Just A Daddy's Girl

by Ashleigh Smith

  Dad and I both got comfortable on the sofa while we waited for the film to load. My Dad had to sort it out on the TV as we didn’t bring any DVD’s of our own. We decided that we would have the lights of just to give it that cinema feel. I was looking forward to this, I would be able to get more time with my Dad and Fridays would be dedicated to me and him without fail. It was perfect. The film began and with-in no time it had us laughing I mean when you see a little goblin fly across central park in a little ball you automatically laugh because it is actually hilarious when you think about it. I really did forget how funny this film was, I can see why I used to watch it over and over again. I didn’t think I would be able to get my Dad to laugh but I did. It must have been at least half way through by now and I must have started to drift off I never knew how tired I was until now. I could feel myself fighting the sleep as I really wanted to watch the end of the film. I felt Dad carry me to my room, I must have been half a sleep and half awake if I knew I was being carried. He placed me in bed and tucked me in just the way I liked to be. In my head I sent him that I loved him, even though he can’t read my mind he knew that I loved him.

  A couple of months passed by and I was settling in just fine. I knew LA off the back of my hand, well almost. I started Wildwood school about 4 months ago now but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I made a few friends well when I say I few I mean literally the whole of my year. Who knew that a new girl from New Jersey would be so popular? Dad wasn’t very busy as his job didn’t involve that much office time. He was able to work from home most days so when he did have to go to the office it didn’t bother me. It worked out well for the both of us, I am doing well in school and Dad is working his way to the top. I was proud of us; we were working hard and doing what we wanted to do. We understood one another. We still did our Fridays, I make Dad go to blockbuster’s to rent any new films that come out that week. So we sometimes watch films after our walks in the beach or our talks on the decking. Dad has me back into singing again, so we sing in our spare time. I have been practicing to write lyrics of my own but I don’t think any of the stuff I have written is any good. I haven’t heard from my mum since we left 5 months ago, I was glad that she listened to my letter. I think she might have had some contact with my Dad at least once just to check how everything is going and see how I am settling in. If she did contact him he never told me and I didn’t want to ask because there will be loads of questions that follow after.

  I still take walks on the beach on my own, It so peaceful and relaxing. It’s my safe place; it helps me think clearly and clears my head.

  I have noticed how time has just flown by. Before I knew it I had already had my first Christmas with just my Dad and now it has been and gone. I got a laptop for Christmas and the Iphone. I was so happy, it’s the newest phone on the market, and I felt like my Dad was spoiling me. Don’t get me wrong I am grateful but I don’t want my Dad to feel like I am missing out on anything.

  School was coming along good and my grades were great. I liked everyone at school and I met a lot of nice people. Everyone is great to talk to and the teachers are good, they have there own way of teaching which I find great because you can be taught in different ways which help you learn better. Dad has made it to the assistant manager at his firm, I was so proud of him because he has been working his way to the top in such a short period of time when you look at it from a workers perspective. I didn’t even realise how close we were till my birthday, it was only a month away. I would be 14 on the 23rd February. WOW time is really flying by. It seems like just yesterday I chose my Dad over my mum. I was glad my Dad was getting over my mum; I hope he can find someone that can make him happy. At the moment he is seeing a woman called Debbie John. Don’t get me wrong she is lovely, but I don’t think she’s cut out to be a step-mother if you know what I mean. Every time she is around me she acts all shy and nervous. I couldn’t have a proper conversation with her as when we did she would ask questions that only needed one worded responses. I personally don’t think she has been around a teenager since she was one. I think Dad is getting bored with her too. I’m not saying my Dads a player but he has his standards and one of them was if you don’t like my daughter then leave. It was that simple really. It was sweet that I came first, I did feel like I was holding him back but then again I don’t really fancy going through the evil step-mum period. He did it because he cared about me. He said that he’d never let a woman come between what we had.

