Two Daughters

DB86 #1

Thanks Vandemonium1 for inspiring me to put these stories into writing.

Edited by Pat

Sometimes, when you lose, you still win.

This is a revised version of my first story. The plot is still the same. I corrected some mistakes, rewrote some paragraphs, and added a few lines here and there.

***

CHAPTER 1

My daughter, Elise parked her brand new car in the parking lot, entered the restaurant, and sat in front of me. I had to ruefully agree that she looked great in her new fancy clothes.

She looked around, spotted me and walked to my table, kissed me on the cheek, and sat down in front of me.

"Hi, Dad," she said, her hands fidgeting with her new iPhone.

I instantly knew that something was very wrong.

The waitress took our orders and I waited in silence to see what she had to say.

Things had been very awkward between us after my divorce. She had started to cut her visits short and didn't want to stay overnight. Most of the time she was paying more attention to her phone than I.

The waitress brought our orders and I sipped my tea without saying a word.

She kept stirring her coffee till she finally found the courage she was looking for to say what was on her mind.

"Dad, this is not easy for me to say, but the thing is I don't want to visit you anymore. Not every other weekend as I am doing now. I'm 16 and I can choose if I see you or not. And I decided not."

I felt my heart breaking.

***

A year ago, a wealthy surgeon asshole, doctor Richard Cavanaugh, had chased Louise, my ex-wife, relentlessly with gifts and lunches till she fell in love with him and left me. The whore had dated him all through high school till he went away to college putting an end to their relationship.

My parents couldn't pay for my education so I went to community college and worked part-time jobs. Louise and I meet during a frat party and we were instantly attracted to each other. If I had known what had transpired between her and Richard, I would have figured that I was her rebound man. However, after dating her for months, I thought Louise was sincerely in love with me. Louise's family didn't come from money either. However, Louise was a beautiful girl who could open doors with nothing but a smile. We dated casually for a few months, even when her family strongly disapproved of me. Her mother was always saying that a gorgeous girl like her could do better.

The last semester had started, when Louise dropped the bomb on me, telling me she was pregnant. I was too shocked to be happy but I did the right thing. We both dropped out of college during the last months of her pregnancy and I switched from college to a welding training program. Eight months later I had a welding diploma and I got a job as a welder that allowed me to earn enough money to support my family. It wasn't the best-paid job around but they had a good health plan.

I never got back to college because I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace of my classes, work, and family. There just wasn't enough money or hours in the day to do it.

Three years later, my wife finished college and became a nurse.

She went to work part-time when our daughter Elise was in Junior-High, and full-time when she started high school.

Money was tight and I worked long hours to make ends meet.

I was happy. I loved my wife and I adored my daughter. Sex was good. We didn't have a lot of things but we were managing.

I was completely unaware that our relationship had soured. I thought life was good. We had each other and I supposed we were a happy family.

Then I discovered that Louise's long-lost high-school sweetheart was back in town. He was a surgeon and had started to work at the same hospital as Louise. She never said a word about him to me.

My wife also failed to tell me about the long lunches they shared. She never shared her doubts with me when she started to develop feelings for him again.

Of course, I wasn't informed that my wife was having sex with doctor Dick three or four times a week.

In other words, I was a trusting idiot who believed that my wife would never cheat on me

One night, I came home from work and found my wife waiting for me dressed to kill and wearing an expensive matching set of diamond necklace and earrings.

"Louise, are we going out? Where did you get this dress and the jewelry?"

She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Paul, I'm leaving you. You are not earning enough money and you never will. We are not making sufficient progress. I'm tired of not being able to enjoy what life has to offer. I'm tired of not having money to go out to fancy places, have dinner at a nice restaurant or not being able to travel to all the wonderful places we always dreamed to visit. This is not the life I want. I'm tired of driving an old car and not having any jewelry, or classy dresses to wear. I deserve better. I want out."

I was stunned.

"What?"

Not a brilliant comeback, but my brain was still processing the news.

