“It’s where I want to keep her and never let her go,” he replies, his gaze fixated on me.
“Oliver,” Sophie says, coming out from the kitchen.
“Well hello, beautiful,” he says with a playful wink.
I shake my head, laughing as the door chimes.
Marcus,finally.
He pulls off his glasses as I approach him. The smell of booze hits me first, a sure sign he’s either drunk or hungover, and then his bloodshot eyes do.
“Outside, Marcus,now,” I say, shoving him in the direction of the door. “Olly, I’ll be right back. Soph, can you watch her?”
“Of course,” she says, her hand going to Molly’s shoulder to stop her from coming over. Olly stands, but I shake my head.
Outside, Marcus’s speech is slurred. “Desperate to get me alone, were you?” He wobbles, and I grab his arm, pulling him across the road and away from the shop window.
“What the fuck, Marcus?”
He leans in, and I turn my face away from the stench of alcohol—it’s almost flammable.
“I miss you,” he says in a whiny voice. It’s the one I used to cave to when he’d cheat on me and then come running back with his tail between his legs.
I place my palm on his chest to stop him from coming closer and shake my head. “Just stop this, Marcus. There is nous. Did you drive here?” I ask, incredulously looking for his car.
He nods just once but winces when he sees my expression.
Hell no. If Marcus can’t get his vices under control for the sake of our daughter, then I don’t want him around her, not when he’s like this.
“I came to pick up Molly,” he slurs.
It takes everything in me not to punch him in the face. “You can see her when you’ve sobered up.”
“I’m not drunk,” he retorts.
“Okay, then what are you? Because you’re drunk or using. For fuck’s sake, Marcus, you drove intoxicated to collect our daughter. What is wrong with you?” I whisper-shout as a pedestrian shakes their head, giving us a wide birth.
He looks at me, but he can’t focus, and part of me wonders why I’m even trying to have this conversation when he’s like this. I reach into his back pocket until I feel his keys and pull them free. “I knew you wanted me,” he says.
I wave the keys in his face. “No. I wanted these. I’m going to call you a cab, so you can go home and sleep this off. There is no way I want Molly around you like this.” Or anyone else, for that matter.
Something in my peripheral catches my attention, and I turn my head.
My whole body tenses.
Her head bobs up and down as she runs towards us—Molly. She’s on the other side of the street, and she’s waving to Marcus, calling out, “Daddy.”
She steps off the curb and into the road.
My world implodes as I rush towards her.
“NO!” I scream.
My legs are as heavy as cement blocks, not moving quick enough as I try to get to her.
A horn blares—once, twice. The screeching of rubber tyres skids across the tarmac.
She turns to the oncoming car and freezes in place.
