Colt mumbles in his sleep, while I open the balcony door. I walk outside, wrapped in nothing but a sheet, and sit on a chair. With a deep breath, swipe the screen and answer, “Hi, Daddy.”
“Deliah, princess, your mummy misses you. You need to come home.” His tone is placating, and I feel the manipulation bleeding through the line in contrast to our last conversation.
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” I answer sarcastically.
“Deliah, don’t you smart mouth me, young lady. Don’t you see that gallivanting all around the world with that bunch of imbeciles is tearing your mummy’s heart apart? We saw pictures of you in the paper this morning getting your hair pulled by someone while trying to get into the car. Deliah, see some sense, child. This life is not for you. Come home now, and we can put this whole shambles to bed.”
“Daddy, listen… I’m not gallivanting. I’m with some great people. Yes, sometimes fans get a little carried away, but I am safe with Colt. And Daddy, I am having fun. I like being with him—”
“Him?” he yells.
Shit!
“Them, I mean them. They’re all looking after me well, and I’ve made a friend… a really good friend. Her name’s Anna, and you’d love her. So would Mummy. I want to stay because I finally have friends who care about me, Daddy. You want me to have friends,don’t you?”
“Not if they’re high on drugs and alcohol, I don’t. I know… I know all about this type of thing and these so-called rock groups. The term‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll’comes to mind, Deliah, and they don’t say it forno reason, young lady. You better not be having wild orgies or drunken rowdy sex parties. We taught you better than that. We’re of class, Deliah. I don’t want to see your image splashed on the front page of every newspaper and magazine across the country. Think of the position that places me in. Actually, that’s it. I’m booking a flight right now to come and get you. Where are you?”
“Dad, I’m not going to any sex parties. Trust me on that. Or, for that matter, having wild orgies. I promise. I also promise that no drugs are being taken by me or my friends at any time. I am enjoying their music… it’s amazing, Daddy. Colt is so talent—”
“Colt, that’s his name, the imbecile who hung up on me last time we spoke. Deliah, you’re coming homenowand mending what is broken between you and Joseph, and that’s my final word on this matter.”
“Oh…no, I am not. Why would I go back to Joseph when he doesn’t love or want me, Daddy? And add to that, I don’t love or want him, either! He is a boring man with no substance other than some social status. You have no idea—”
“I beg your pardon, young lady! You will not address me in such a manner.”
“Urgh…” I moan, slapping the palm of my hand against my forehead and banging it a few times while gritting my teeth. From the corner of my eye, Colt walks onto the balcony, his crotch covered with a pillow.
“Deliah, it’s because he is from a high society background. This is where you belong, as my daughter. Joseph is from wealth and is well-bred. He will be able to maintain the social status that I require from you as my daughter.”
“Daddy, I’m not going back to Joseph so I can be socially accepted. I won’t do it, do you hear me? I don’t love him, and I never have. He doesn’t love me. So, why the hell would I want to go back to that dull, boring, non-existent life? You were pissed off last time because Colt hung up on you. Well, prepare yourself to be mighty pissed now because this is what it sounds like when I hang up on you,” I reply and slam my finger on the off button with a grunt.
“That went well, I take it,” Colt says as he walks across to me.
“He can be so narrow-minded,” I state while pacing.
Colt stands in front of me and drops his pillow. I gasp, covering my mouth, then move in and wrap my sheet around him. He laughs as he holds me tightly.
“Colt, seriously, there could be paparazzi anywhere.”
“Twenty stories up, doubtful. But if it means I get to put my naked body against yours, wrapped in a sheet, then I’m all in.” He beams, leans in, and kisses me passionately. His lips are so soft against mine as his tongue finds its way into my mouth, and we kiss for an eternity. Eventually, we part lips, and I inhale and exhale loudly.
“That’s a big sigh from a small woman. You okay?” he asks, leading me by the arm back inside.
“Yeah, I just lied to my daddy. I’ve never lied to him before.”
“What’d you lie about?”
“He asked if I was having wild orgy sex, and I said no because, well, I’m not having orgies, but I am having wild sex,” I say with a flick of my brows, prompting Colt to smile. “And then I lied about the drugs. I said no one was using, and well, that’s obviously not the case from what I saw last night. I hate lying. It makes me feel like such a bad person, especially when I lie to Daddy.”
“Dee, you are the furthest it gets from being a bad person. It’s not in your nature. So don’t feel bad because you’re letting yourself live a little,” he states, then gently bites my earlobe.
I nod, and he picks me up, throwing me back onto the bed. I giggle as he makes his way over the top of me.
“So you are in for a quickie before we fly to LA?”
“I don’t know…” I giggle like a little schoolgirl. “I shouldn’t be having wild sex, you know?”
He laughs. “Then we’ll just have to have quick, normal sex, nothing wild about it,” he replies, leaning in and kissing me while I run my hands up his muscular back as his lips move from my mouth to my neck.
