Stephanie's dad

Stephanie had taken her shirt off and was about to slide the pajama bottoms off when Mike’s doorbell rang. The blonde woman scrambled to cover herself up and went to see who was at the door.

“Hello?” she said as the door creaked open. “Hi, Daddy!”

“Hiya Pumpkin! How’s the head feeling this afternoon?” Bart Taylor greeted his only biological child.

As Mike and Stephanie were always attached at the hip growing up, he viewed Mike as the son he never had. As the pair grew older, he began viewing Mike as his future son-in-law. He teased Mike relentlessly about not moving to New York to sweep his daughter off her feet. When she was around, he was even worse.

“I’m fine, Dad. Mike’s the one who was drinking heavily last night,” Stephanie grimaced as she led her father to Mike’s dining room and sat at the table.

“And how is Hubby feeling today?” Bart grinned.

“Daddy, stop it!” the blonde rolled her eyes at her father.

“What? I can’t have a little fun at the expense of the man who’s gonna marry my only daughter one day?” the older Taylor laughed.

“Dad, how many times do I have to tell you? There’s nothing going on between us! He’s my best friend, not one of your police buddies whose balls you can bust all day!” Stephanie told her father.

“Don’t worry, Sweetheart. I know there’s nothing going on with you two. I wouldn’t bust his balls if I thought there was!” Bart reassured his daughter.

“Yes. You would!” Stephanie glared.

The sounds of footsteps coming down the hallway refocused the attention of the father and daughter bantering at the table. Mike stepped around the corner and greeted his visitor.

“Hey Mr. Taylor! How’s it going?” Mike shook Bart’s hand and offered him a drink.

“Dammit, Boy! How many times I gotta tell you to call me by my first name! Hell, you’ll be calling me ‘Dad’ before you know it!” Bart laughed.

“DADDY!” Stephanie shouted.

“Okay. I can do that. Hey Mister, how’s it going?” Mike smirked and winked at Stephanie.

“See? He gets it. Ball busting, it’s what we do. If his brother was here, I’d be busting his balls, too. If their father, God rest his soul, was here, we’d spend hours watching sports and busting on each other. It’s a guy thing. You ladies go shopping. Us guys, we bust each other's balls!” Bart chuckled as he saw his daughter become frustrated with him.

“Mike, help me out here!” Stephanie half-pleaded, half-warned her best friend.

“Sorry, Steph. No can do! You don’t have any balls to bust!”

“HAHAHA!” Bart burst out laughing as he patted Mike on the shoulder.

“Oh my God! You two are incorrigible. Subject change: Why are you here, Daddy?” Stephanie fumed, knowing full well she’d be laughing about this exchange later.

“Here to pick you up, Sweetie! Your boss called. He needs you to close tonight! You gotta be there by five,” the older Taylor told his daughter.

“Seriously? I asked for this weekend off when I first started working there. I swear that creep just wants me there so he can stare at my ass some more!”

“Is that the pimple-faced lard ass you were telling me about the other day? I’ll have my boys pull him over and teach him a lesson,” Bart gritted his teeth.

“No thanks, Daddy. I can handle him myself. If he gets fresh, I’ll bust his balls for real like you taught me. I’ll just be glad when June comes around and some of the old crows at the school retire and I can apply for a position. I hate that store!”

When Stephanie had first returned to Pearl Valley, she had inquired about teaching at her old elementary school, but there were no openings available. The secretary did inform her though that several teachers were expected to retire at the end of coming school year and to try back again around May. To make some money, she had gone back to work at the same department store that she had worked at when she was in high school. Much to her dismay, one of her managers had a bad case of elevator eyes that were almost solely fixated on her. ”The joys of being jobless!” she told herself every time she caught him watching her stock shelves or bending over to pick something up.