Stories Yet To Unfold

Two Weeks Later – Wisconsin

A gulp ran through my throat as I put my hair up sleekly and finished my overdone makeup. Everything about this meeting was important, and I wanted to look good to prove to my dad that I’m doing well – very well.

So, as soon as Jeff left with Jack and Rian, the four of us left our shitty hotel and went on the city bus. Zack was the first one to speak once we sat down in the overused seats. “We can still go back now. We can forget all about this guy and go catch that movie with the other three.”

“You can certainly get off the bus,” I snapped at him as I wrapped the cardigan over my body even tighter. “But, I want to see my dad, and Matt told me he’s really excited to see me.”

“That’s true,” Flyzik smiled next to me as he put his hand on my knee in comfort. “He said he was really excited for another daughter, so apparently he has a few kids already. It’d be good for Melissa to meet these people who are blood related to her.”

Alex scoffed next to me, looking past Zack’s body to see outside. “I still don’t like this idea. What if he’s a real dickhead?”

“Why are we looking at the bads?” Matt responded harshly, not wanting me to be anymore scared than I already was.

The rest of the ten minute drive was sitting in silence. Zack, Alex and Matt checked their phones and looked out the windows as I stared just in front of me, imagining my father standing right there. A chill ran through me at the thought as I continued to try and find the words to greet him with. I couldn’t mess up a first impression on my own dad.

Before I could even stop worrying, the bus came stopped at our place to get off, and so we did (after paying the bus driver of course). That’s when Matt got out his phone to look at the directions. “It says we make a left at the end of this street, then his office is just two doors down from there.”

I nodded with an excited smile as we started walking. I was filled with hope as the other three obviously held heavy doubts. Alex was walking right next to me, his strides matching perfectly with my fast ones. His eyes were intent on where we were going, and he made sure to keep me close to him.

Zack was doing the exact same thing on my other side as Matt stared at his phone behind me until we got there. Without even taking a look at the sign, I ran right into Mr. Jarasha’s building to see an absolutely horrid and completely unexpected sight around me.

Skinny women were lined up on a lighted stage just a few feet in front of me. Three poles were lined accordingly on the stage with many seats below each one. Terrible rap music was blasting from the speakers as an older woman was giving them directions. It looked like some dance routine from dirty dancing.

As soon as the white haired man saw us come in, he smiled and made his way over to us. His smile was a bit more menacing than in the picture I saw, but it sure was my blood. His chin dimple was exactly like mine, indented just slightly off-center. His hands were also big and long, just as my man hands were.

“Hello, gentlemen, are you the people from Maryland?” he questioned as he looked down at me. “Come right this way.”

Matt hesitated for a moment, but then quickly moved to catch up with my father’s strong pace. I gulped as I tried my best to remove the scene I just saw from my head and followed right behind Matt, my hand clinging tightly to his black sweatshirt.

The office we then went into was just as trashy as the sight I had first seen. Woman’s clothing was scattered all around, and it smelled oddly of cheap perfume and hairspray. I would’ve thrown up if it weren’t for smell of Alex’s cologne filling my nostrils up as well.

“So, I have a potential new daughter, yes?” he asked as he looked at me for a moment.

For a split second, I thought he may have seen our resemblance, but it was covered up by Alex’s voice. “This is your daughter, Melissa. We found you just a few weeks ago, and so we’re here against her guardian’s wishes.”

I held back a laugh at Alex’s formalness until my father’s booming voice rang out. “That’s great, you got to like a little danger in this business, right?”

“Parenthood isn’t a business, sir,” Matt snapped at him as he puffed up his small figure. “It’s something really serious, and Melissa wants to at least acknowledge the fact that you’re her father.”

“Hey, hey,” he said, stepping back a bit from us. “She hasn’t gotten the job yet, don’t have her calling me dad yet.”

“But she is your daughter,” Zack responded dumbly, weirded out by his words.

I gave him an odd look before talking. “What job are you talking about?”

“To be one of my daughters!” he yelled a bit. “Those girls out there have worked their asses off to get to where they are, and I’m not letting some girl just come in and say she’s my daughter without working.”

“I shouldn’t have to work,” I said, shocked at his carelessness. I moved closer to him as I continued. “Part of you is in me, I shouldn't have to work any further than that!”

“You’re pregnant?” my father yelled in disbelief, his eyes widening as he sat down in his big office chair.

“Are you fucking insane?!” Alex screamed at him, getting in front of me out of anger and protectiveness. “You got her mother pregnant! This is your kid, you made her!”

My father then got up and came closer to me. His towering figure frightened me a bit, especially as he took my face and looked me straight in the eyes. “Who is your mother?”

“Rachel Chicker,” I told him as I pushed his hand away from my face. “I’m Melissa Chicker. I’m your daughter.”

“I thought you wanted to be my daughter, as in my employee,” he admitted as he backed away and looked back and forth between the four of us. “I want nothing to do with you or your mother. You both ruined my life, and I can’t believe I’m even talking to you! Mr. Jarasha doesn’t have children, and he never will. I can’t believe you even came here. I gave you up for a reason. I don’t know you, and I never want to, so please leave this office before I get security to escort you out in an unfriendly way.”

“But, dad,” I whimpered after he said those harsh words, my eyes getting teary already.

“How dare you call me that,” he yelled as he slammed his fists hard against the wooden desk. “Get the hell out of here, and don’t ever try to contact me again! I don’t want you in my life, get out!”

“You’ve missed out in meeting one of the best people in this entire world, you fuckhead,” Matt said between clenched teeth. I didn’t really hear what he said next, because I was already running out of the building, wanting to leave every single part of this place far, far behind me.

Once I was out of the building and down the street, I started beating my head against the brick wall. How could I have done this to myself? Of course he didn’t want me, he left me for a reason, and I had come back and disturbed his perfect life. Just when I thought I had a chance at figuring out something about my past, it gets ripped away from me; creating an even bigger hole in my chest.

“Melissa, Jesus Christ, are you alright?” Gaskarth asked as he wrapped his arms around me, taking me from my spot against the brick. “I can’t believe he did that.”

Just when I thought I’d be able to keep it together, I busted. Tears flowed down my face freely, and sobs wretched out of my body as I tried desperately to make them stop. “I can’t believe I thought this would work! I can’t believe I went back to someone who left me. I’ve been taught so many times to not come back to people who leave, but I still never learn.”

“Sh,” he whispered to me as he held me tighter. “You would’ve never known how much of an asshole he was unless this happened. It’s better to know and regret than not know and wish. I’m so sorry he had to put you through that though, it took every inch of me now to kill him.”

Zack then pulled me from Alex’s arms and into his own, doing his share of comforting as well. “You know, people are idiots. Every one of us humans makes mistakes in our lives, but there’s always one that stands out, and this was your dad’s. He missed out on the best thing he could’ve had in his life, and now he’ll never get it back. But, I think it’s for a reason. You didn’t need him in your life anyway, and you really shouldn’t want him. Look how much of a fucking prick he is.”

An exasperated Matt then came down the street, his body tense and his face locked into a scowl. He took my hand roughly and started dragging me down the street. “I don’t want you anywhere near him, ever. He’s the worst person I’ve ever met in my life, and I’ve met some fucking terrible people. You don’t need him, and I’m not letting you stay another second near him. What do you want to do, Melissa? I want to make you happy after this bullshit, where do you want to go?”

“I want to be with my r-r-real dad,” I told him honestly, sobs still occasionally coming out of me. The three tensed up and looked at me insanely, wondering how I could possibly want Mr. Jarasha in my life, but I didn’t mean him at all. “I want to be with Jeff.”