Page 170 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

This is the question that breaks me, has me sucking in a breath and holding myself back from reaching out to her.

“I won’teverleave you, Tempest. The only way I won’t be around is if it’s my time to be with the ancestors, and even then, I’ll always be with you. Because loveneverdies.”

That statement lands, and I wipe my wet eyes. As I tell her about how my love for her will transcend time and space, I feel my own mother’s love flashing in the brief glimpses of the sun on this rainy day.

We breathe more, just allow ourselves to exist together, and Tempest is the one to break the tension this time. Inch by inch, she moves out of the foot space, and after half a minute, I view her tearstained face in full.

The confident, loud little girl she shows to the world is set aside, and in her place is my sensitive,feelingdaughter.

Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she bites her lip and looks down at her lap.

“You can say anything to me, Tempest, at any time. I’m not going to be perfect, and I’m gonna get some things wrong, but I promise, I’ll try to be the best father to you that I can be. And while I can’t change the past, I want to make every day with you better than the last.”

Tempest seems to think about that for a long time before nodding somberly. Not a declaration of love or a truce, but a positive step in the right direction, nonetheless.

I’ll take it.

“So…how about that pizza? I can get a new one, if you want,” I ask, giving my daughter a sideways grin.

Tempest looks down, bashful, before saying, “Actually…pepperoni is fine.”

I don’t tease her about this development. Instead, I tilt my chin down and say, “Sounds good.”

We wait for a moment longer, then I stand, stretching out my limbs.

“Ready to go?” I ask, clapping my hands once and pasting on a smile. There’s still more day to experience with Tempest, and I know, with time, we’ll get where we’re meant to be.

Tempest smiles tentatively and, with shy slowness, reaches out toward me.

Once she stands at my side in the forgotten room full of memories, I try not to cry like a baby when she wraps her tiny arms around me for a long hug.

THIRTY-EIGHT

SHAE

Usually, work is my happy place, but right now, being here is just weird.

“You’re back!” Melissa croons as soon as I walk into the Orisun building. She meets me in the foyer as planned, but I can tell, despite being briefed, she’s unprepared for the battalion of security guards surrounding me.

“It’s…” I pause, pressing my red-painted lips together. Ishouldsay, “It’s good to be back,” but the words stick in my throat with their falsity.

Even though the world has been spinning off its axis, and I’ve been through the emotional wringer, work isn’t the balm it’s been in the past.

To be honest, I don’t really want to be here, and I’m not quite sure what to do with that.

“It’s good to see you, Melissa,” I say, smiling. That’s a true statement. Melissa has been my right hand for so long, I haven’t realized just how much I’ve missed her until seeing her in front of me.

“Likewise. Listen, there’s a lot happening right now, so we need to hit the ground running,” Melissa says, taking my bag from me without my asking.

With her ever-present iPad strapped to her hand, she shuffles everything around neatly and grabs the stylus to tap on the screen.

“I’ve cleared out your day until three p.m. to give you time to get settled back in. I tried my best with your email inbox, and Ithinkit’s pretty clean, but I know you’ll want to go through every folder. That will take some time. There are—” she taps her screen several times for a silent minute. “Two hundred and thirteen emails flagged for your follow-up.”

She looks at me, biting her lip.

“But at three, you have a meeting with the board,” she says, almost as if she were saying,at three, you’re going to the guillotine.

A sense of calm washes over me, where I’d usually expect panic. This board meeting has been pushed back and pushed back, but now that I’m in the office, I know it’s time to face whatever’s coming down for me.