  We still stuck to the bonding Fridays and we haven’t missed one since. It’s really nice to have a day dedicated to me and him. I really think that I should suggest Saturdays to him as well because the weather is perfect and the waves are incredible. Dad taught me to surf as one of my birthday presents. Surfing is now one of my favourite things to along with singing. Dad is always telling me to dream big and follow the dream no matter where it takes you. Dad has been telling me so many things recently and I think it has something to do with the word thingy I got him. I have no clue why it interests him but it does. Apparently it’s like a word calendar. There are 365 sheets of paper with the dates on, on a certain day there is a word or a saying that you have to say once during the day it tells you too. I don’t see the point in the word calendar but hey if he likes it then I am happy. We are all getting on very well at the moment and everything is going the way we want it too. Dad has also been helping me with my song writing. He believes I can go far with my voice. He’s always telling me I have real potential. He’s been pushing me into doing the school musical. I guess I am glad I gave it a go as it really did boost my confidence and the school music department said I really did have the talent to sing and perform. So not only am the new girl from New Jersey I am the new girl from New Jersey who has the leading role in the school musical. The musical we would be doing is called legally blonde. I have seen the film version to this musical so I know it will turn out great. I was really excited that I had the leading role. Dad was really smug for a while after he knew he was right all along, Dad always knew what was best, so from now on I am just gonna sit down, shut up and take my Dads advice. Sounds like a great plan!

  “Sami, Zeke is at the door” Dad shouted from the front door. Zeke was the schools football captain and one of the popular boys at school. He’s in my year but he’s very athletic and sporty so they gave him the team captain title. He was one of the first people I met when I started school and now we are really close along with my friend Leanne. “Coming 2secs” I shouted back. I had to finish getting dressed, everyone always knocked at the wrong time. I made my way out of my room and to the front door hopping all the way as I was putting my shoes and socks on. “Hey Zeke, what’s up come on in” I said holding out my hand to welcome him inside. “Do you wanna go on the beach, its hot outside” I suggested. I looked at him and quickly looked at my Dad basically to tell him my Dads in the room; whether or not he caught on I don’t know. “Yeh sure that will be great” Zeke answered. Well I figured Zeke did catch on after all. I could kinda see he was relieved that I suggested that we talk outside; my Dad would have probably made him feel uncomfortable. Well then again I am his little angel. I smiled to myself as I thought about what would happen if Zeke said he wanted to go out with me and my Dad over heard, wow that would be AWKWARD. Well that weren’t gonna happen anytime soon, Zeke wouldn’t like me he likes Leanne Smith; my best friend. They have been hanging around each other and talking a lot so maybe he is here to talk about her. But still it didn’t matter what we would be talking about I still didn’t want my Dad to hear the conversation. I would tell him later on but for now he can wait. Me and Zeke walked down the steps and carried walking till we almost got to the sea. “Hey Sami, urm can you come here for a sec?” Zeke said while holding out his hands. I started to make my over to him, I was confused why did he want me closer to him and why was he holding out his hands, weren’t we suppose to be talking about Leanne. Well I thought we would be. He took my hands in his and t
ook a deep breath as if he was preparing for a big speech. “Okay here we go, look Sami I really like you and I have done since we met when you first came to our school. There is just something about you that I love. I can’t seem to get you out of my head. When ever you’re around me you make my heart skip a beat.” He was blushing now; his cheeks have gone a shade of red that I have never seen on him before. He looked at me again with his sea blues eyes and began to talk again. “I have been speaking to Leanne to find out if you liked me or if you’d be interested in me. I know this sounds really silly but I do like you a lot. I want to try and show you that I’m not one of those guys that say they like someone when they don’t. Leanne said that I should talk to you face to face as you like people who are up front about things. I am normally a shy person when it comes to talking about my feelings but to you it seems easy.” He chuckled while taking a step closer closing the gap that was between us. Just the fact that he was close sent a shiver down my spine. I really liked this boy and here he was saying his feelings aloud. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest; it was pounding so much that I could hear my heart beat. “Leanne also said I should do this”. I saw his eyes flash down to my lips and back up to my eyes, he let go of one of my hands and placed it on the ball on my neck. He lent in to kiss me. I could feel the softness of his lips touch mine and it sent waves of excitement through my body. This was my first proper kiss, all the other kisses were the little ones I got when I played truth or dare with my mates from back home in New Jersey. We both pulled away but still kept our faces inches apart. I was so glad that he spoke to Leanne she is the greatest best friend ever. I looked into his blue eyes and saw myself. I really did need to stop doubting my-self because so far I have been wrong about everything. Well everything to do with me that is. “So Sami Myers would you like to be my girlfriend?” he whispered. “Does this answer your question?” I leaned up and kissed him again. Zeke held me closer this time. It was truly a feeling to remember. Zeke would be my first actual boyfriend; I haven’t felt this way about anyone before. “So I take it that’s a yes” he said giving me a wink. “Yes it’s a yes” I smiled back. We started to head back to my house. We walked hand in hand all the way. Even when we reached my house he was still holding my hand, he was brave considering my Dad was sitting in the living room. I had a lot to tell Dad after all it was Friday. Everything seems to happen on these Fridays. Maybe Friday is a very special day of the week, who knows. I saw zeke out and he gave me a kiss goodbye, he had more guts than I thought. I shut the door after him and turned to see my Dad looking straight at me with his wide eyes. “Have a good conversation did we?” he said in his sarcastic voice. “Yes we did and if you want to hear about I suggest you shut up” I said while grabbing a pillow to hit my Dad with. He was so cheeky at times. But you got to love him right.