"I'm divorcing you. I left the papers on the kitchen counter. I'm not asking for anything except child support. I took only 30% of our savings. I already canceled our credits cards. You can keep the house. I never liked it. I'm not asking for alimony or going after your 401k. None of them are worth fighting for. You can waste money on a lawyer if you want, but you'll find out it's a good deal. I'm sorry our relationship didn't work."

Her voice didn't match her last words. She sounded cold, distant, emotionless. Sorry, my ass. She could barely hide a smile.

"Where is Elise?" I asked looking around.

"She's staying with my folks. I'm asking for full custody and giving you liberal visitation rights."

I still couldn't believe this was happening. Louise gave me absolutely no hint that our marriage was in trouble. I felt my heart was being ripped out of my chest. This morning when I went to work I had a wife and daughter. Now apparently I had none.

"Does Elise know about this?"

"Yes, she does and she expressed that she wanted to live with me. If you have more questions you can contact my lawyer. I left his card with the divorce papers. Goodbye, Paul. I wish you well."

"Eat shit and die, bitch."

She strutted out of the house shutting the door behind her.

I sat there unable to move. I felt like I got hit by a train.

"What the fuck just happened here?" I thought.

I called my daughter and asked her if she knew about her mother wanting to divorce me.

"Yes, Dad, I am aware of the situation. Mom and I had been talking about her feelings for weeks."

"You knew about this and you didn't say anything to me?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. Mom asked me not to say anything."

Elise did sound sad. I felt her silence was a new betrayal.

"I'm going to find a lawyer and fight for shared custody, Eli."

"Dad... Next year I'll be 16 and I can choose with which parent I want to live. You'll be wasting your time."

My heart stopped.

"Dad? Dad? Are you still there?"

"Yes, Eli, I'm still here I just can't believe my ears. Are you saying that you don't want to live with me?"

"It doesn't mean I don't love you. I'll see you every other weekend."

Wow! Here I was, dying, and my daughter was happily informing me that she was okay seeing me only every other weekend. I ended the call without saying anything else.

During the next days, I did my best to put the pieces of my life back together. I took the necessary steps to protect myself even when apparently I had no need. I read the divorce papers and confirmed that Louise wasn't asking for anything except child support. A quick check-up online told me that she hadn't taken anything from our meager savings except what she'd informed me of. I moved the remaining money to an account in my name only and asked for a new credit card.

I cried myself to sleep at night. All my dreams had been shattered.

The whole situation didn't make sense to me unless Louise had someone who was supporting her and my daughter.

I started to make some calls to some of Louise's co-workers that I knew she wasn't on good terms with. Piece by piece, I uncovered the truth about her and her lost love Richard "Dick" Cavanaugh. It wasn't a pretty picture. Louise had been cheating on me for months. A lot of small details I had ignored started coming to the surface. I felt like a sucker.

I tried to contact my soon-to-be ex-wife, but she told me that all contact should be addressed to her lawyer and hung up on me. Elise talked with me for a while, but she always had some excuse to end the call.

I informed my mom and my sister (my father had died of cancer years ago and mom was living with my sis) about what had happened. They were both as shocked at the news as I was. They offered all their support and even money for a lawyer, which I refused.

I didn't bother to call her parents. They never liked me. I was pretty sure they were celebrating the news.

I also put the house on the market. It was way too big and costly for me alone. I canceled all non-essential services such as the landline and cable to save money.

I paid a cheap lawyer to check the divorce papers and he confirmed that it was a good deal. He also advised me against fighting for my daughter's custody.

"If your daughter doesn't want to live with you it will be a waste of time and money. I really hope you can smooth things over with your daughter, it's a rough situation to be in and never an easy one to approach but sometimes kids have to learn hard lessons on their own."

Did I try to get revenge on the asshole?

