2°: Chapter 6

Portia and Luna were walking through the streets of Seattle, he had stayed with her for 2 days so far, and would be leaving that same day. Christmas was coming, it was only a month away, and Luna didn't feel like celebrating it at all. Not even New Year's, no.

Portia had a big list of gifts she wanted to ask for, of course, she was sure to get everything.

The afternoon was beautiful, and the weather was warm. They both strolled leisurely.

- Luna, are you getting presents from Santa at your house?

- I don't know, there are no children at my house. - He said looking at her. She smiled.

- Can I leave my letter at yours too? What if Santa forgets something? I could bring it to your house.

Luna laughed.

- Of course you can. I'm sure if you leave your letter, he'll drop off your gifts. - She smiled. Portia jumped up and a happy smile appeared on her face.

- Now, let's go home, your dad will be picking you up soon.

- Good. Do you like being near me? -She asked as they walked, Luna looked around for a cab.

- What?" she asked. She hadn't heard.

- If you like being near me, and my dad," she added.

- Oh, of course, I like having you around. - He said with a smile. He stopped a cab.

- What about my dad? When are you coming home?

They got into the cab and Luna got ready to answer the question.

- Well, I can't come to your house because I have a lot of things to do here now. I can't miss my job, I could get fired.

- I want you there.

- I know, honey, but just because I'm not with you doesn't mean we can't spend time together.

- My daddy does want you home. I know, I've seen him say it, I know he does, but he's dumb. - She said frustrated. Luna glared at her. She tried to distract her.

- Portia, do you know what's here in Seattle? - she asked. She waited for a few seconds but the little girl didn't answer. - There's a beauty salon, I know you like it, we could go one of these days. What do you think? Do our nails, do our hair, what do you think?

- If you go home and pick me up.

- Well, first let me ask your dad.

- Okay. - She replied.

They arrived at Luna's apartment and Portia settled down to watch TV and eat chocolate until her father or Luke arrived. She didn't know who would pick her up. She would talk to James about going to the house, although she wasn't sure he would agree.

- Luna? - the girl asked.

- Yes?

- Do you hate my dad? - she asked with some sadness in her eyes.

- No, sweetheart. I don't hate your daddy. Why do you ask that? - She said, sitting down next to him.

- You just don't seem to want to see him anymore.

- Of course I don't hate your dad, I never could. We don't see each other that often because there's so much going on and we keep busy, you know? There are so many things to do, imagine how busy we are!

Portia smiled.

- He doesn't hate you either.

- That's good to know.

The doorbell rang. Portia snorted.

Luna slowly stood up and went to open the door. James was standing in front of her, dressed in an impeccable black suit, wearing a gray tie, and a perfectly pressed shirt. His hair was neatly combed as usual. The French perfume could be smelled from meters away.

- Good afternoon.

Luna blushed, blushing at a simple greeting?

-Hi, come in. - she said, stepping aside.

James walked in, too slow for Luna's taste. He looked at Portia and smiled softly. His daughter looked at him seriously.

- Is something wrong? - she asked.

- No, she was fine a few moments ago. - He replied.

- Maybe she wanted to stay. - James said. His daughter looked at him for a few seconds trying to guess if her father would let her stay even one more day. - But he can't, we have to get organized.

Portia snorted, got up from her seat and went to the bedroom. James ignored him.

- How did she behave? - He asked, sitting down in the place where his daughter had been sitting until a few seconds ago.

- Pretty good.

- That's fine.

- Can I ask you a question? - James nodded - Why did you move to Seattle?

- I've wanted to move to, I don't know, a good city for quite some time. Seattle seemed convenient, since I have a lot of work here. Back in New York everything was more scandalous, and, I mean people. Besides, with all the drama we went through, I think the best thing to do was to run away.

- Oh. And how is everything?

- It's great. The house is great, Rose is back, and everything is better. And you? - He said with a certain tone of interest.

- Well, work is great. Seriously, I will never stop thanking you. - He said sincerely. James smiled.

- That's great. I'm really happy for you. - He smiled.

- Do you want something to drink? I'll go see Portia...