  Noticing a change

  “Dad where are you, come on breakfast is ready”. I waited for a reply, but I never got one. “Dad come on, where the hell are you?” I shouted even louder. I went to his room to see if he was still in there. I thought to knock but I couldn’t wait. He was never in bed this late; his body clock never let him sleep in past 10. It wasn’t like him. It was like 11 o’clock. I opened the door to find the room was in complete darkness. The curtains were drawn which blocked out the light. I saw my Dad huddled under the covers; he looked like he was still sleeping. “Dad” I waited “Dad are you okay?” I waited again. “Fine angel”. His voice was low and muffled from where he was under the covers. “Daddy, why didn’t you answer me the first time I called you well it was more like shouting for you but still? Dad I was worried, what you still doing in bed?” I tried to ask at least 2 questions in one sentence, I was really worried he’s never sick and when he is he’s still up and doing things to keep himself occupied. “I didn’t hear you angel sorry and I had a bit of a late night last night”. He looked generally sorry. Something was wrong but I didn’t want to get involved just in case I was wrong. “Well urm breakfast is ready; do you want me to serve it up so you could have it in bed or what?” I asked I really wanted to help but I didn’t want to be too up in his face. “Nah its fine princess, ill come out and get it”. He sat himself up and kicked his legs from out of the covers and placed his feet on the floor. He looked as if he was frozen for a moment. “Dad is everything alright?” I said getting ready to race over to his side if anything happened. “Yeh I’m fine angel honest, it’s just a little head rush from where I got up too quickly”. He finally got up and grabbed his dressing gown of the back of the door before finally emerging from his room.

  Dad was beginning to act really strange. His late wake ups in the morning were beginning to happen more frequently. I was beginning to get really worried about him. I mean he wasn’t always this tired from work, I no work can be a bit stressful because he has to deal with everyone but he’s been the manager for like 7months and he’s never acted this way. I had my concerns as a daughter, but who do you talk to about this. I don’t want to end up being wrong and feel stupid because I am just being paranoid. I have thought about talking to him but I don’t want to deal with all the questions that will follow after I ask him if he is ill or is something wrong. If something was wrong he would tell me in his own time, I would never pry it out of him, neither would he to me. So I just had to push my worries to the side and think that he is just under a lot of stress.

