Cherry on Top

All characters are at least 18 years old.

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Cherry

"You're welcome."

"Y'know, if you weren't so patronizing all the time, I think I'd like you more," I muttered. There was a pause over the phone, probably Lexi tittering to herself. I'd been around her enough that I could picture the impish grin on her face. "But... thank you."

"My pleasure."

"I'm starting to get the sense that it is."

"Hmph. Sometimes I wonder what kind of person you think I am," she grumbled.

"You're the kind of person who's willing to help a girl with seducing her..." I trailed off, not wanting to utter such sin so early in the day.

"Heh. Look at us. Just two girls gabbing about boys over the phone. I think this is the start of something beautiful," she chuckled.

"Oh shut up. I'm still not sure about you like that," I replied, though I couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway. I heard good things about Providence." Lexi's tone was now all business. "You should go see it with your dad."

"Any particular reason?"

"Draco's a fantastic actor and you get a free idea for a date with your dad," she answered simply. "Does there need to be anything beyond that?"

"I suppose not," I admitted. "Damn, he's been busy the past year, huh? First A Dreamlike Life, then Prodigal, and now Providence. That's quite the range."

"Exactly. Go for an afternoon viewing, maybe tease your dad some on ComeDaddy, and watch him squirm as he goes on a date with you while unknowingly thinking about your body."

Her words brought back memories of his face when I pleasured him. Beforehand, Lexi had told me that he'd look in pain, but it was in fact immense pleasure and I shouldn't worry about it. But he had hesitated at one point, as if he'd been having second thoughts. Perhaps he felt dirty for messing around with a high schooler, but it could also be that...

"Do you think he knows?" I whispered.

"What? Where's this coming from? You looked pretty pleased when I drove you home last night."

"There was a moment, where..." I frowned, wondering if I was overthinking things.

"Did he say or do anything that would suggest that?" she asked. I told her about his hesitation, and she made a single sound of contemplation before lapsing into silence. After a while she asked, "What did he look like when this happened?"

"Worried, or in pain, some kind of frown. I don't know if it's what you were telling me about or something else."

"But he kept going afterwards?"

"Yeah. But he did come into my room to check on me when he got home. And he asked me..." I suddenly got an awful pit in my stomach at the thought. I hadn't wanted to focus on it last night, instead just basking in my excitement, but how he'd phrased his question was suspicious.

You've definitely been here all night, right?

It gave the same feeling of how he used to give me a chance to come clean from a lie. Oh no.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Lexi decided dismissively. "If your dad found out, he wouldn't have followed through, would he?"

"I guess not..." I grudgingly agreed.

"There we go. Don't you worry your pretty little head, alright? Anything I come up with is airtight and sure to produce the desired results."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you ever doubted yourself in your life?"

She snorted. "What the hell is 'doubt?'"

"And you still haven't told me exactly why you're doing this. Last time you said it was to 'prove a point.' Never said to who."

"Very true, I never did. Anyway, the plan for tonight stays the same. Don't forget to hit your dad up on the app before going to the movies, and then I'll come pick you up when it's time. Text me if something goes wrong."

She promptly hung up on me, completely ignoring my question. I really hoped that, if she were proving a point to somebody, she wasn't somehow documenting what was happening with me and my dad. That'd be a nightmare, and I didn't want to drag my dad into some kind of scandal. I groaned and hung my head. Why'd it have to be so hard?

I looked at my phone, shaking my head as I texted Lexi.

Me:

one day youre gonna explain to me what this is all about for you

Lexi:

doubt it ;)

What the hell is 'doubt?'

I pursed my lips in annoyance, then switched to ComeDaddy.

Me:

we still up for tonight?

Leon:

Of course. As long as you're comfortable with it

Me:

heehee

I paused to consider something, then typed out my message.

Me:

does cherry know?

I waited anxiously for his response, unsure of what I hoped to gain from this line of questioning. If he knew, yet pretended not to, he very well wasn't about to reveal that here. Still, it'd be interesting to see his response. And if he didn't know, what would he say about concealing his affair from me?

Leon:

I'm not sure if I want my daughter to have any involvement whatsoever with this

I frowned quizzically. Ambiguous, almost cryptic given what I knew, and he didn't directly answer the question. Did he know it was me and was subtly dropping a hint? Did he want "Lexi" to keep this to herself? I sighed in frustration. Time to go for a bit of fishing.

