Page 227 of Obsession

The lie came naturally because I’d been thinking about it since yesterday. There were a few other scratches on my face, but I’d managed to cover them up with a lot of makeup. My palms were still burning, and I tried to hide them from my father.

“So that’s… Harris.”

The way he said it made me smile, amused me even, then I realized he wasn’t driving to our house.

“Dad, where are we going?”

He just sighed without giving an answer, and that started to worry me.

“Dad…”

“I haven’t been completely honest with you lately and I now realize that was a mistake.”

I didn’t respond, mostly because I wasn’t able to process another shock. My dad looked at me and then sighed when he couldn’t read anything on my face.

“I didn’t just come back here because I wanted to get back to my family.”

My eyebrows shot up.

“Then why?”

As he didn’t answer and became more and more embarrassed, I began to understand on my own. The corner of my mouth tilted up in amusement.

“Dad, are you seeing someone?”

When he didn’t say anything and just looked at me like a shy teenager, I started to laugh.

“Okay, you’re taking this better than I expected,” he stated with relief, and I struggled to suppress my laughter.

“Dad, you’re single, young, why should that bother me? It’s not the same situation as with… Mom.”

That sobered me up, because I couldn’t be amused when it came to her, and my dad just gave me a gentle smile.

“I am dating someone, but it’s not that simple.”

I frowned again, my head spinning. Why did something so simple have to be explained in such a complicated way?

“Can there be other ways to find a new girlfriend?”

“Well, yes, if the girlfriend isn’t exactly new.”

That didn’t sound good. In fact, it sounded pretty damn bad.

My dad took a deep breath as he rubbed his forehead with his fingertips while driving through a neighborhood I hadn’t been to yet.

“Just wait a little longer, okay? It’s better if we tell you the whole story together.”

“Together?”

He stopped in front of a house, and I turned my head.

“Please, just promise me you’ll listen.”

I looked around, analyzing the neighborhood, which was very similar to ours, except here the houses looked bigger, then I looked at my father. I knew another mental blow was about to follow, I could feel it approaching so slowly it was almost static. This wasn’t just a new post-divorce relationship, this wassomething else entirely, and my dad’s face proved it. And I thought he was just spending a lot of time with his family.

“Now you have really made me curious,” I whispered, a hint of threat in my tone as I narrowed my eyes at him.

I could understand that he had a new relationship, I could accept that, but if said relationship existed since before my mother left… then we were going to have a huge problem.

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