08 | central park

It's been a week since Isaac asked me out on a date and today was the day we settled on to go on the date. So here I was looking at my reflection in the mirror self-consciously. I just felt like nothing looked the way I envisioned it to look like when I planned my outfit and hair a few days ago. The white summer dress I was wearing felt way too short for a casual date and it just looked like I was trying too hard which I probably was but it still annoyed me. For a while I planned on calling Isaac to tell him that something got in between and that I couldn't make it to date in time. But I didn't call him and went to the spot we decided to meet at anyway even though I didn't feel like I was looking my absolute best.

Isaac suggested to pick me up from my apartment and I refuse to let it happen simply because I knew that my father would be home during the day and I didn't want to hear any of his stupid accusations on a day like this where I should feel happy. So I told Isaac that I was near the Central Park anyway which was a lie but over text messages he couldn't really that I was lying. In real life he would have definitely figured that out because I'm not necessarily the best at lying.

When I arrived at the meeting spot I already saw Isaac standing there looking around probably trying to see if I was anywhere around. When his eyes saw my approaching figure he smiled and I couldn't help but see a different emotions in his eyes. One that almost looked kind of ... guilty?

"What's wrong?" I asked him worried when I was near him and his face changed into one full of surprise.

"How could you tell?" he asked curiously and I laughed.

"I could read your expression. So what is it?" I asked impatiently because if he wanted to cancel our date I wanted to know now.

"Uhm I think our plans have changed a little bit and if you're not fine with it you just have to say it I-" he rambled without actually getting to the point of what he meant when he said 'our plans have changed' so I interrupted him which was rude of me to do I know but I couldn't help

"Now how exactly have our plans changed?" I digged deeper and he left out a sigh.

"My brother Christian had to go on a last minute trip to Germany and he had no one to look out for Kaylee so he asked me if I could keep an eye on her because you know not trying to brag but I'm her favorite uncle and I kind of have her with me today" he mumbled the last part and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Really? Where is she?" I asked excitedly. I've been dying to meet the little girl he has been talking about endlessly and even though this was supposed to be a proper date I couldn't care less. I just like to spend time with Isaac and it's an extra added bonus when there's a cute child around as well.

"So you're not mad?" he asked astonished and I quickly shook my head.

"Of course not! You know that I adore kids now where is she?" I asked with a big smile at the thought of seeing her and looked around but didn't see a small girl around who would fit the description Isaac gave me once when I asked about her.

"Wait here I'll get her" he said with a raised finger and a minute later he walked towards me with a little girl besides him who had her small had tightly clutched in his way bigger hand. You could definitely tell the two were related and if I didn't know any better I'd mistake him for her father. When they reached the spot where I was standing I slightly bent down to the little girl but made sure not to come too close to her because I knew that most children didn't like for stranger to come too close and I didn't want her to hate me.

"Hey beautiful girl. I'm Emilia and who are you?" I asked with a friendly smile which she shyly returned making my heart melt at the sight of her. She was probably the cutest girl I've ever seen which didn't surprise me considering the fact she was carrying Owens' blood in her.

"I'm Kaylee. Are you the flower girl?" she asked with a sudden interest making me smile even more. Of course she'd ask about flowers considering she loved them so much.

"Yes that's me" I replied and I noticed her getting slightly closer to be which signaled that she started to get comfortable in my presence.

"Do you have flowers with you?" she asked and peeked behind me but I shook my head which caused her to look down with a slight expression of disappointment making me feel bad about the fact I didn't have flowers with me even though I didn't know she was coming. Fudge Nuggets! Isaac should have told me earlier that she's coming as well so I could've brought flowers for the little girl to enjoy.

"But you can visit me in the flower shop one day and I make you the most beautiful bouquet of flowers you have ever seen okay?" I asked and she nodded her head in excitement and looked up at Isaac as if she didn't believe I just invited her to the flower shop.

"So should we go?" Isaac asked hesitantly and both Kaylee and I nodded our heads to we went into the Central Park and found a place where we could spread out the picnic blankets we brought. It was a beautiful sunny day in mid may so we decided to just enjoy the sun and what better way there is than to do a picnic?

.....

"Do you like Ariel or Snow white more?" Kaylee asked me out of the blue after she sat there for a few minutes looking like she was deep in thought. I wish finding my favorite Disney Princess was my biggest problem as well but sadly adult life is not like that.

"I think I like Ariel more" I said pretending like it was a really tough question that she asked me and she nodded in understanding.

"I think I do too" she said after a while and I heard Isaac next to me make a sound of disbelief.

"I thought snow white was your favorite?" he asked shocked and Kaylee rolled her eyes at her uncle just like she saw me jokingly roll my eyes at him a couple of times.

"Yeah but Emilia likes Ariel more so I do too. You ask weird questions uncle Isaac" she stated matter of factly causing me to laugh at the quick-witted girl in front of me and heard Isaac next to me grunt.

