Page 82 of Weak Side

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Claire

I scannedthe parking lot like I was looking for the police after committing a crime. I saw plenty of students rushing to and from classes, even recognizing some of the dancers from my Dance Theory class that I had skipped out on this morning. Instead, I opted to study for my finals inside my car behind The Bex, hoping no one would know I was there before I could rush off to my meeting with Professor Petit regarding my audition on Friday with the dreaded fall.

My phone had been off. The strength it took to shut it down and not turn it back on was something I possessed like a sixth sense. Avoidance apparently ran in my DNA, if it was true that Tom Gardini was actually my father.

I stepped out of my car, cursing at the creaking of the door, as if Theo or Chad were hiding in the bushes, ready to pop out at the sound of it. I crinkled my nose before pulling my light-blue beanie down on my head, angling my face away from the harsh wind. Fall had turned to winter in the last couple of months, but I hadn’t noticed until now.

My hand shook slightly as I peeled open the door to the auditorium and walked farther inside. I pushed down the top of my book and glanced at my ankle. It was still bruised. I could have really used that ice bath, but I would rather chop off my ankle than face Theo at the moment.

“You need to ice it.”

My keys fell, and the sound clattering against the floor sounded like a thousand bricks falling around us. I removed my gaze from the floor and slowly latched onto the voice from across the expansive, open room.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel seeing Tom again, but it didn't surprise me that it was anger that fell from my lips. “A little too late for advice, don’t you think?”

I swiftly bent down, swiped up my keys, and backed away from the man claiming to be my father. I had given up a long time ago wondering if he’d ever come back. I was a baby when he left, so it wasn't that I missed the tender presence of my father after all these years—I didn’t even know him. Instead, I felt the sharp sting of disappointment and betrayal, and I was on a warpath for destruction.

“That’s fair,” he said, pulling himself to stand with his cane. I thought back to the story that Theo had told me about Tom before his claim had come to light, and I wondered how much of it was true. “Well…” Tom stopped my thoughts from progressing any further. “It would be fair if what you knew of me was the truth.”

“Excuse me?” I wanted my words to come out as fierce as I was claiming to be, but instead, they were weak and brimmed with confusion.

“Do you know how long I’ve searched for you?”

My stomach twisted, but my chin raised as a defense mechanism.

“And do you know how many times I’ve been lied to in my life? Trust is a fleeting thing as of late, Tom.” Trust. I wasn’t sure I’d ever trust anyone again.

Tom slowly sat back down, placing his cane beside him. I stood several feet away, and he made no move to ask me to sit. Instead, he jumped right into what he had to say with this no-bullshit attitude that somehow doubled as cautious.

“I guess that man does know you.” Tom stared at me from across the shiny floor, and I swallowed, refusing to ask what he was talking about. “Theo said that I ruined the trust between you two, and for that, I’m truly sorry.”

Tom wanted to get right to it? Well, so did I. “Is it true?”

“Which part?”

All of it.“Did you seek him out to get closer to me? Did he know you were my father?” I paused. “Are you even sure you’re my father? Is that why you came to my audition? Catching up on all that you missed out on when you left?”

There was a hint of a smile on Tom’s face, and it was soft and warm instead of smug or all-knowing. “Would you like to sit? There’s a lot I need to tell you, Claire.”

I hesitated at first, but before I knew it, I had taken a seat—three down from him, just out of spite, but at least I was sitting.Just hear him out.

“Firstly, no. Theo did not know until he showed up late to the hockey game, and I pulled him aside afterward.” I saw him glance at me from my peripheral vision. “He thought I had pulled him into his coach’s office to yell at him, but you know what? The second he heard me say that I was your father, he went into total defensive mode. And I’ll admit, I wouldn’t stand to be talked to like that by any of my players—or anyone in the industry, for that matter—but the fact that he was potentially throwing his career away to stand up for you was okay by me.”

What?

My mouth opened, but I closed it a second later. There was a rush of guilt that went through me, thinking Theo was throwing away his career for me. Then, came the undeniable fear that I was going to lose the one person who was on my side no matter what.

“He went off—respectfully. He was poised as he dished out all that you had told him about your nonexistent father and the financial hardships you have gone through with your mother. He was quick to put everything on the line for you.” Tom’s sigh was an exact replica of mine, and I sucked up my tears as he continued to talk. “That’s when I realized that the story you’ve been told isn’t true, Claire.”

I looked over at him immediately. “What are you talking about?”

He caught my eye, and it was like he knew something I didn’t. His face was merciful, and truth was in his eyes, burning as brightly as a blue flame. “I didn’t abandon you. I didn’t even get a chance to meet you.”

Each word plucked a stitch from a wound that I wasn’t aware was there.

“That’s not what I was told.” My voice was shaky, and I glanced at the auditorium door, knowing my meeting was approaching.

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