* * *
It's been four days since I last spoke to Drew, I kept trying to message him and call him but always chickened out. There was a part of me that knew he was slightly offended by my comment but what did he honestly expect? He should understand that there was going to be some kind of resentment to the man I haven't seen in over eight years. Right?
Despite trying to justify the way I spoke to Drew, I knew he was stuck in the middle and was just trying to do right by both his sisters and his dad. This only made me feel even more guilty.
"Ugh!" I sighed out loud before pushing my feet out of my bed. I sat there starring directly at my closet before shifting my eyes to the exit which was right next to it. It's like I was expecting my room to hold the answers I needed.
Rolling my eyes I got up to grab clothes to change into, there was only one place that I needed to be right now. The most common place people went to, to clear their heads and let out their frustration. I've always had a love/hate relationship with the gym, fair enough I was relatively fit but it sure as hell always kicked my butt when I was on that treadmill. Maybe this time around, I needed to just focus on my health and ignore everything else around me?
'You've always been good at shutting people out of your life'
Ignoring my own thoughts I quickly got dressed. After getting dressed, I jogged downstairs to the kitchen to let Isaac know I was leaving. I knew I had the freedom to leave Alena at home today because he wasn't going anywhere, thanks to a little calendar he decided to buy. However, I had no intentions of taking advantage of it. Walking into the kitchen, there he was leaning over the kitchen island messaging on his phone before looking up to see me. What I didn't expect to see was him raise an eyebrow in question at my outfit, as his eyes roamed up and down in confusion.
"I'm going to the gym." I clarified
Isaac chuckled before quickly placing a closed fist over his lips, "Sorry."
"Jackass." I mumbled as I turned my back.
"LOVE YOU TOO!" He yelled out as I walked out the front door.
* * *
I spent a good hour at the gym, alternating between cardio and boxing. I didn't realise the frustration and anger I had pent up until I started punching at something. After the hour had passed I was exhausted but I could feel the adrenaline course through my veins as my hands slightly shook from the boxing session I had. This was definitely something I needed to keep doing, whether or not I was going to commit to it was another story.
After a few minutes of stretching, I let out a shaky breath as I got my bag to walk out but stopped in my track when I saw Drew standing there with his hands in his pockets. It was something about his stance that made him look guilty, like he did something bad and he knew it. Before I could question what he was doing here he spoke up first, "I'm sorry. Don't hate me."
My eyes creased slightly in anger as his words sunk in, "What did you do?" I asked slowly but assertively.
Drew didn't get a chance to answer the question because the door next to him opened and Adrian walked in slowly. I watched as he stood there with his hands to his side, he looked like he was trying to pat a wild animal. I shifted my angry eyes to Drew who just stood there gaping at his dad in anger, clearly whatever plan they had didn't follow through.
"Hi Avery."
"Don't. You think blind siding me is going to get me to talk to you?!" I quickly interrupted him, my head moving between both men who were now standing in front of me.
"Ave. I'm sorry, don't be mad, he wasn't supposed to come in yet! I wanted to warn you." Drew finally spoke up. He could clearly see just how bad this plan was now that it happened.
I scoffed at Drew's explanation before pushing past the both of them towards the exit.
"I told you to wait! Why didn't you listen to me!" Drew yelled out just as I opened the door.
"I'm sorry, son." Were the last words I heard before I walked towards my car, still reeling in anger. By the time I got home, my anger died down enough for me to re-evaluate what had just happened. I saw the way Adrian looked sincere when he walked into the gym and lastly the way he apologised to Drew. I heard the sincerity in his tone that also had regret in them. He almost sounded sad that this reunion didn't work out.
'Stop over thinking it.'
'He's just trying to make himself feel better because he didn't do anything to save you guys.'
'He doesn't care.'
"Hellooooo. Earth to Avery!!"
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up to see Alena and Isaac, both staring at me from across the room in the lounge room with concern. I have no idea how long I had been sitting at the dining table for, trying to find some answers about what had just happened.
"What?" I asked, sounding more abrupt than what I wanted.
"You okay? I called out to you three times" Isaac said as he got up from the couch and slowly walked over to me.
"I'm fine. What's up?"
"Wanna order a pizza and have a movie night? Nikki is on her way as well." He responded softly
I nodded, because I knew he only used that tone with me when he knew there was something wrong but didn't push it, aware that Alena was only a few feet away.
"Hey Alena, we're going to order pizza and watch some movies. Why don't you go in for a shower so you're ready?" Isaac said as he sat down next to me at the dining table, pulling his phone out to quickly order the pizza.
Alena smiled before skipping towards the stairs to get ready, "Lets watch frozen!"
Both Isaac and I groaned at the idea of watching Frozen again for the tenth time. Isaac turned his head to look at the stairs, making sure Alena was not in sight.
"Spill. You've been elsewhere since you came down after your shower."