"So first she steals my date and now she's being rude to me as well. The audacity!" he said sternly yet jokingly and Kaylee just shrugged probably not knowing what the word 'audacity' means.

"Can you make my hair look as pretty as yours?" Kaylee suddenly asked me and pointed at my French-braid that I used to be self-conscious about but that little girl boosts my self-esteem like no one else.

"No she wants to braid my hair first!" Isaac said and stuck out his tongue at her while he turned the back of his head towards me in order to pretend like he was waiting for me to do his hair which was impossible because his hair was short.

"Don't be silly Sac! You don't have enough hair!" she reasoned and Isaac sighed in defeat causing Kaylee to grin at her triumph. Then she sat down in between my legs waiting for me to braid her long, dark blonde hair. I noticed that I didn't have any hair-band with me except from the one that was holding my braid together and in order to not let Kaylee down I pulled the elastic out of my hair and started braiding Kaylee's. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Isaac watching us intently and we talked about god knows what while I was busy doing Kaylee's hair.

.....

This time I had no other choice but to let Isaac drive me home after our date at the Central Park. I had my hopes up high that my father wasn't at home because he decided to go to a bar with some of his drinking friends. I had my fingers crossed that this would be the case.

"She adores you" Isaac said from the driver's seat beside me and looked at Kaylee's sleeping form through the rearview.

"She's so precious! If I could I would cuddle her the entire day" I said with a smile and Isaac nodded in agreement.

"I know it's hard to let go of her sometimes" he said and pulled up to my apartment building.

"Are you up for another date but that time really just the two of us?" Isaac asked and looked at me with anticipation so I decided to tease him a little bit.

"Hm I don't know. It feels like Kaylee was a lot more interested in my life than you were. You didn't ask me who my favorite Disney princess is unlike Kaylee who really seems to care for me" I said jokingly and put my hand on my chest dramatically.

"I can talk about Disney princesses for hours if that's what you want. I think I might know them even better than you considering the fact that Kaylee makes me watch them every time she visits me"

"Oh so the big bad CEO thinks he knows princesses better than me? We'll have to put that to a test one day!"

"You're so going to lose" he teased with a smile and I opened the car door ready to get out.

"I don't think so Mr. I'm really competitive" I said and got out of his car as quiet as I could in order to not wake Kaylee up.

"So was that a yes?" was the last question Isaac asked as he watched me carefully.

"Yes it definitely was" I said, closed the car door behind me and walked towards the front door of the building.

On my way up I thought about today and how I don't remember being as carefree as I was with Isaac and Kaylee today. They made me completely forget about everything and even him which is something that never happened. He was always somewhere in my mind but not this afternoon. This afternoon it was only Isaac and Kaylee I was thinking about and I was able to be myself again and it's been a few years since that last happened.

With a smile so big the Cheshire cat would get jealous if it sees me, I went into the apartment and was greeted by the familiar strong scent of alcohol which made my face fell immediately because I knew what that meant. My dad was home.

I was as quiet as I possibly could be hoping that my dad was asleep and that I would be able to walk pass him without him noticing I was coming home or to notice that I was even gone at all. But my luck for the day has already worn out and my dad was sitting there on the couch, drunk as hell but wide awake and he saw me coming in.

"Where were you?" he slurred out and tried to come over to me but he fell right back on the couch. If this wasn't an everyday situation I would have probably laughed at my drunk father but this was something I'm used to. Drinking was all he did ever since my mother left him ten years ago. After she left him for some Mexican business man he changed from the caring father that I looked up to so much into the alcohol addicted man I would never want to be like. He never hit me or my brother but he did things worse than that. He simply didn't care for us because we awakened the memory of our mother in him. And my mother was the last person he wanted to be reminded of. And she never dared to help us get out of this situation. Just like my dad she didn't care for us. She only had us because my dad wanted kids and unlike my father who used to spend as much time with us as he could, she never showed us affection. Not because of alcohol or anything it was just in her nature to ignore the fact she had children who needed a mother. But we managed. One better than the other.

"I was out with a friend" I stated hoping he'd leave it at that but he didn't.

"You were out with a boy weren't you? You're a slut just like your mother! Are you going to leave me too huh? I'M TALKING TO YOU" he suddenly screamed the last part making me flinch at the sudden outburst and then he started crying.

"No dad I won't leave you" I said and walked up to my crying father to sooth him. Even though he technically doesn't deserve my kindness he was still my father and deep down I was still the little girl who wanted nothing more than my father's acknowledgement although he ignored my presence most of the time making the little girl in me die more and more with each day that passes until one day I realize that there's no hope left to get the father that I used to know back.

I'm currently on a skiing trip for the first time of my life so let's hope I'll come back in one piece so that I can finish this novel 😂