- No, thanks, I'm fine.

Luna walked away, and looked for the little girl. As she entered the room, the girl was slowly packing her backpack.

- Is something wrong?

- No," she said in almost a whisper.

James appeared in the doorway.

- Daughter, are you ready?

- I don't want to go home, I want to stay with Luna. - she sentenced firmly. Her father looked at her wearily.

- Luna has things to do.

- It's not true, you don't want me to stay alone because you don't want me to.

- It's not true, we have to go. We talked about this.

- You're an idiot. - she said angrily.

Luna was surprised, as was her father. Where had she gotten those words from? That was unusual behavior for her. James understood that she was going through a lot, I mean, with the amount of tense situations she'd been in at her young age, an insult was the least of her problems. Calmly, he answered her.

- Why, Portia, is something wrong? - he asked. He wasn't angry.

- No." He said as he pouted.

- Portia...

- No!" he shouted and walked away.

- Portia, if you explain to me what you want maybe we can come to an agreement, but I can't help you if you don't tell me what you need.

- Why can't Luna come home? - she asked angrily. Her eyes were glazed over and her cheeks were pink.

- Portia, stop it, we've been over this.

- No, we haven't.

- Enough, enough.

- No." She said again.

Angrily, James left the room. Portia looked at him curiously, but just stayed in her place. Luna followed him. James grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

- James, where are you going?

- Do you want to stay here? Fine, let him stay.

Luna tried to get closer.

- No, don't come near me. I can't believe you're not trying to cooperate, Luna. I know you want to see her, I know you love her, I know everything. But I'm her father, and you see that she doesn't obey me, you see everything, and you don't help me at all. You take her side as if you were a six year old child, you will not overstep my authority with her, you are too wrong if you think you will. You have no idea how much I regret hiring you.

Luna was silent, hurt, of course. However, it didn't take long for that hurt to turn to anger.

- Go fuck yourself, James. - She said looking at him. He quickly turned away.

- What did you say?

- Fuck off. You've been acting like an idiot all this time, and who knows why. You're an adult, when are you going to act like one? I accept that I wasn't right either, I didn't respect your wishes, and you're right, you're her father and I shouldn't have overlooked your authority. But this has to stop, we can't go on like this. Grow up.

- Oh, I see where he got that vocabulary from.

- What? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I would never do that. You're completely ignoring my point.

- Oh, so? So?

- You can't lie to Portia. She's a kid, but she understands more than you think.

- It's not easy. Since you've been gone everything's gone to shit, but what can I do? I know I'm the one who told you to leave.

- In what way has it gone to shit? James, I don't know what you want. One day you come in, and you treat me bad, then you come back and treat me good. What's wrong with you?

- I'm sorry, Luna. But even I don't know what I want.

Luna didn't answer. James looked at her expectantly for a few seconds. He noticed that he wasn't going to get an answer, and walked past her into the room. Luna looked at him curiously.

After a few minutes, James came out holding his daughter's hand. Portia approached Luna.

- My dad said if you could come home and get me.

- Did he? - she asked and looked at James.

He nodded.

- Yes, we can have tea, and play games, we can watch a movie or if you want to go to the hairdresser.

Portia went on naming an endless list of things, while her father looked at her in admiration. Then he hugged her goodbye.

- I love you, Luna. - He said with a smile.

- I love you too, honey. - he replied as he hugged her.

They separated and he looked at James.

- I'm sorry. So, I'll see you soon? - he asked, referring to his date with Portia.

- Of course. I'll see you.

He didn't say much more. He walked through the door and Luna shut it instantly.

She retreated to her room. Lying on the bed, she tried to distract herself. She put on her headphones and searched for some upbeat song. How amazing music was, it distracted her so quickly, and yet it seemed to lose effectiveness every time James Yorke came on. She laughed internally.

She heard a faint sound, took out her headphones, there was a knock at the door.

She stood up, tired, and walked slowly towards it. All she needed was to see Conell. When she finally got there, she opened the door.

- James," she said.

- I can't take it anymore.

- What?

- I love you, Luna.