Sarah's Father

The hard pounding on the door continued until I swung it open.

"There's my future son in law!"

The man at the door was built like a model. Tall, perfectly sculpted face, well toned and defined muscles without looking like a bodybuilder. Red hair with hazel eyes and a smile that looked practiced, too perfect. Most people were won over by it, but it always felt hollow to me.

"Nolan... it's good to see you..."

"How many times do I need to tell you! Call me dad! You're basically family!" Nolan tussled my hair as he walked past me. Entering without even asking to come in. "Speaking of, where's that beautiful woman my daughter grew up into?"

"Daddy!"

Sarah jumped up off of the couch when she heard who was here. Her chest bouncing around as she excitedly bound over to hug him. He held her up and spun her around in the air, something I'd seen them do before.

Nolan was a good man, and Sarah completely adored him, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe it was the way his hands seemed to be attached to Sarah's body these days. When he lifted her up to spin her around, they seemed to find themselves resting on her butt. Clinging to the tight fabric of her yoga pants while she held onto him...

I had to be wrong though, he was her father after all. My overprotective mind was just playing tricks on me.

"What are you doing here? I thought you and mom were coming over on Sunday?" Sarah asked as her father put her back onto the ground.

"Ahh... yeah... about that..." a somber look fell across him. It was the first time I'd seen him without a huge grin on his face. "Your mother and I are... well we're working through some stuff right now."

"W-what?" Sarah's mood turned instantly. "What happened!!"

"Well... Liam?" Nolan turned to look at me.

"Uhh... yes sir?" I stammered out.

"Do you mind letting me and my girl talk in private?" He asked. Putting an arm around Sarah.

"Oh, of course. I'll just be outside." I said as I closed the front door behind me. Leaving me alone in the silent apartment hallway.

So I was family enough to call him dad, but not enough to hear about their family troubles?

Not that I was complaining. That kind of awkward situation was something I was thankful to avoid. Sarah hadn't told me much about her family, she didn't seem to like talking about them. The few dinners I'd had with them were present enough, but not once had she told me how she felt about her parents.

She was always short with her mother. Like she was annoyed with her, or holding some grudge. But whenever she was around her dad it was clear that he was the most important person in the world to her.

After me that was... I hoped.

I could understand why she loved her dad so much, even if he gave me weird vibes. But I could never understand what her problem was with her mother. The woman seemed nice and it was clear how similar she was to Sarah. Less similar these days now that Sarah had slimmed down, but she still had all of her warmth and gentleness.

The door creaking open interrupted me from my musing. Sarah walked out and closed the door behind her, eyes glued to the floor.

"She kicked him out." Sarah sighed.

"Ohhh... God... what happened? Did he chest on her?"

"What? No! They don't... ughh..." Sarah groaned in frustration.

"Sorry... I didn't mean it like that." That had been a stupid thing to ask. Especially after being asked to leave so they could talk about it in private.

"It's okay." Sarah sighed again. "It's really bad this time."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"She even froze his cards... he can't access his money."

"That's really awful."

"He... he doesn't have anywhere else to go..."

Sarah's eyes sheepishly looked up at me. In one quick glance I knew exactly what she wanted.

"Sarah... we've finally got our own space. And the plans we had for tonight..." Nolan joked about me being his future son in law, but tonight was the night I finally wanted that to be true! "We can pay for his motel room-"

"I know we can't afford that Liam. Even in the short term." Stepping towards me, Sarah put her arms around me and stared into my eyes. "Please Liam, it's my dad...

Can't we let him stay?”