I inhaled before forcing the words out in one breath, "Drew brought Adrian to the gym and blind-sided me into meeting him but I cracked it and left and now it's playing with my mind and I feel like the villain right now." I let out a breath before placing my forehead against the table.
"Who's Adrian?" Isaac asked with confusion.
"My dad." My voice vibrated against the table top.
"Why do you call him Adrian?"
I lifted my head up in surprise, "He hasn't been a dad to me in the last eight years of my life for me to give him that title." I justified with a hint of annoyance in my tone.
"He's still your dad, Avery." Isaac creased his eyebrows in confusion as he shook his head.
I angrily pushed my chair back, "No, he's a donor. That's all he is, he hasn't shown me that he's a dad. So, no Isaac. I won't call him dad, I'll keep calling him Adrian!"
I went to walk off but Isaac quickly grabbed me by the waist lightly and forced me to sit back down, "Calm down, you don't need to justify yourself to me."
I let out a growl full of frustration as I sat back down in my seat, waiting on Isaac's speech that was no doubt coming.
"I'm not about to tell you to go see him. That's a step that only you can take, you have to be ready not just mentally but emotionally too. All I want you to do is keep an open mind with him." Isaac spoke softly as he grabbed my hand to hold. He knew the battles I was facing right now and I knew this was his way of confirming that no matter what, I was not alone. "I'll support your decision no matter what, BooBear" he added.
"You don't know who he is Isaac."
"Neither do you."
I let out a tired sigh as I stared into Isaac's piercing green eyes and I saw nothing but truth. Another thing I loved about Isaac was the fact that he always told it like it is, he didn't sugar coat the bullshit.
"What should I do Isaac?" I begged. I needed guidance, I genuinely didn't know what to do. I just wanted to cry out of frustration because despite years of wanting to find my father, I didn't have a plan in place for what happened after I found him.
"I can't answer that Avery, only you can."
"What if he isn't the man I remember?" I asked, fear evident in my tone.
"What if he is?"
My phone beeped, interrupting our conversation. I already knew who it was before I even looked at my phone.
Sat, Apr 2, 7:15 PM
Drew: Ave, I'm so so so sorry about before. You have to believe that I didn't want to blind-side you like that!
"Drew?"
I nodded as I read the message over again, "He's apologising for earlier. Apparently, he wanted to warn me before he walked in."
"I can't imagine Drew lying about anything, let alone, about something like this."
I pursed my lips together, clearly annoyed as I stared at Isaac, purposely ignoring the look I was giving him as he smiled innocently at me, pretending to be oblivious to the daggers I was throwing at him.
"Thanks, Sherlock."
"Happy to help." Isaac responded as he playfully roughed his finger through my hair just as the doorbell rang. Quickly getting up, he let out a chuckle as he ran to the front door to open it,
"Hey baby."
"Hi babe" Nikki responded before kissing Isaac softly on his lips.
I quickly diverted my eyes back to my phone to give them their privacy. I didn't want to weird them out by unintentionally googling at them in envy.
"Hey Avery."
"Hey Nik"
"Let's go watch TV, Avery is a little preoccupied babe"
I smiled apologetically at Nikki as I watched them go cuddle up on the couch. Seeing them together reminded me of Jaxon, I hadn't seen him since that day at the restaurant. I half expected him to at least message me but he didn't. I shook my head to prevent my thoughts from dwelling on Jaxon, I could only handle one drama at a time. I knew this was the perfect opportunity to deal with this situation with Adrian first before dealing with Jaxon.
'How do you expect to have a relationship with Jaxon, if you can't even have one with your dad?'
That thought kept playing over and over in my mind until realisation finally sunk in. How on earth did I expect any of my relationships to work if I had issues with my father, especially to the point where I couldn't even call him dad, always referring to him as Adrian?
I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding, as these thoughts went through my mind, grabbing my phone I started to write the words I never thought I would write.
Sat, Apr 2, 7:30 PM
Avery: Tell him, I'm willing to meet up for a chat.
I watched as my message sent, it was too late to back away from this. This was one meeting I had to attend to, there was no cancelling this now. Just thinking about what our conversation would be like, I started to get nervous. We haven't even booked in a date and already I was regretting this decision.
I shook my head in disappointment at myself.
'You've made your bed, go lie in it'
The doorbell rang once more causing my heart to beat fast, I was about to question who that could be until I heard Alena's voice from the stairs,
"PIZZAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
I let out a chuckle as I went to grab my wallet but was interrupted by Isaac,
"I got this BooBear, go sit with the girls and just enjoy your night."
I stared at Isaac for a second before smiling quickly kissing him on his cheek, before going to sit next to Alena. I purposely left my phone on the dining table because it was movie night with my own little family and wasn't going to interrupt this or ruin it with further thoughts about all the drama in my life.
* * *
A/N: So I'm going to try and update every Tuesday or Wednesday (Australian Time), hopefully I'll get into a position where I can update twice a week. Thank you for being patient with me. Once again, don't forget to vote on the chapter xx
Next Chapter: Five words: A new point of view.