Lucy Lahey trusted the man she was dating, and it turned out to be her biggest mistake. Reeling in the aftermath of a rape that stole not only her virginity, but her confidence, her love for MMA, her clarity and more, Lucy now finds herself in Jerse...
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The entire two hours I spent doing my hair and make-up, dad lay on my bed talking about this, that and the next thing. I don't mind his weird babbling so much. He hangs around a lot at the moment, I wonder if he's bored or if he just likes spending time with me. I genuinely have no idea.
Eventually, I have to go and put my dress on and instead of struggling with the zip this time, I've tied a bit of string onto it, so I can pull it up.
Standing in the bathroom and looking at the person staring back at me in the mirror, I feel. . . pretty. In an unfamiliar sense. My hair is curled and parted to one side, tucked behind my ears, my make-up is heavy and I look nice. But it's an illusion. How Iook and how I feel, don't match. The beauty doesn't represent the hollowness I'm feeling inside.
It doesn't fill that empty ache.
Dad is waiting on the other side of the bathroom door when I open it, my charm bracelet is on and the L necklace hangs from my neck.
"Luce," he smiles. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks, dad."
He inhales a deep breath. "Super grown up, huh," a sad countenance takes over the happiness he was wearing a moment ago. "Feel like I missed that happening. I missed a lot."
"No," I duck my head, feeling emotion seeping into the moment. "You were there for the birthdays and stuff."
"I wasn't there enough," he mumbles.
He seems torn up over it, part of me wants to comfort him, to tell him it was enough. But another part of me knows it wasn't enough and we'll both know I'm lying if I try and convince him he did his best. He didn't do his best but for some reason, I've never held that against him.
"Can you please take the string off the zip?" I ask and he does, plucking it off with a quick tug.
"Hello?" Niles voice comes from the top of the staircase.
"Be right up," dad calls and gives me a light punch in the shoulder. "Make a grand entrance and all that. You look great, kid."
He runs upstairs and I don't bother wasting time, I follow after I've slipped into a pair of black pumps. In the living room, dad is standing against the wall with his phone aimed at me, I stop mid step and groan.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
"Capturing the moment," he whispers, as if his phone won't pick up his voice. "This is standard parent code. Just forget I'm here and do your thing."
I look at Niles, cheeks warm. He's standing by the sofa in a fitted black suit, no tie, collar open. The shirt under his jacket is dark red and he's holding a single rose. His focus zeroes in on the necklace I'm wearing, and dimples pierce his cheeks.
"It looks good."
I clutch it and look down. "Yeah it goes well with the dress," I say. "You look really nice."