Me:

dont think i missed what your preferences lean toward

Me:

young, red hair, green eyes

Me:

youre a naughty daddy, arent you~

Leon:

Heh. For the record, the spanking wasn't my idea

Leon:

So one would assume it's you who's being the naughty girl, no?

A clean deflection from my provocation of drawing similarities between "Lexi" and myself, and straight into a flirt. I bit my lip. Dad was pretty slick. A gentleman with playboy lines.

Me:

then are you gonna punish me again tonight? ;)

Urgh. That sounded like something out of a bad smut piece. Aside from concealing my voice, another advantage of stipulating not to speak during our meetings was that I didn't have to dirty talk. But where was I supposed to learn? Online porn seemed to have dialogue of similar awfulness. How did phone sex operators do it? Or perhaps things only sounded hot when it was happening to you.

Leon:

Maybe if you're a good girl between now and then, we can work something else out

I gulped, wondering what that entailed. I considered for a moment, then stripped down to my underwear. My panties were cotton, with a cherry design. I hated the irony, but they really were a cute pair and I ended up buying them. Next I put myself up against a wall and turned one of my knees inward, raising it a bit to tease the viewer. I snapped a picture of my waist down, checking to make sure there was nothing to identify that it'd been taken in my room just as Lexi instructed, then sent it to dad.

I heard him exit his bedroom, then pausing for a notable moment before closing his door behind him. He was reading our messages around the house. If he'd been sexting another girl while I was around, I'd go insane with jealousy. As it stood, I only got more excited knowing he wanted me enough to stay updated on our conversation in public. I put my clothes back on, set my phone on silent, and went out to the kitchen where he was still staring at his phone.

"Morning, dad," I said, spirits lifted and thoughts of dad possibly knowing far from my mind.

He looked up at me and cleared his throat before smiling at me. "Morning, princess." It was after noon, but we still greeted each other like that on Sundays. It was tradition, as was eating junk food together for lunch. "What are we having?"

As he stood, I replied, "I was thinking of having ramen, honestly. We got some cheesy Korean stuff and it's really good. Don't trouble yourself, I'll cook."

He sat back down with a mildly curious look. "Didn't know Koreans ate cheese."

"It seems their cuisine is picking it up. I think some hip places even have Korean barbeque with cheese sauce. Is that considered fusion?" I set up what I needed in the kitchen and began cooking. My dad was back on his phone, staring at the screen before tapping something out.

"Sorry, just that friend from last night pulling favors for me," he said, setting it down. When I pouted, he raised his hands in apology. "I know, I'm sorry, no work on Sunday. But it's, uh... important." I had to hide my smirk, knowing he was talking about me and my nude 'favor.' "Uh, yeah, I suppose that's fusion. Although with how globalized everything is, if they fully integrate cheese into their cuisine then, well, that'll just be Korean food from now on."

We both laughed, and I checked my phone to read his response.

Leon:

My my, you really are a good girl. Okay, maybe I'll give you a good tease later

Leon:

Just make sure to be wearing these

I shouldn't have offered to cook. Now he would notice that my responses only came when I took a break from cooking to hop on my phone. I cursed myself for having thought of this earlier but getting careless and forgetting. Best not to reply at all then.

As I got out a can of luncheon meat to add to the ramen, I caught him looking at me intently. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I laughed nervously, tucking my hair behind my ear. "What's up, dad?"

He gazed at me for a bit longer then answered, eyes full of... sorrow? "You know I'd never do anything to hurt you, right Cherish? I know sometimes I might make mistakes, but it's never intentional. Sometimes... Sometimes people just get caught up in the moment, and before you know it, you're somewhere you never pictured yourself being."

I wanted to scream. What did he mean by that?! If he knew it was me last night, he might have been apologizing for doing that stuff with me. If he didn't know, maybe he was talking about never talking to me about mom. How was I supposed to tell?!

I gulped, not meeting his eyes. "It's okay. You're doing your best. And whatever it is, I'm sure we can work it out."

He nodded somberly, then tilted his head to look past me. "Cherish, the noodles are boiling over."

