[center Having a day off wasn’t a bad thing, it really wasn’t. It gave someone time to relax, catch up on TV shows or laundry that had been sitting in the hamper for a day too long, or even get in a well-deserved nap with the knowledge that they didn’t have to get up early the next day. For most people, that was pretty great. For Faith Lawson, it was not.]
[center Faith, growing up in a household with just her and her father, had learned at an early age that she had to be up early, most of the time by herself, ready to go at a certain time, and when she got home, she had to make sure everything was spotless. Now, that wasn’t anything her father had forced her to do or anything. Really, Mr. Lawson was the best dad that he could be… when he was home. Unfortunately, her dad had always been out doing who knew what to get who knew what and usually wasn’t home till late at night. She’d become pretty accustomed to it, being in bed before he would ever return, and would do it all again the next day.]
[center She liked a clean home, having always been someone who didn’t like messes being left for any amount of time, and she liked to keep to a schedule. It was why her job worked so well for her. She went in early, did what she was supposed to do, with hardly any late reports turned in, and went home to take care of anything she had to take care of. She was organized, liked a routine, and couldn’t stand when things weren’t planned out.]
[center That was also why she’d been able to move out at a fairly young age, having been preparing herself for college and to live on campus when she was around eleven or twelve. She had known she wouldn’t be able to take care of her father his habits for the rest of her life, and when she’d turned about fifteen or sixteen, she could never really remember the details, she’d told him as such. He’d been upset since it had always been the two of them for as long as she could remember, but he hadn’t argued or tried to sway her into staying with him. He’d helped her as best he could and when she turned eighteen, she was gone.]
[center None of that had ruined their relationship, however. Not really. They stayed in contact with one another fairly often, talking at the end of almost every night to discuss their days and see about going to get dinner sometime soon or to go see a movie. Despite his flaws, and he had a lot of them, she was a daddy’s girl through and through.]
[center On this particular day, however, she was already debating calling her father to ask if he was busy or if he wanted to catch up after work. Her routine was already thrown off with the message that she didn’t need to come in today. [b [i “You have a ton of vacation days, and due to the policy, I need you to start taking some so that I don’t have to take them away, so take the day to relax. Go to the beach or see a movie. Maybe go on a date. I don’t want to see your face today!”]] Her boss, Angelica, was great, really, but it would’ve been much better if she had called Faith into the office the day before to tell her. Not let her wake up to an unexpected message.]
[center Groaning, she leaned against her kitchen counter, drinking her second cup of coffee before she grabbed her phone, unlocking it. She definitely needed something to do before she lost her mind. She’d already cleaned up the house, which didn’t need it, had watched a good few episodes of [i Grey’s Anatomy,] and cried a lot, and had run to the library. She’d done a good bit since she’d been up and now she felt like she was going stir crazy.]
[center Noticing the time, she hesitated, wondering if she should go ahead and just give her father a call. She knew he’d be getting off work pretty soon, which was perfect. They could talk, possibly go to dinner, and it would be a better ending to a nerve-wracking day. As if he knew she was thinking about him, her phone started to ring, a picture of her father popping up on a screen. Smiling, she answered it and brought it up to her ear. [b “Glad you called! I was just thinking about-”]]
[center [b [i “No time to really talk, Faith. I’m in trouble.”]]]
[center She froze at the tone of his voice, which turned her blood cold for a moment. [b “It’s all finally caught up to you, hasn’t it?”] While it was indeed a question, she already knew the answer. She wasn’t dumb. She knew her father was pretty deep in debt, to a vampire no less, a fact she hated with a passion, but he had always insisted that everything was going to be okay. It was obvious now that had been a lie, even if he’d known he was lying when he’d said it or not. [b “What can I do?”] She shouldn’t have asked, she knew she shouldn’t have. She didn’t have the money to help him, because if she did she would’ve dragged him out a long time ago, but she knew she couldn’t just let him drown. He was all she had.]
[center [b [i “I don’t think there’s anything you can do. I’m done for. I truly am.”]]]
[center Her throat constricted as she bit the nail on her thumb. [b “Tell me where you have to go. I’ll meet you there. Just send me the address. We’ll figure this out.”]]
[center [b [i “Baby, no. This isn’t your-”]]]
[center [b “I don’t care. Tell me where to go and I’ll be there. I won’t let them have you.”] He was hesitating, which meant that he was considering it. After a moment or two of silence, he gave in, telling her he loved her before he hung up and sent her where she needed to be. She didn’t have a plan, could barely think of what she was going to do or even offer to help get him out of the mess, but she would do whatever was necessary. Dumping her drink out and washing the cup, she rushed to her room to get her shoes on, grab her keys, and hurried out the door.]
[center The one thing she knew for sure was that she was going to get him out of this no matter what.]