You bet I did. I followed him with my truck for days but never had a chance to kick his ass and not end in jail. He lived in a gated community with private security. The parking lot at the hospital had security personnel and cameras. My internet search didn't show anything bad about him. Doctor Dick was divorced. No kids. I located his ex-wife and called her. She told me she caught him cheating and kicked his ass to the curb. There was no prenup so she did well in the divorce. I thought about sharing this information with the whore of my soon to be ex-wife, but since she was a cheater herself, I was sure it wasn't going to change anything. You know what they say 'birds of a feather...'

During my search, I found pictures of doctor Dick, my ex-wife, and my daughter. They looked happy. Almost like a real family. It hurt so much that I closed all my social media accounts.

I talked again with a lawyer about suing the hospital but he told me the employment laws were in place to protect employees only. "A non-employee doesn't have a legal claim against an employer in this type of situation. In some states, you could bring an alienation of affection case against your wife's lover, but not in Ohio."

After the whore left, I didn't have a life outside work. I didn't date. I didn't even go looking for sex. The only moments I longed for were my daughter's visits. The divorce papers Louise gave me granted me a weekend every two weeks.

The first visit was awkward. I was bitter toward her mother and doctor Dick.

"All that Mom wanted was to experience a life that you couldn't give to her, Dad. You can't blame her for what she did."

"Then she should have talked with me and said that she wanted out of our marriage. It would have hurt, but I would have understood her reasons. Then, as a divorced woman she would have been free to pursue any man she wanted. But your mother didn't do that, did she? She cheated repeatedly on me, lied to me, and pursued a romantic relationship with another guy while she was still married to me. I taught you to call things by their name, Eli, and that's called adultery."

My daughter looked at me, fighting with herself. I knew she could see my point. I raised her and we'd had long talks about family values, being honest, and doing the right thing.

However, I knew that nothing we were doing during our visits could be as exciting as the life she was leading with doctor Dick and the whore. She was caught in the excitement of her new life and it was obvious to me that she didn't want to give up all the things she got, to side with a man who could barely buy her a bicycle. I could also see my ex-wife messing with her mind. Elise couldn't stop talking about her new house, her new room, and all the things Doctor Dick was buying her.

After years of living together, I was used to having Elise around. Seeing her only every other weekend was like having a wound that never healed. Like a band-aid being ripped off over and over. The pain never really went away.

Our visits never really took off. Elise was distant, bored, not interested in doing anything I proposed. I could see that my daughter was caught up with her new lifestyle. Our old house couldn't compete with her new home and my budget was limited to a movie or dinner at a restaurant.

"Eli, I know I can't give you the things that the doctor Dick... I mean, your mother's new love interest is giving you, but I want us to have a good time when you visit. Just tell me what you want to do."

We tried going to the cinema and cooking together. There were some fun, bonding moments, but I could see that Elise was bored most of the time, texting and looking distracted.

It was heartbreaking seeing my beloved daughter slip away from me a bit more with each visit, despite my best efforts.

Two weeks after the divorce was final, the doctor Dick and the whore got married. My daughter was her bridesmaid. I wasn't invited.

On one occasion, I got two tickets for a boy's band concert that she loved. The tickets weren't in the best seats, but even so, I paid a small fortune for them. I texted her with a pic of the tickets trying to give her something to look forward to on our next visit. She answered, excited about going to the concert. However, two days before the show, she texted me saying that doctor Dick had gotten better tickets and that she was going to go to the concert with them.

The last thing I wanted was another rift with my daughter, but I was hurt and disappointed. So I called her and let her have it.

"I thought I had raised you better than this. I know I can't compete with a surgeon, but it wasn't about the concert or having the best seats. It was about us having a good time together as father and daughter. Do you have any idea the sacrifices I had to make to buy these tickets you just rejected? You know I love you, but I feel I'm fighting alone to keep our relationship alive. You're drifting apart from me and I don't know what to do. This situation doesn't work for me at all."

"I thought you would be happy to know I'm enjoying my life. Richard loves me as much you do."

I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming. When I spoke I did it in a very low and dark tone of voice. "No one loves you as much as I do."

"Yes, Daddy," she said softly. "He does. He's not a bad man."

