Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
My radio, his phone—it’s like the world is trying to pull us back to reality, but we want to stay right here.
“You’ve ditched the pantsuit,” he says, gaze trailing down my body.
His phone buzzes again and this time it gets his attention. “Shit, I have to go,” he says. We both stand. He glances down at my ring and lifts up my hand. “Looks good,” he says. He presses a kiss to my knuckles and starts for the door.
“Thanks for lunch,” I say.
“Have fun tonight,” he calls over his shoulder.
Just before he reaches the door, it busts open. “Dollface!”
The shock of hearing my old nickname doesn’t have time to fully register before the man standing in the doorway starts making his way across the roof terrace. He’s smaller than I remember, with slicked-back, thinning hair that accentuates the lines on his forehead. But even ten years after I last saw him, there’s no mistaking those twinkling blue eyes and that broad smile.
“Dad?”
“Come and give your pa a hug.” He beckons me over.
I glance at Leo, then back at my father, walking forward like I’m attached to a string. “What are you doing here?”
“Saw you got a new job!” he says, flinging his arms around me. I can’t bring myself to hug him back, but he doesn’t seem to notice. I detect the scent of alcohol on his skin and realize that’s his signature scent. As I child, I didn’t associate it with alcohol, but as an adult there’s no mistaking it. Has he just come from a boozy lunch? Or has he always had a drink by this time? “I wanted to come and give my congratulations.” He doesn’t sound drunk. Maybe he had a drink to settle his nerves before coming to see me. If I’d have known he was coming, I probably would have done the same thing.
I know Leo needs to go, but he’s lingering by the door. It feels like he’s a tether to get me out of here. I step back and out of my father’s embrace. “What do you mean, you saw I got a new job? How?”
“In the paper. And you’re engaged. And the manager of this place!” He holds his arms out like I’m in charge of the entire island of Manhattan. “You’ve done well, Dollface. And you look good. Turned out real well. Always knew you would.”
I feel myself warm under his inspection, even though I know I shouldn’t care at all about his approval. “In the paper?”
I see Leo wince out of the corner of my eye. He didn’t mention we’d been in the paper, but I knew an announcement in The Times was part of the plan.
“The Times. I came back into town and it caught my eye. Now I’m back for some daddy-daughter time. Thought you might give your old man a job so we can see a lot more of each other.”
My entire body relaxes. I’ve been tensing every muscle since he burst through the door, but now I understand why he’s here. He hasn’t dropped by to offer his congratulations. He doesn’t want to hang out with the daughter that he hasn’t seen in a decade. He’s here because he wants something from me.
I shake my head. “I’m only the temporary manager,” I say. My gaze flicks to Leo. I’m about to lie and I need him to back me up, no questions asked. “I don’t get to make any hiring or firing decisions. I’m not allowed. It’s in my contract.” My mom used to work in housekeeping here. She’d kill me with her bare hands if I gave my father a job in the same hotel where she worked. “And anyway, what kind of job would you want?”
He shrugs, the disappointment across his face pulling at something inside me. “I can turn my hand to most things. I like the idea of standing outside in a top hat, opening car doors and getting nice tips.”
He wants to be a doorman? The guys on the door at The Mayfair have been doing the job thirty years minimum. It’s not about opening a car door. It’s about knowing whose door you’re opening, knowing who’s a regular, remembering their kid’s birthday or their favorite restaurant. Our doormen are the first encounter a guest has at this hotel. That encounter can’t involve my dad.
I shake my head and try to find the right words. My tongue feels like carpet, my jaw heavy. I don’t know what to say. How does he think it’s okay to ask me to put my job on the line for him after everything? This can’t be happening.
“I’m just as happy helping out wherever. You tell me what you need and I’ll give it my best shot.”
What I need? How about a dad who doesn’t disappear for weeks and months and years on end?