Something her mother had said led Deirdre to do something she had long wanted to do but hadn't had the courage to undertake. She made an appointment to visit her father.
Daniel McGuire was an insurance agent, and Deirdre had seen next to nothing of him during the two years of his separation from her mother. Now she made her way to his office and, approaching the severe and elderly Gorgon of a receptionist, said, "I'd like to see my father."
Without a word, the receptionist gestured with her head to a closed door behind her, and Deirdre strode up to it. She had to take in a huge breath of air before she could bring herself to turn the knob, but at last she did so.
Daniel McGuire, engulfed in an array of file folders, looked up in surprise that anyone had interrupted his work, since he had no appointments at that time. Then, when he saw who had entered his little office, he gasped.
"Deirdre!" he said shakily.
"Hello, Daddy," she said.
He got up stiffly and gave his daughter a chaste hug. He then resumed his seat at his desk, gazing fixedly at her. She sat down demurely on a chair in front of the desk.
"How are things, Daddy?" she asked, just to get the conversational ball rolling.
He took the question literally. "Not so good."
"Oh? Why's that?"
The look Daniel gave his daughter wrung her heart. He was in obvious misery, but seemed unable to speak.
Alarmed, Deirdre hoped to fend off any emotional display. She didn't know if she could deal with her father going to pieces.
He's my daddy! He's supposed to be strong and reliable!
"How's—um, what's her name?" she said. She couldn't remember the name of the young woman Daniel had run off with.
The question didn't help. Screwing up his face in a grimace, he said in a choked voice, "Mona."
"That's right, Mona. So how is she, Daddy?"
"I—I don't know."
"You don't know? But you—"
You dumped Mom to be with her.
"She left me," Daniel admitted in a wretched whisper.
"Left you! Omigod. When did this happen?"
"About six months ago."
"Why didn't you let anybody know?"
"Who would care? You and Fanny and Margery would probably have said, 'Serves that bastard right.'"
"Daddy, I don't think you're a bastard. Just—just a little misguided. Who was she, anyway?"
It took Daniel a long time to say, "My secretary."
"Oh, Jeez, how tacky! And this is the girl you left Mom for?"
The criticism, however well deserved, had a devastating effect on Daniel. With a cry of agony, he slipped out of his chair and fell to the carpeted floor, sitting there and covering his face with his hands.
Then he burst into tears.
Deirdre was appalled and shaken at the sight. Daddies aren't supposed to behave like that! But it was obvious the guy was in a lot of pain.
"Oh, Daddy, you poor thing!" she cried as she fell to the floor also and, sitting on his lap, took his head in her arms and held it to her chest. Daniel immediately wrapped his arms around his daughter's waist and gave way to an uncontrollable paroxysm of tears and wails and sobs. Deirdre could feel the wetness leaking out of his eyes and bedewing her clothes.
What Daniel did next didn't entirely surprise her.
Perhaps he was thinking that he was back with his wife of two decades, although Deirdre doubted whether he'd ever poured out his anguish to her in this way. As he continued to clutch his daughter tightly, he moved his head back and forth over her chest; it was apparent he could feel her breasts against his face. And then, entirely unaware of what he was doing, he brought a hand up and fastened it on her left breast. Deirdre happened to be wearing a tight nylon top with no bra underneath, so his hand engulfed that globe as if it was uncovered. And he now began clutching it with spasmodic strength.
"Daddy," she said softly, "can you ease up a bit? It hurts a little."
Only now did Daniel realize what liberties he was taking with his own daughter. He pulled the hand away as if from a radioactive substance and cried, "Omigod, Deirdre! I'm so sorry!"
"That's okay, Daddy. You just need to get a grip on yourself."
Eventually his crying jag subsided, but he seemed unwilling to remove his head from the comfort of her bosom, and he continued to hold her desperately.
"Daddy," Deirdre said, "I think maybe Mom will take you back."
He laughed derisively. "I don't think so. She must hate and despise me."
"I doubt that. You may have to grovel a bit, but I have a feeling she's ready to welcome you back into the fold. I know I am."
Daniel spontaneously kissed a bare spot on his daughter's chest, where the low-cut neck revealed a liberal dose of cleavage.
"Daddy," she went on, "just give her a call. The worst she could do is say no. But I suspect she'll at least be willing to talk things over."
"Maybe," he said doubtfully.
After a pause Deirdre said, "I'd better tell you something, though."
"What?"
"Well, Mom—let's just say she's seeing someone."
"Seeing someone? You mean a guy?"
"Well, of course a guy. She's not gone lesbian on us."
"What—I mean, who is he?"
"Someone from work."
It seemed as if all the air had been let out of Daniel. "Then why would she want to see me if she's happy with this guy?"
"Oh, Daddy, I don't think this guy's anything serious. He's just—well, you know."
"He's what? Are you saying your mother is just using him for—amusement?"
"Something like that."
"That doesn't sound like Fanny at all."
"He's way younger than her. I think she was just lonely and, um, deprived. You know what I mean?"
"You don't have to tell me what that's like!" he said with sudden vehemence. "So he's in the house?"
"Yes."
"And he . . . sleeps with her?"
"Yes."
"Holy cow."
"There's something more, Daddy."
"What?"
"He also sleeps with Aunt Margery . . ."
"Good Lord!"
". . . and me."
Daniel was stunned into silence for a moment. Then a crooked smile came over his face. "Gee, that guy must have a lot of energy."
"Yes, his stamina's pretty impressive."
"Well, hats off to him if he can manage it."
"Anyway, forget about him. Give Mom a call, okay?"
"Okay."
Deirdre clambered out of her father's grasp and onto her feet. As he continued to sit on the floor, she kissed the top of his head and said, "Good luck, Daddy. Don't be such a stranger."
And she walked out of the office.
*
Only a few days later, around 8 p.m. on a Tuesday, Deirdre noticed her mother trying to sneak out of the house without anyone noticing.
Fanny was tiptoeing down the stairs while the others—the naked Cliff with Deirdre on one side and Margery on the other—sat on the couch watching TV. Deidre craned her neck toward the front door just as her mother was opening it and said, "Going somewhere, Mom?"
"None of your business!" Fanny snapped, and left the house.
In minutes, she found herself in a coffee shop that had been a favorite of hers during her married life. With a shiver she saw her ex-husband sitting in a booth in the back of the place. He'd tried to find the most hidden and out-of-the-way spot in the small establishment.
Fanny sidled over to the booth and slid into the unoccupied bench across the table from Daniel. She gave him something of a wry smirk.
"So," she said, "how ya doin'?"
Daniel immediately took on a lugubrious expression. "Not so good," he muttered.
"Yeah, I heard your little floozie left you," Fanny said acidly. She figured she had some reason to gloat over his misfortune.
"I guess," Daniel said, mostly to himself, "Mona got a kick out of having an affair. She wasn't so hot about actually having a relationship and setting up a household."
"A party girl, eh?"
"Something like that."
"Well, them's the breaks, Danny boy. She's about our daughter's age, isn't she?"
"Fanny, really! She's at least five years older than Deirdre. In fact, I think she's twenty-seven right now."
"Getting on in years! Remind me: how old are you?"
"Forty-five."
"So what were you thinking? Midlife crisis? Your wife a bit of a shrew? Did the girl have big tits or a nice butt or what?"
Before Daniel could answer, the waitress had brought the two cups of coffee the couple had ordered.
Daniel looked down at his coffee as if he hoped he could plunge into it and get away from his ex-wife's sharp tongue.
"Gee, Fanny," he whined, "if all you wanted to do was give me a tonguelashing, why did you even agree to come see me?"