"I'm hardly going to compete with your mother's husband for my daughter's love," I said disdainfully.

"It's not a competition. I have more than enough love for both of you, but you're putting me in the awful position of having to choose between you. I won't do that."

"If you have enough love for both of us, how come you always seem bored when you spend time with me and you can't run fast enough to go back to your beloved Doctor Dick? How come you're talking about him all the time and I have to pull the words out of your mouth when you're with me. Is money so important to you? I'm starting to realize I didn't do such a good job raising you after all."

"Dad, you're overreacting. I'm sorry about the concert. I didn't think. I was excited because we're going backstage to meet the band. Richard knows people..."

"Save it, Eli. I don't want to hear it. Enjoy the show." I ended the call and fought not to smash the phone against the wall.

CHAPTER 2

My daughter's voice brought me back to reality.

"Dad, did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah, I heard you loud and clear, Kiddo. You don't want to see me anymore. What do you want me to say? Are you expecting me to beg? Would it change your mind if I do?"

Elise shook her head.

"I thought so. I still have some pride and self-respect left. Does it hurt to hear you saying that you don't want to be part of my life anymore? Yes, it does. It hurts a lot, but you're a big girl now and capable of making your own decisions and facing the consequences of your choices."

"Dad, you're being a bit dramatic, it's not that I don't want to see you anymore. This is not about hurting you. I just want some time for myself..."

I raised my hand to stop her.

"Your mother said the same thing to me about her cheating, but it hurt anyway. Her time for herself didn't include me either but it included the asshole she cheated on me with."

"Dad! Richard is not a bad guy! If you give him a chance and you get to know him, I'm sure you two could become friends. He could even help you with your job."

I snorted.

"Not going to happen. Please don't compare me with him. Your new hero is a cheater. He cheated on his first wife and then when he found your mother, he used his money to chase and seduce her, knowing she was married. He had sex with your mother for months behind my back while she lied to my face. In my book that makes your beloved good doctor a scumbag of the worse kind and your mother a whore that went along with it."

She opened her mouth to say something but I interrupted her.

"This meeting isn't about them, but about you and me. Let me ask you this: was I such a bad father? I worked lots of hours trying to provide for you and your mom, and even so I was there for you any time you needed me. I drove you to school every day in my truck. I never missed a school function. You never missed a present on Christmas Day or your birthday. I took care of you every time you were sick. We used to go on a bike ride at the park on Saturdays, or we visited the zoo. Remember the couch fort we used to build together on rainy days? Maybe I wasn't a great provider but I did the best I could to be a good father and you and your mother never lacked anything essential."

For a moment, my daughter's expression softened and a brief smile came to her lips.

"You ARE a great father. My decision has nothing to do with you. I still love you, Dad. This is about me. You need to understand, I'm going to a new school; I have a new group of friends and a busy social life. On weekends, Mom, Richard and I go to the club. I play tennis, swim at the pool, and hang with my friends. Sometimes we go sailing on his sailboat. Honestly, being with you is not as exciting as being with them. No offense."

I watched her in silence. A lump rose in my throat. I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears.

When I finally got enough control of my emotions to talk, my voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you all those things. I worked hard to provide for you and your mother the best I could. I thought those things didn't really matter as long as we loved each other. It seems I was wrong. I'm poor, I'm boring, and being with me is not as exciting as being with your mom, her sugar daddy, and your new snob friends, so you're kicking me to the curb as your mother did."

She took my hand and squeezed it gently.

"Please, Dad. I love you."

"Actions speak louder than words, Kiddo. Another lesson I did my best to teach you."

Elise was crying now. I knew I wasn't making it easy for her, but I was hurting inside.

"Dad, please understand that I have to look to my future. A future you can't give me, but Richard can. He is going to take care of my college expenses at a major university. You could have never given me anything like that."

I could clearly see the whore's hand behind my daughter's words and reasoning. I was pretty sure that my daughter had been tutored on what to say to me.