I awoke, still at my desk, the sun shining into my eyes. Why oh why did he give me the room that faces East? ARGH! As I stood up I realized that Dad had covered me up sometime in the night. My neck and back ached and I decided a nice hot bubble bath while I tried to figure out what to do was a great idea. I grabbed my robe from my closet and headed to the bathroom.
“Morning sleepy head. You’re usually up earlier than this, you must have had a late night.” Said my dad, as I passed his room.
“Yea, I was out pretty late I guess. Oh, I’m going out this evening. Is that cool?” I knew he would say yes just as he always did, but I thought I would ask anyway, just to be polite.
“Sure, that’s fine. Where you going?” He asked, nonchalantly.
“Well, I’ve got a date. The friend I met last night, actually. He’s taking me to dinner, at five.” I explained, conviently leaving out the fact that last night was the first time I had ever met said ‘friend’.
“Well, I expect to meet him, you know.”
“It’s just dinner, Dad! I mean really? You have to meet him?”
“Yes, not right away of course, but if it get’s serious. You know the drill kiddo.” In my goal to keep it a secret that I had just met Kayde last night, I forgot all about Dad’s long standing four week rule. If one of us dates someone regularly for four weeks, then it’s considered a relationship and the other of us has to meet and pass approval on a scale of 1-10. A one means uncomfortable, five is neutral, and ten, the big one, is somewhere along the lines of “keep this one around as long as possible.
“Oh, I know. I just don’t think it’s going to go very far really.” I said, trying to cover my tracks.
“Alright sweetheart, I’ve got to head to work, I’ll see you tonight after your date. Guess I’ll have to fend for myself for dinner, since it’s your night.”
“Is that some kind of hint, old man?” I asked, laughing as I straightened his tie.
“Why yes, yes it is. But I mean it, I’ll fend for myself.” He said, checking his tie in the mirror, he never trusted me to straighten it without screwing it up. “You just worry about having fun.”
He gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead and headed down the stairs. I watched him leave and then turned around and headed to the bathroom.
