Page 14 of Daddy's Wet Kisses

“How may I help you, detective?” asked Greg as his heart skipped a beat.

“I am sorry to be the one to tell you this but there has been an accident on the highway,” announced the detective and Greg sat slowly on the sofa as he listened.

“Mrs. Brenan was involved in the accident and she was taken to the Saint Mary hospital,” said the detective.

Greg did not let the detective continue as he abruptly ended the call and drove fast to the hospital where Suzan, his wife, was fighting for her life. Unfortunately, she died before he could get there.

Since then, Charlotte plunged back into her books and she became depressed. It was as if she was at the end of a dark tunnel without any hope to get out. Her life was now a sequence of good and bad days but the bad days were really bad, throwing things, fighting and yelling. Her stepfather took her to a psychologist.

“Mr. Brenan, I am sorry to tell you this but your daughter is going through a bad phase,” said the psychologist.

“You have to keep a close eye on her,” he added.

“How? I am having a hard time myself dealing with the loss and my work is the only thing that keeps me going,” replied Greg.

“I suggest that you install a kind of software application designed to monitor he laptop’s activities,” suggested the doctor.

“This spyware will check trends in her behavior and unhealthy writings that would tell us that she is heading to the wrong path or planning to do something stupid,” he explained.

With time, they managed to cope successfully with the bad days and they became strong together. They assisted each other to recover from their devastating loss. He considered Charlotte as his own daughter and she considered him as her father and protector. They managed to get out of this bad period after twenty months.

Even if they became really close, there was nothing sexual between them. As a daughter, Charlotte confided in her stepfather with everything that was taking place in her life relating to boys, work and school.

Before her death, Charlotte’s mother set up a trust fund for her to cover her college expenses. Charlotte discussed with Greg about various colleges she planned to submit an application but Greg was shocked to learn that his daughter wanted to attend a college that was located far away from home.

“Daddy, I will call you every day,” said Charlotte to her father as she cupped his face.

“I will not be there the entire year since I will come back here for long weekends, vacations, and holidays,” she continued.

“We are still in the same country, I am not travelling to Japan,” she added.

As far as Greg was concerned, the college was in Japan. However, he did not want get in her way. He realized that a change of environment could help her a lot. A few months later, Greg helped his daughter to load her car. He struggled to hide his sadness as they kissed and said goodbye. He called her just ten minutes later.

“Hi dad, I am still in the neighborhood!” she answered the call with sarcasm.

“I know, I just want to tell you that I love you very much,” he said before to end the call.

The trip was long but she wanted to make it alone. She started calling her father every day and numerous times. He could not wait for her next call. Her flat was close to college and when she arrived there, she called Greg to tell him that she was getting settled in.

“The power and cable are already on and some students happily volunteered to help me unload my car,” she told him.

“They are guys, they selected the items that were heavier for me,” she added.

They continued chatting while she emptied her plate of noodle before to sleep. They ended the call and some hours later, Greg received an email. The sender was Electra. It was the name given to the spyware installed into Charlotte’s laptop. The mail was informing Greg that the IP address of the laptop had changed. Greg had forgotten about the software.

“I should have uninstalled it months ago,” he thought.

“I will do it later,” he added before going back to sleep.

Numerous weeks went on and they continued to talk each day just as she promised him they would. He was really grateful for her calls and told her that on various occasions. Charlotte called him to speak about everything.

“I have now the right decor in my apartment and I want you to see it,” she told him.

“Of course baby, email me the pictures and I will look at them,” he replied.

“Daddy, you are really old-fashioned,” teased the young woman.

“I sent you recently a link via an email to connect on Skype,” she added.

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