Page 3 of Forbidden Daddy

“Mornin’,” I grumbled.

Hannah looked up, her smile dropping as she did so.

“Damn, what happened to you?”

Her voice sounded concerned, but I brushed it off. I looked down at myself. I thought I looked good enough to pass muster, but maybe she didn’t think so. I was wearing some black jeans and a plain blue t-shirt, covered by the same gray hoodie I always depended on. Usually, I would have tried harder, but the effort it took to reach up to my shelves and get this shirt down convinced me that any more would be excessive.

“Not much,” I shrugged, “just a rough night.”

“And not in the fun way, just guessing by your splinted finger there,” Hannah responded.

I guess she saw. I shrugged again and shoved her lightly. She chuckled. For Hannah, I discovered that it was a source of hilarity that I made it to the grand age of eighteen without losing my virginity. Because of this, anything I said ended in her smirking like I’d purposefully crafted each double entendre. She dropped the subject though because it was part of our unspoken agreement to not pry into each other’s lives.

“We’ve got that Modern Chem seminar, c’mon,” I laughed. “Did you write that nursing diagnosis thing our new lecturer emailed about?”

“The what?”

“Hannah, I swear you’re the most relaxed student I’ve ever met! I work my ass off and you seem to be ready for a stroll this year!” I huffed.

Then it was her turn to hit me. She rolled her eyes and pointed at the leather backpack she had hooked over one shoulder.

“Chill, I got it done, you really didn’t think I would? Although, I don’t get how it’s fair that they can give us assignments before we’ve even been to a class.”

I nudged her again, and we headed for our first seminar of the day.

After Introduction to Modern Chemistry, I had a couple of Sociology classes without my friend, and we met back up in our Nursing seminar. I slid into my seat next to her, and she turned her phone off, only to look up at me.

“Trying to get credits before the year even starts actually sucks, you know? Who invented summer programs anyway?”

“What’re you doing on the 24th?” Hannah asked.

I went through my mental calendar and shrugged, “not much, it’s a Tuesday. Why?”

Hannah matched my shrug with her own.

“My dad is having a dinner party or something,” she answered, “and I figured it would be a little more bearable with my new best friend by my side.”

Hannah said it nonchalantly, but I knew it was a big step for her. I knew that she got into nursing for the same reason as me, but we’d never really talked much about our home lives. Her inviting me back to her place, inviting me to see that part of her life, was pretty significant. Instead of making a big deal out of it though, I just said that I’d be there and added it to my phone’s calendar. We had to put our phones away then, because the lecture began, and we both knew it was better not to be caught texting in this class. I pulled out my laptop and started taking notes, wondering what her family might be like.

The rest of the class passed pretty normally. At one point the lecturer, a stout man named Harold, called one of my classmates out for not paying attention, and that was about the most exciting thing that happened. At the end, with reminders of the exams that would come much too quickly for comfort, we were dismissed. Stepping out into the New York humidity, I was glad that the day was done, but not excited to head to one of my two jobs. I worked at the coffee shop near my apartment, and as grateful as I was for the position, I was also exhausted. I remembered to pop some more painkillers, and gave my finger a glare that I hoped sufficiently conveyed to it just how much it annoyed me for breaking.

Somehow, at work, I was more on edge than I had been during the day. Every man that came in wore the face of the attacker I never saw, and glances that lingered for a few too many seconds were no longer kind, but predatory. Every time I could, I would run into the kitchen and take a breath. Darcy, our chef, would look at me with concern, but I would brush her off and grabbed more plates for my section. My shift was only five hours long, but when I finally stepped onto the street, it only took a couple of moments for fear to overwhelm me. Memories of the night before rushed back, and this time, I wasn’t focused on my dashing savior.

It was the reason I had met him, the stranger’s hands on my body, that had me shuddering in fear. I couldn’t bring myself to step out of the protective lighting of the cafe, which was slowly changing over as the bar opened for the night. People clustered together, smoking outside, and gave me strange looks. I just stood there, trying not to let the fear control me, trying to take those steps that would get me home. I had to admit defeat and pulled out my phone, letting out noises of irritation at my own inability to keep it together.

Hannah only took twenty minutes to arrive. She pulled up to the curb in a Mini Cooper and popped open the door. I slid in and curled up in the seat miserably.

“So, you want to tell me what happened last night?” Hannah asked.

I shook my head. Telling each other things like that just wasn’t something we did, and I wasn’t about to start. She didn’t need that burden.

“Thanks for picking me up,” I said, “but I think I just want to go home.”

Hannah had only been to my apartment once when I first moved in and a freshman welcome event ended in her being rather inebriated and refusing to go home to her father. Thankfully, she didn’t question me any more than that. Instead, she drove.

It took me a few moments to realize that we weren’t actually headed to my place. She was driving through Manhattan, heading into territories that were pricier and pricier.

“Where are we going?” I asked curiously.

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