of the shower, I find a few text messages from Aria with pictures attached. Mollie has her hair tied in small pigtails. She's wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, I don't remember how cold or warm the Wiltons kept their home during the summer. My mind was usually focused on sneaking in, not getting caught while I was inside, and then sneaking out at the end of the night.

In the first image, Mollie is sitting on the ground with a new toy. She has her mouth open as if she was in the middle of talking. The other two are of her at the couch, standing up while holding onto the couch. "Mollie's newest trick." Aria texted under the photos.

I type in several replies to the text box but delete them all. I want to get answers about today, but I don't want to come off as angry with Aria; because I have a feeling she would have let me msee Mollie if she could. I take a deep breath and only type one word, "Cute."

After getting dressed, I go downstairs to the living room. Katie looks away from the television when she hears me walking down the stairs. She puts her finger to her lips and nods towards the kitchen. I hear the sound of my parents' tense voices. They didn't take the news about the cancelation any better than I. "How long have they been like this?" I ask.

"A while." She answers.

"That's specific." I say sitting down in the armchair. I look at the television screen, "Mind changing the channel?" I ask.