  “Hey angel can we head back now, my legs are starting to ache and I am getting a bit tired. So how about we go chill in front of the fire and watch a film?” my Dad said. I looked into his eyes. I could tell he was hoping that I would agree with him. I did notice he was started to walk slower but I just thought that was because he was admiring the sea. “Yeh sure Dad” I said while giving him a smile. I stopped and began to turn around and walk the way we just came. We thought it would be nice if we sang on the way back so we ended up singing my Dad’s favourite song. It’s a classic song, its called I believe I can fly by R.kelly. “Kiddo, if you wanna sound even better put your own twist on it to make it more you, you need to try and make the song your own, make it sound like you were made to sing it” he said after we finished the song. My Dad always gave me singing tips and they always made me feel better. “Okay Dad I will do next time” I looked over at him and smiled to myself I really do love my Dad I thought. Looking at my Dad reminded me of his story. Before I moved in with my Dad 5 years ago, to get me to sleep I would ask my Dad to tell me his story and I would sit and fall asleep to it every time. I haven’t heard the story in such a long time and I really wanted to hear it again. It was about how he came about singing and what he did when he was my age. The story might help me figure out what I wanted to be or even do. “Daddy will you tell me the story again?” I asked as I slid my hand through my Dads arm, so that we were linking arms. “What story?” he said sarcastically. He knew what I meant; there was only one story that I asked him to tell me. “Ooh that story, okay prepare yourself” “Just get on with it old man” I giggled. “Ha-ha old man my arse, you wanna hear the story or what?”

  “Yes-sss Daddy I doo please tell me the story” I said in my baby voice. “Okay here we go” he began. “Well I was about 18 and I had just graduated from high school. By then I still weren’t sure on what I wanted to do or what I wanted to be. I got all the qualifications that I need but I didn’t know where they would take me. I used to sing in the shower and my room and annoy everyone in the house because I sang non-stop. I had this book filled up with lyrics that I had made up and songs that were half done. On top of that I had tones of sheet music that went with the songs I wrote. I would practice the songs I wrote and would sing them to guitar. I used to perform my songs to my grandma when ever she came round, she was the only one who believed I had potential and she believed that the songs I wrote were really good. Anyway, one day she told me that I should go and do an open-mic night down at one of the local’s bars. I said no at first, but then she managed to talk me into it and she kinda
forced me a little but hey she did what she thought was best. I ended up going to the open-mic night at a bar called Moviestar. Soon as I got on that stage and began to playing my songs, I forgot all about my fears and what people thought. I was proud because I was singing, doing what I did best. Everyone cheered me on as I sang my own songs. And because I was an excellent guitarist I was able to improvise on the music that I didn’t complete. When I finished the first song, I had a standing ovation. It boosted my confidence level way up and I wasn’t afraid to sing in front of anyone. After I got of stage I have people throwing themselves at me handing me their cards and phone numbers. The manager came up to me and offered me a job there, he wanted me to perform Thursday, Saturday and Sunday he would pay me $200 a week if I did all 3 performances and drinks were on the house. It was the best of both worlds so I took it. I got to do what I loved but it also gave me the opportunity to have a real job. I decided I wanted to be a business man. I began to train so I could become apart of a firm called Nobel. I decided I’d be good at managing people and giving orders. The position I went for was assistant manger, it was the job for me. I was still able to sing every week until one day the club was shut down with-out notice, the manager died and had debts that needed to be paid and without the manager to help pay the money needed it was shut down for good. It didn’t matter so much to me as I was still able to sing at other places if I chose to. I made a couple of CD’s with my songs on and sold them. I had my moment of fame and I was glad. It didn’t bother me that I couldn’t perform where I started out; I was still making money in a different way. I liked my other job more I found it more promising, I could build my way up and that’s what I did. I worked my way up to the top. Now look where I am I have a beautiful daughter that is going to be 18 in a few weeks time. Wow that does make me feels old” he chuckled. I could tell my Dad was glad I asked him to tell me his story. He liked talking about his singing days.