Chapter 5: Grant
Halle’s ringtone sounded so I shut off the shower and stepped out as steam billowed around me. I wrapped a towel around my waist as the air chilled the droplets on my skin. I didn’t make it to my phone in time, so I left it on the counter of the bathroom and found my robe. Halle could at least until after I was dry and my facial hair was in check. I’d learned keeping a permanent stubble was best for me and spent less time grooming that look than I should have. I wasn’t the metro type, but wanted to be desirable. It helped with my cravings and I’d never had any complaints.
Halle had only waited five minutes before her tone sounded again and this time I put her on speaker and said hello.
She greeted me with a huff. “Where have you been?”
Since I’d only spoken with her an hour before I assumed she’d only meant since. “I had to wash the stink of the day off me.”
She huffed again. “Like you’ve ever sweated a day of my life outside a gym, I was referring to yesterday when you said you’d been at the club.”
“I was at the club.” My back stiffened at her tone. “What is this about?”
“I was told you weren’t on the greens when I called the clubhouse.”
“Are you checking up on me now? Isn’t this recent role reversal getting a little old?” My daughter had taken to asking strange questions of my whereabouts for the past few months.
“Daddy, I’m worried about you. You aren’t in the office and you aren’t spending as much time on the green as you say you are. I want to know where you’re spending your time. You can talk to me.” Her voice was pleading, but this was one conversation I wouldn’t get into with her. Not the truth anyway.
I walked to the bedroom and sat on the bed. “I’m a grown man, Halle. I’m your father and I don’t have to check in with you or tell you where I’ve been.”
“Are you seeing someone?” The break in her voice made me image the expression on her face as if I could see those concerned blue eyes right in front of me.
“It’s nothing like that. I have a few companions I like to visit but it’s nothing serious.” It was time to turn things on her. “Are you afraid I’ll replace your mother?”
“No daddy. It’s been two years now and I’m hoping you’ll settle down a bit. But with a nice woman, not some gold digger.”
“I can assure you I’d know if someone was only using me for my money.” She didn’t need to know what they were using me for.
“People talk, Daddy.”
“Are people talking to you about me? Is that what this is all about? Perhaps if you tell me what they’re saying I can resolve the issue.” I’d asked her this before only to be faced with denial and from the silence on the other end I didn’t think she was going to enlighten me further on the possibility.
Her long breath sounded through the phone. “Daddy, if I suggested something would be open about it?”
“I like to think I’m a man with an open mind. Your mother always seemed to think so anyway.”
A half-hearted giggle escaped her throat. “She asked me to look out for you, you know.”
The words were like an arrow to my heart, killing all of the frustration and annoyance that had built up since I’d answered the phone. That was my girl, always making me break weak. “I know, as she did the same to me about you.”
“I want you to see a counselor. Someone who will listen to you and help you work out any issues.” The words spilled from her lips like that would keep me from refusing.
I raked my fingers through my hair and then scrubbed my face with my palm. I didn’t like the idea of counselors or therapy, but Halle knew I’d walk through fire for her. I’d always given her anything she’d asked for and I didn’t see any good reason to change that now. “I’ll consider it.”
“Daddy,” I closed my eyes and could see my daughter’s pleading face. “Let me make arrangements for you for one session. If you hate it, you can stop at any time. Please.”
“One session and I’ll take it a session at a time after that. No promises. Make the appointment for me and I’ll show up.” The squeal through the phone pierced my ear and I told her I loved her and hung up the phone before she could talk me into anything else.
Aside from the counseling thing, something else weighed on me. Someone was telling my daughter things about me. I thought through my list of companions and couldn’t think of a single connection. I refused to date young women her age, and I never dated any of her friends. The only person who could have said anything was Katie, and the only thing she’d seen was the episode on the veranda. I wasn’t convinced it was her. Things had been strange long before she moved in.
Mila from the golf course, the sweet thing with the oral fixation was a good six years older than my Halle and well below our class to be friends with her. Not that I’d ever felt we were better than anyone, but I didn’t think Mila had been to any private schools or colleges other than maybe a frat party or two in her day.
Then there were the women in the group; five in all and each with a special hunger and all in the same boat as me where discretion was everything. The only problem I’d had with any of them had been Sylvie, but she was only confused. Discretion meant everything to her considering her wealth and who her father was.
Other than that, I’d had a few one-nighters here and there, all willing and eager, but nothing I was interested in repeating. I couldn’t imagine anyone running their mouth to my daughter other than Katie, but I’d imagined she’d been so embarrassed she’d probably kept it to herself.
I wondered what her reaction had been. Given the length of time she’d watched, even after I stared up at her, she hadn’t been too repulsed by what she saw. I wondered how long she’d watched before that and if seeing me the act had turned her on. I remembered my cock twitching in response and wondered if her pussy had tingled. Too bad she was off-limits. Halle would never forgive me, which is why I made myself behave more often than not.
I’d had several younger women pursue me, but I’d always steered them away with a polite decline. It wasn’t that I couldn’t imagine myself fucking them, there was no problem with that, and since they were all of legal age, there was nothing much deviant about it, but I didn’t need anyone going to my daughter with anything.
The last who’d shown interest had been a girl named Willa who was more than willing with her bag of toys and daddy issues. She’d tried to seduce me with gadgets, but I’d never been much for that. The only tools I needed came attached. She was an interior designer and had started specializing in sex romp rooms. I had bought a few pieces of sex furniture from her catalog as well as some straps and cuffs. I hadn’t seen her in months, but the girl seemed to be level-headed about rejection.
I’d have to be more careful and make sure that Halle didn’t find out about my habits. I’d thought I’d done a pretty good job so far, but maybe she didn’t know anything and I was being paranoid. I’d go to this appointment and hope that she finds a therapist that wasn’t a quack or worse, someone she was dating. The last thing I needed was some asshole analyzing me to get in my daughter’s pants.
The thought that there were men out there like me with twisted fixations who she might fall prey to, had always scared me.
I placed the phone on my bed and scrubbed my face with my hands again. I’d dried enough to slip into some joggers and a clean t-shirt and with any luck I’d get to sleep without any more worry about my daughters concerns for me.
I buried my face into my pillow and reached my hand over to my wife’s side of the bed. I still did it knowing I’d never touch her again, but somehow the gesture made me feel close to her. Before the pain could take me, I took a deep breath, pulled my hand away and thought about Katie being right next door. I wondered if she’d stepped in front of that window since hoping to catch a peek. Somehow the idea of that piqued my interest.