+Anima Fan Fiction ❯ Stop Pretending to Sleep ❯ Six Cups Of Coffee Plus One Anxious Teenager Equals "Bitch Get Outa My Face" ( Chapter 15 )

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Stop Pretending to Sleep *part 15*

It had been three days since the encounter with the man that Justice still didn't want to believe was her father. She called Josh a few days after Bill left and told him what happened. Justice felt like she could talk to Josh about this because his father left him when he was a baby too. He recently met his grandfather and was planning on meeting his father for the first time once he got his G2.

It was 7:30am. Justice had agreed to meet Bill at Tim Horton's in Hagersville at 9:00am and Josh had agreed to go with her for moral support. Justice sat in front of her vanity mirror brushing her hair and critiquing her outfit for the hundredth time when Josh walked into her dorm. Justice looked up at her friend with tears in her eyes and hope in her heart. She looked down at her shoes and back up at Josh.

“You look beautiful. How do you want to do this?” Josh asked.

“I don't know. I stayed up all night thinking about it and I still have no idea what I'm going to say or how I'm going to handle the situation. Should I ask questions or let him do all the talking? How long should I stay for? Should I leave first or should I wait until he leaves? When we do leave should I shake his hand or hug him or should I just say goodbye?”

“Stop worrying so much. I know this is hard for you but you just have to trust that you're strong enough to get through this.”

Josh smiled at Justice and for the first time she noticed that he had the most beautiful blue eyes. Like Hugh Laurie from the T.V. hospital show `House'. But this was no time to think of blue eyes. Justice had to focus on her meeting with Bill.

She and Josh sat in her dorm talking until 8:30am. Justice didn't bother getting teacher permission to go off-campus because she didn't want any one knowing what was going on. She had only told Josh and planned to keep it that way until she knew exactly what was going on. Justice and Josh snuck off school-grounds and walked the fifteen minutes to Hagersville. It was another five minutes to get to Tim Horton's and when they got there Justice was relieved to see Bill hadn't showed up yet. Josh agreed to sit at a table nearby so he could give Justice her space but be right there if she needed him. Josh and Justice ordered coffee and sat at separate tables. She waited for an hour before giving up hope. Justice had already bought six cups of coffee when she finally decided to leave. Then Bill walked in and ordered a coffee for himself. He sat at the table across from her and didn't say a word. Tim Horton's was crowded but Justice couldn't hear a thing. The silence was deafening.

She could think of only one thing to say.

“You're late.”

“I know and I'm sorry. I had an emergency meeting with a client and it ran a little later than expected.”

Justice couldn't help herself. She had to know the truth. “Why did you leave? What was so bad about being a dad that you couldn't stick around for your own daughter?”

Bill was silent for a moment sipping his coffee. Justice was growing impatient and after debating whether or not to leave she grabbed her purse and empty coffee cup and stood to leave.

“Where are you going?” asked Bill, shocked.

“I'm leaving! I asked you to come here to answer a few questions about my past not so you can stroll in over an hour late and not even say hello!”

Justice walked to the door without looking at Josh but was stopped a few feet from the door by Bill. It wasn't a physical move that stop her but a few simple words that made her turn around and resume her seat across from the father Justice had never really known.

“I loved your mother very much and I loved you before you were even born. I wanted to stay. You have to believe me when I say that. I never meant to hurt you or your mother but she was so damned determined to keep me away from you. She didn't want me around you, not even on weekends. When I persisted she took me to court saying that I abused you and her. It was her boyfriend who hit her, not me. But she convinced the judge that I was an un-fit father and she got a restraining order against me. She left town with you and changed her number. I had no way of reaching you. I didn't even know where you were until a month ago. She moved you around and changed yours and her last name so many times that I couldn't find you. No one could. I don't know what she told you but I didn't leave you by choice.”

Justice was stunned. Her mother told Justice that she told Bill to get a job or get out because he was basically a dead-beat and he chose to leave. Justice had hated Bill all her life and now he tells her that her own mother lied to her. Under normal circumstances Justice probably would've believed it but right now she was on a caffeine buzz from hell and refused to believe a word this man said to her.

“But she didn't change my name. I've been a Gibson all my life. And mom told me you chose to leave because you didn't want to pay child support. Now you're telling me she lied? What the hell do you expect me to believe?”

Bill put his head down looking completely defeated. Justice heard his cell phone ring and when Bill flipped it open to answer it she got a clear view of the Caller I.D.

`Julian Bradford

289-265-6769'

“Julian? Yea, I'm a little busy right now. I'm with a client.” Bill turned to Justice and said, “I'll be a couple minutes. Please don't leave.”

Bill resumed his focus to the person on the other end of the phone and went outside leaving Justice there for almost twenty minutes foolishly miming to Josh sitting at the other table looking completely perplexed.