Under the Surface

Chapter 22: Martin

Martin hesitated before he knocked three times on Danielle's door. He knew that talking to his moody, teenage daughter about her recent antics wouldn't help much, but he knew that it was best for himself if he did it, at least Stella won't be on my back if I talked to her. He heard a subtle 'come in' from the inside and opened the door to see his daughter at her desk, a book in front of her. "Oh, great you're studying?" he questioned as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "Just looking over some calculus, I've a test next week and I've been falling behind recently," she replied, as she closed over her book and swivelled her chair so that she was facing him. "What's up?" she asked. "I just wanted to have a chat with you. I feel as though we don't chat anymore," he smiled gently as he brushed off a piece of fluff off her duvet so that it fell to the floor. "Um, I guess?" she replied, confused at this random and spontaneous little chat fest with her father. "I also wanted to talk you about the carnival incident," he added. Danielle rolled her eyes and threw her head back in frustration. "Look, why did you do that? I know you're not stupid Danielle, so why would you do something stupid like spiking the punch?" he asked her, trying to sound as nice as possible so that this 'intervention' would run as smoothly as possible. He wasn't in the mood for a huge row, if he wanted that all he had to do was go talk to his wife. "It wasn't me! Well, yes it was me, but not just me! I'm sorry! I've said sorry a million times, I know that it was incredibly and utterly stupid of me and I know it was wrong and I'm sorry, okay?" she uttered as she rested her head in her palm. "Look, I get it, I was young once and believe me when I say I got up to my fair share of trouble when I was younger and to be honest I probably could have done what you have just done at your age! So...I'm not giving out to you, I'm just saying that you're such a smart, wonderful person and I don't want you to go through anything that'll, excuse my language, fuck up your future, but at the same time I want you to enjoy being young and to be able to fuck up while you still can!" he said, a smile coming to his face. "Thanks dad, I really am sorry," she said as she offered him a small smile as she went over to give him a hug. Martin couldn't even remember the last time his daughter hugged, or even smiled at him. This is new. Nevertheless, he wasn't complaining, he missed his old daughter and he finally saw a little glimpse of the old Danielle in this very moment. "Dad?" she questioned as she broke from his embrace and looked at him. "Yeah?" he said. "Are you and mom getting a divorce?" she asked, her voice shaking a little. Oh no, she couldn't know about Jamie. No, it's not possible, nobody knows except Jamie and I of course. Shit, maybe one of her friends saw us together and told her...no, we haven't gone out in public together. Stay calm. She can't know. "What? What are you talking about?" he questioned, trying not to sound weird or guilty. "I just...I notice you guys are, I don't know, fighting a lot more I guess," she said, now fiddling with one of her neon fake nails which seemed to be coming loose. "Oh." he said, a little relieved, "no, honey we're not, couples fight but it doesn't mean that we're getting a divorce," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. She sighed in relief. "Okay, thank god! That's the last thing I need right now," she laughed, maybe because with her father's reassurance she felt stupid for even asking the question. This is the first time since he started having an affair Martin felt guilty, I mean yes he felt guilty the first time but then no longer cared. However, talking to his daughter and seeing the worry in her eyes when she questioned his relationship with her mother made him feel like shit. Like a shit person. A shit father. He was in a trap that he didn't know how to get out of. He knew he probably should break it off with Jamie, it's not like there was an actual future there between the two of them, she's twenty two years old and he was forty seven, that's a a twenty five year age gap. I mean yes, that French president and his wife make it work and they're the same age gap but still. But he also didn't want to break it off with Jamie. That's the problem.