I cursed and took the pot off the heat, setting it aside so I could cook up a plate of meat. When I set the food down, we both picked up our phones and read as we ate.

Me:

you dont want something more sexy? i can wear lace instead ;)

Leon:

Nah, I think I like these better

Me:

youre a bit of a pervert, arent you mr valentine~

Leon:

Perhaps

His phone was silenced too, I noted. We conversed seamlessly like that, unspeaking and sitting a foot from each other. Something about the situation made it more thrilling. The anonymity, no matter how flimsy, provided a sense of excitement. Dad was staring at his phone with laser focus as we texted. Maybe he didn't know after all.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanna watch a movie later," I suggested. "My friends were talking about Providence. It's like this tomb raiding, action/mystery kinda thing. Interested?"

Dad looked up at me with a smile. "Sure, that sounds cool. I was actually worried you wanted to drag me to a romantic teen film or something, given the month and all."

Shit, that's right. It was Valentine's Day on Friday. It'd be nice to do something together, but I wasn't getting my hopes up. I couldn't come out to dad like that.

"Eh, I'm probably not gonna be into that stuff. My friends and I are most likely gonna do a Singles' Day or something. I dunno." I shrugged and he nodded.

"Good."

I looked at him, even as he turned back to his phone. "You're happy I'm not dating?"

He looked up at me, horrified. "Honey, that's not what I meant! I mean, you should be... gaining experience, having fun -- though not too much fun -- and... and..." He seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. He was trying so hard to not be the disapproving dad, and I almost laughed. "Y'know, they say that you don't really know yourself until you fall in love, and-- Jesus, what am I saying? Love?" He laughed out loud to himself, and I giggled along with him. "Well, we should get going if we want to get some good seats at the theater, right? Let's clean up and head out."

We did the dishes together and I just couldn't help but think back to his ramble.

He never answered my question.

--

I realized quite early on why Lexi recommended this movie to me specifically. That bitch.

The protagonist Shay was a renowned tomb raider with decades of experience, and he would have all kinds of adventures with his friends, solving ancient mysteries and the like. In Providence, he was solving the case of his own missing uncle after finding hidden messages in thunder. Yeah, it was some pretty crazy stuff. It was also going to be his last adventure, as the character was dying of a lung disease.

Shay's investigation eventually led him to a clandestine organization that collected precious relics, where he met a woman half his age, a fan of his. Hattie was cute as a button, fangirling all over Shay, and I'm pretty sure she wanted something more as well.

But Shay was almost old enough to be her dad.

As the scene on the screen played out, of Hattie gazing in adoration at her idol as Shay worked out how to navigate the bowels of the organization's headquarters, I peered over at dad. It looked like he was enjoying the movie, and he looked over to check on me. I blushed and turned away, just as something happened on screen. Shay had pushed Hattie against the wall, demanding her to tell the truth about betraying him. The young woman was crying, swearing upon everything that she'd never lie to him. She was in love with him, she reasoned, how could she lie? I swallowed, looking down at my lap.

I was deceiving my dad. I was making him commit something heinous for my own selfish desires.

I had to tell him. Failing that, I had to end this.

I only vaguely caught what happened during the rest of the movie. Hattie joined Shay's team and they eventually tracked down the source of the anomalous thunder. Bronze superstructures designed for resonance, who'd have thought? But as far as the romantic plot line went, Shay could only keep stressing that things between him and Hattie wouldn't work.

Of course it wouldn't work. He was my dad. We weren't supposed to be doing this.

In the end, Shay and Hattie went their separate ways: Shay, now cured by an elixir found in the ruins, was moving onto the next adventure with his friends, while Hattie needed to head back to her organization. A happy ending for everybody in the theater except me. I swallowed a sob before the lights came on, making sure my face was dry.

"Princess? Are you okay?" Dad patted my back, and I nodded.

"It's just... some surprisingly touching moments," I managed.

"It was even better than I expected," he agreed. "C'mon, we should get going. Maybe catch some dinner together. Afterwards I have to meet that friend again to work some stuff out."

"Are you sure you have to go?" I sniffled. I must have been really rattled to suggest that. Did I somehow forget it was me he was meeting?

"Well, I..." He looked at me, seemingly at a loss for words. "I suppose I can reschedule."

