My car grinds to a halt in front of the girls school. Their arms wrap around me from behind, hair tickling my skin as they smother me with kisses I return with equal fervency. I release them so they can get their bags, heart thudding and chest tightening at the realisation I will not be seeing them until the weekend. Craning my neck to give them final kisses to their cheeks, I murmur, “Love you two.” The backdoor opens, my insides clench painfully, the weekend went so fast. “Love you too, Daddy.”  They don’t get out of the car, I glance at them through the rearview mirror. Bren nudges Wyn with her elbow, a frown meets my lips and my worry evolves into something bigger. They are hiding something.  “Daddy?” Bren speaks up when Wyn doesn’t, I unfasten my seatbelt and join them at the backseat. Wyn closes the door, Bren climbs to my laps while fiddling with my tie. I grab her hand to stay her movement, my lips move into a smile at how ridiculous

Light filters in through the blinds, casting shadows on the wall opposite the window. Ava nudges her glasses up her nose, a patient smile on her lips. The brown-skinned lady has been all smiles since my arrival. Her thick locs cascading down her shoulders give me the impression she’s better suited as a palm reader than this. A con artist who robs people of their hard earned money with fake, empty promises. I hope she proves me right so I can walk out of this room with a stronger conviction that therapy is shit.We assess each other silently. The ceiling fan continues rolling undisturbed, she pulls her jacket around her, I frown at her increasing smiles. Joshua didn’t inform me she smiled this much. To be fair, I didn’t tell him I would contact his therapist. Hell, I didn’t know I would be here until I found myself in front of the building. El sounded hopeful when I mentioned therapy, it’s largely why I am here. For someone who is having an unexpe

One. Two. One. Two. Three. My fists meet the punching bag in quick succession. Sweat trickles down my forehead to the front of my tank top. I go again, hitting the bag I pretend is Jei’s face until I tire myself out. Hugging the sagging bag, I scream but the sound is muffled by the music playing in the background. I snatch the bottle water lying in the corner, take a long, satisfying gulp and stare at my angry reflection. Heated cheeks. Muscled arms I flex to release the tension. Short drenched in sweat. Tank top glued to my sweaty chest. The lights reflect on my forehead, I swat the hair sticking to my face and groan. The late night workout didn’t help. Fuck. Walking out of the gym with my head cast down, I jog to the room. It is hard to stay focused since I haven’t heard from him. Sure, there are other investors, a lot of people would be honoured to work with me. Only little problem is, they don’t have the money nor patience Jei do

Today must be the day of bastards because this is the second one I am seeing in thirty minutes. At least Jei is a likeable bastard with something to offer, can’t say the same for that asshole over there. Vincent smirks, his hand goes up in mock salute and Jei returns the greeting by tipping his head. I scoff, the idiot is teasing me. Tugging on my tie to the point of suffocating myself, my gaze wanders in his direction, to the back of his head. Though his eyes are glued to his phone, I am certain he is also watching me.Of all the people I had to see today, God chose him. Thank you, Jesus. Doing great work since the day of the separation. I shove that painful reminder somewhere dark, squeeze my knee until images from last night flood my mind. The memories have the desired results, the tension dissolves, I cast Jei a glance. Would it be a good decision to get the card on his behalf? As a sign of goodwill. My focus returns to Vincent, the lights dim but I can still recogn

I wake with a splitting headache, rubbing the back of my hand against my eyes, I place a kiss on Brianna’s forehead with a promise to visit often. The month is almost over and it is my first time here. I should check on her frequently but it’s hard seeing her lifeless body every time, being unable to do anything. The shirt at the foot of the bed catches my eyes, I look around for what I know is not there. A trashcan. I tuck the shirt under my armpit, stroll to Brianna’s wardrobe and pull out an old t-shirt of mine. It smells like whiskey and old shirt but it’s better than walking around the house in only a stained white singlet.My fingers press to my temple, I gently massage the spot until the headache subsides. I exit the room after a glance at the bed. A jolt of pain stabs my insides at the silence, I amble down the corridor with my head cast down. I don’t know, I guess a part of me expected she would have waved or something.