Chapter Three : Meet His Daughter

Tessa's POV:

I became really confused. Daven noticed it, so he introduced us.

"Tessa, meet my wonderful daughter, Rose, whom I told you about earlier." He turned to her side. "Rose, meet Victor's daughter, Tessa."

Before I could say anything, my dad spoke up.

"Yes Tessa, I saw her at the gate when I was coming in a few minutes ago, so we just came in together. Please, let's get going already."

"Ooh, now I understand. Hi Rose, nice to meet you." I stretched out my hand and she shook it politely. She was a very pretty girl, and she looked nothing like Daven, so I figured she must take after her mother.

Dad shook Daven's hand once more, and we left the compound.

In the car, I asked my dad a few questions, including one about Rose's mother.

"Daven is a single dad, just like me, and there's nothing strange about that. Remember, me and Daven haven't been friends for very long, so we never really got around to talking about our wives."

That made me think of my own mum too. My dad never spoke about her. He always says I will know about her when I'm a bit older. All he's ever told me is her name. Monalisa.

"Do you even miss my mum at all?" I asked, looking out the window at my favorite stretch of road, the one lined with yellow flowers.

"Can we just not talk about her." He pressed the brake and the car rolled to a stop. He held my chin in both hands, looked into my eyes, and said, "Tessa, please. Daddy loves you, and that's what matters. One day you'll definitely get to know about your mum. But for now, it's the both of us against the world."

Tears broke all over my face. I just nodded. He offered me his palm and I held it.

Dad dropped me off at our apartment shortly after. A number I'd saved as Sweetheart started calling. My God, that's Blake. I picked up.

"Tessa, what's up. You left my message on seen. Or do you have another man there already?"

"Blake, you cheated on me again. I want to end things. I'm no longer interested in this relationship."

"Huh. Funny girl," he said, and hung up.

Funny girl? Maybe he thinks this is a joke.

I needed something to calm my head, so I headed to the bathroom and took a cold shower, letting the water run until the tightness in my chest eased a little.

That evening, a message came into our graduated class group chat.

HI STARS, REMEMBER OUR GET TOGETHER DAY IS FINALLY HERE. EXPECTING Y'ALL

The message made me a little happy. At least I would get to attend and see Jake. And most importantly, Blake wouldn't be there, since he was supposed to be celebrating his birthday.

There would be no interruptions this time. Just me and Jake tonight. I put a call across to my dad to let him know.

"Okay Tessa, I'll tell Daven to take you there."

"Dad, no. I'm old enough. I can go alone. Everyone else is going alone."

"Bye Tessa. You aren't everyone else, and Daven is coming to pick you up. Just text me the time and location so I can send it to him."

"Uuurgh!" I was pissed. Daven was definitely going to stop me from doing whatever I wanted tonight, especially seeing Jake and telling him sorry for all the lies.

"Who goes to a get together with their father's friend," I hummed under my breath, sending Dad the location.

The mirror showed a girl looking beautiful in a short red floral gown. A generous amount of hair oil went through my hair, giving it that wet effect I loved so much.

"Hahaha, Monalisa and her crew must really get jealous tonight."

Monalisa was one of the girls Blake had cheated with. She and her crew laughed in my face, and since then, they bullied me until I left school. Tonight was the night to show them exactly how far things had come.

The big box where the never-worn heels sat came down, and out came a sealed pack, my best pair, a gift from Dad on my twenty first birthday. They fit perfectly, and pairing them with a white purse made everything come together.

Dad must have told Daven to bring his best car, because a sleek black sedan pulled up in front of the building. Watching it from upstairs while still slipping on a few rings.

Daven looked like a proper gentleman. No suit today. Instead he wore a plain red two piece and super white shoes that matched perfectly.

"No, this isn't right and will definitely spoil things. Monalisa might think I've settled for an older man and make a joke of it," I said, heading back to the shoe box to change into black shoes instead.

"Tessa, it's getting really late. Let's get going already."

I heard Daven's voice coming up the stairs to my room, where I was struggling to fit into a different pair. This one was a bit smaller, so it wouldn't go on.

"Hi Tessa, you look really stunning. Let's go already, your dad said 6pm." Daven said already standing by the door. He came closer, held my foot, and asked,

"Don't you have a bigger shoe? This will hurt your legs." His eyes stayed steady on mine as he said it, so gentle it brought back the way he'd looked at me the last time.

"I... I do." I wore back the white shoes that I removed earlier.

A swipe of red lip gloss finished the look, and we headed for the door.

"It's about to be a crazy night," I said, inaudibly, to no one but myself.

Outside, Daven opened the car door for me and I climbed in like the princess my dad always said I was. The ride stayed quiet until we hit a certain point on the road, when Daven finally spoke.

"Don't you miss us, Tessa? I do."

That landed like a bomb in my ear. I turned and looked at his face. "Us? Please, Daven, there's no us."

He went quiet after that and drove the rest of the way without another word. When we pulled up at the venue, most of my classmates had already settled in. Some were gisting in small circles, others nursing drinks in their hands.

Stepping down from the car, I spotted Blake, my ex boyfriend, sitting on a couch with Monalisa curled around his legs like a coil.

"Today was supposed to be his birthday, I yelled inside my heart. What's he doing here?"

 Sitting few chairs away sat Jake too, across from a girl I didn't recognize.

"Hold my hand, Daven," I whispered, my eyes fixed on Blake and Monalisa. "Just pretend we're a couple."

Daven looked at me for a brief moment, then laced his fingers through mine without a word and we walked in.