No, Cherry. You gotta tell him the truth.

You should probably decide what you actually want if you're second-guessing if you 'want to take that step' or not. If not, then we're just wasting our time here.

I realized I wanted more. The sex was nice, but I had to admit to myself that I was in love with my dad. I wanted to be with him. And lying to him wasn't how I showed my love. But we could never be. This tryst was all I had.

I took a deep breath. One more night, then I'll tell him. Curse my selfishness.

"No, it's okay," I heard myself say. "We should eat quickly, so you can get there earlier, and then get back home earlier."

Dinner itself was a haze. He left after I'd assured him a friend would come pick me up. He drove off toward the hotel where we were meeting, and I texted Lexi. Not long after, she arrived in her Mercedes, and I got in. I felt hollow. There was a perpetual ringing in my ears. I was about to ruin everything, but it was for the best. I couldn't do this to the man I loved with all my heart. Not anymore.

"Plan's off. I want out," I told Lexi.

--

Dad was already in the hotel room when I arrived. I couldn't prepare as well as last time, so I entered wearing my mask, as well as different clothes from before. Despite my decision, my body was aching for him. Might as well make the most of this; it was going to be the last time. I loved him, but I couldn't be with him. I'd never marry. I'd get nine cats and die alone and get eaten by the little animals. How morbid.

Dad was sitting on the bed in just his jeans. No blindfold this time, just leaned back and propped up on his arms. I took a deep breath and approached him, unbuttoning the blouse I was wearing. No t-shirts. Couldn't pull them over the mask without risking it coming off. I wasn't wearing a bra underneath, and dad swallowed and leaned forward when my little breasts were exposed. I walked into his arms, and he kissed my midriff, hands at the small of my back as I cradled his head, pulling him toward me.

His hands moved down to cup my ass, and I gave a small gasp. He unbuttoned my jeans and slowly slid them down my legs. I stepped out of them, giving him a nice view of my cherry panties. He growled in approval and kissed them too, lips pressing against the cotton and onto my flesh.

Fuck, I really couldn't do this. I couldn't let him do something he'd regret; we'd gone far enough already. He'd hate me forever if we kept going and he found out. I pulled away suddenly, and his arms reached out after me. I shook my head as I backed away, not with a flirty teasing expression like he was probably expecting, but with one of grief and regret. I couldn't even say a proper goodbye, or he'd recognize my voice and know it was me. No talking. I stifled a sob and reached down for the jeans.

"Cherish," he murmured, and I froze. My eyes darted up to his, and it seemed he hadn't planned to say that. He was likewise petrified, and we stared at each other for what felt like eternity. Almost robotically, I finally brought a finger to my lips, but he shook his head. "It's too late. Cat's out of the bag already."

He grabbed my hands and pulled me onto his lap, and as I sat on his thighs he reached up and gently plucked my mask off. I think I was hyperventilating. He gazed at me, expression inscrutable. Tears were welling up in my eyes but not falling, leaving my view of him as nothing more than a blur.

"You tricked me," he said gently. "You and your friend Lexi."

"I'm sorry, daddy," I blubbered. I blinked and the tears rolled down my cheeks, and I could see his smile.

"You haven't called me that in years," he said happily. I couldn't help but chuckle, a halting and awful sound.

"It's 'cause I can't. You know what it means nowadays, right? What it sounds like? Especially once I became a teenager." I wiped at my face as dad cradled me closer.

"Heh. Yeah, I know. It just feels so good to hear you say it again." He sighed, stroking my long hair. "Why, Cherish? Why?"

"I don't even know anymore. I mean, I don't know how to explain it to you." I sniffed again and dried my eyes. "You're... the only man that I ever saw. Yeah, I look at other people, school and stuff, but I'm only seeing you. And you always seemed to have a hole in your life, and maybe I thought... I could fill it. Or at least we could've done something to make us feel good, at least for a little while." I breathed heavily. "I know I didn't think things through. And I know what you're gonna say. I was reckless and naive and everything. And I'm a pervert. A deviant who'd do this," I finished, gesturing with my hands. He gazed at me with all the fatherly love he had, and I started crying again. "I'm sorry, daddy. I just couldn't let you go further without you knowing who you were... doing it with."