“Thanks, Daddy.” I’m actually blushing as I twiddle a pigtail.
“It feels as though you’ve been gone a lifetime, Holly,” Daddy says.
“Yeah, it does. Believe me, even though the castles were cool, I really wanted to come home.”
“That’s nice to know. No more trips away for you anytime soon, then?”
“Not unless I’m forced to take one. Sometimes the curriculum can be demanding, can’t it?”
“Sometimes, yes. But are your projects completed now?”
We’re talking in such code, but I’m still his girly Holly as I nod my head, grinning bright.
“Yeah, I’ve completed all my projects. Unless another one gets sprung on me, but I don’t think it will do. Hopefully not.” I hold up my fingers. “Fingers crossed.”
I adore Daddy’s smirk as he mirrors my gesture. “Fingers crossed.” Then he winks at me. “I have an inkling you’re going to be just fine.”
The familiarity falls away, and I’m captivated by his eyes. The knowing stare he’s giving me. I can’t help but wonder who Daddy really is in his day-to-day life, behind the surreal fictional world I step in to. This man is powerful, and sophisticated, and emanates a magnetism that charges the room. But I have no business whatsoever in knowing whoDaddyreally is. He’s off limits to me. He’s nothing but the man who is welcoming hisdaughterhome after a trip away.
All I know is that Holly is a very lucky girl to have such a figure as herdaddy.
It makes me more secure in my roleplay decision. I want to be Daddy’s good little girl tonight. I want him to love me, and cherish me. I want him to be proud.
I watch him as he walks to the fridge, taking out the casserole bowl. I use the opportunity to calm myself, code words banished.
I’m firmly back in role once he’s done with the oven.
“Carry on, sweetheart,” he says. “Tell me more about your trip.”
I give him some waffle about walks through castle ruins, and ancient graves, and how two of the other students – Stuart and Neil – were constantly annoying.
“Do you know how many castles there are in Wales?” I ask my attentive daddy.
He shakes his head. “I’ve no idea.”
“Guess.”
He looks to the ceiling. “Hmm…” then back at me. “Fifty?”
“Not even close. Six hundred!”
“You’re kidding me?”
I’m not, because I’ve done my research. “Nope. Wales is known as the castle capital of the world. We only visited ten of them, but it was amazing.”
“Fascinating,” Daddy says.
He listens intently as I play my character, and I’m succeeding in my role. I must be, because I’m even fooling myself. It’s as though I’ve really been away, tramping through castle sites.
“Fantastic, you learn something new every day,” he says when I’m done with my spiel. He gets himself a coffee, then tops up my juice. “I’m so proud of you for being such a good student.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
His stare is darker when he locks onto me this time around. I sense the disciplinarian side of him coming to the fore, and get a tremor of nerves at the thought of disappointing him.
“Now, sweetheart, you know the rules here. No lying. I’m going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them truthfully.”
Here we go…
