•Seeing him•

Tammy:

I sipped from my milkshake as I told my roommate, Trinity, about the stud I ran into while rushing out of my sociology class in the morning.

We were currently at Shakes and Burgers, grabbing lunch before heading for our next class. Trinity was actually a psychology measure but we kinda had the same classes at times.

"So, you're telling me you ran into a hot guy and he ended up asking for your phone number which you gave to him?". She asked, taking a bite off her burger.

"Yeah". I shrugged it off like it happened every day. "I call it early Christmas luck". I grinned, taking a bite off my burger. I closed my eyes to savor the taste. The place literally made the best burgers on campus.

"Damn! You're so lucky. Feed me with his looks". She wiggled her brows.

Without hesitating, I dived right in, explaining the looks of the guy in as much detail as I could.

"His eyes were a soft brown, he had a squared jaw. I didn't really see his hair because he was wearing a baseball cap…". My phone pinged, as a notification popped up on the screen. I picked it up from the table to check what it was, continuing with my description. " He looked so ripped beneath the t-shirt he was wearing. Like, I literally felt his abs when I ran into him…". Somewhere in the cafe, I heard the sound of a bell ringing. Must be the door opening. Eyes still on my phone, I continued. "I was wowed. He even caught me checking him out and when he smiled at me, I am…". Trinity was being too quiet. Usually, she'd be oohing and ahhing so I looked up from my phone to see she wasn't even paying attention to my rants. Her eyes were fixed somewhere or particularly, someone with a dreamy look on her face.

I trailed her gaze and saw who she was looking at. It was a guy sitting two tables away from us. Sorry, I meant a man. There was nothing guy-ish about who I saw. But, I refused to ogle him with my puddle of a roommate.

Yeah...she looked like a puddle, staring at the guy who hadn't even noticed her.

"Trinity". I snapped my fingers before her eyes and she turned back at me, looking like a photographer about to take a perfect picture but an annoying human spoiled it.

In this case, I think I was the annoying human.

"Stop daydreaming". I told her.

"Come on, can't a girl wish for an early Christmas present?". She pouted.

"That hunk doesn't look like he's into inexperienced college girls".

"you're right. There are always pictures of him with different models on the internet and even magazines". That had my eyes popping.

"Wait...you know him?". She gave me a look of *are you kidding me right now*. But I only stared back at her like a dumb little girl.

"that's Damon Graves. Dude is a freaking billionaire. He's the CEO of Voxel Enterprises". She clarified.

" oh". That was all I could say. Between, his name gave me the chills. I mean, who on earth answers "Graves"?

"Oh?. Are you being serious right now?". She stared at me in disbelief.

I shrugged. 

Clearly, she knew I didn't know shit about billionaires or even millionaires. And, I couldn't waste the precious space in my brain, trying to store unnecessary information in it.

"you're one of a kind". She grimaced.

"I know. That's why I'm special. The World needs people like me". I said, raising my head in a prideful manner as I'd just won an award. She chuckled at my attitude.

Dropping talks about the rich and famous, I dived back into my little tale of the hot guy from this morning.

Exactly the kind of things my brain could carry:

Hot guys that were college students. Not some billionaire hunk that ended in wishful thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Standing by the front door of my home, I exhaled before reaching out for the door nub. It was Christmas eve and I couldn't be more glad to be home. Note the sarcasm.

Opening the door, I expected to see my dad sprawled on the floor after binging on alcohol. It was his favorite thing to do but surprisingly, the house looked normal with even Christmas decors on the walls and a Christmas tree by the corner of the living room.

To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. I was stunned. I couldn't remember the last time the house was neat if I wasn't there to arrange it. Part of me felt like I was dreaming while the other part hoped it was real.

Managing to drag me from the doorpost, I closed it behind me and stepped into the house, eyes roaming the entire room with mouth agape. I didn't know what to think of what I was seeing.

If I didn't know better, I'd believe my dad took out time to make the house nice but that would be like believing there was a human with two heads. I was so appalled by the changes that I didn't notice the woman standing by the stairs until she spoke.

" hi". She greeted me with a smile. Her voice startled me. "You must be Tammy". She added.

" Who are you?". I inquired with furrowed brows. 

That wasn't the best way to respond to her greeting but she was a stranger in my home with no sight of my dad around. And again, I couldn't remember the last time we had visitors so I'm sure you know where that question stemmed from.

"I'm Miriam, your stepmother". The smile was still on her face.

" my what?". I chuckled.

She couldn't be serious.

"You must be in the wrong house". I said after calming down.

All the while, the annoying smile was on her face. "You do know my dad is Phil Jones right?". She kept on smiling. "an alcoholic? Like the kind that drinks and forgets he's alive? Like the kind that doesn't know if he has a daughter?". I asked, raising my eyebrows at her but she continued smiling.

" Not anymore dear. Your father is a wonderful man". She assured, grinning. I stared at her like she didn't comprehend everything I'd asked her. "Honey?...". She called, still grinning.

At that point, I thought my life was like a series on Netflix. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Probably, some strange man would come out and claim to be my real dad. 

But, I couldn't have been more wrong.

My eyes grew into large saucers as my dad climbed down the stairs, with a wide grin on his face. That wasn't the surprising part. It was the fact that he was dressed neatly, his blonde hair was tidy and his hazel eyes were twinkling with life. Certainly not the man I'd seen when I last came home for Thanksgiving.

" welcome home honey". He greeted me, still grinning. Getting to me, he wrapped me in a warm embrace. I was too shocked to reciprocate.

"D-dad?". I stuttered. " w-what happened?". I pulled away, staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

"She happened". He smiled, directing his gaze to Miriam.

" She?". I was confused. He nodded, eyes still on her with a loving look on his face.

For the first time since I arrived, I finally took her in. She had soft brown eyes, honey-colored hair that fell to her shoulder, and a chubby stature. She didn't look to be more than her late thirties and that wasn't very far from my dad who was in his forties. She was all smiles, while I took her in.

I didn't know what she did to him but at that moment, I saw her as my world. 

Anyone that could stop Phil Jones from drinking deserved that title in my life.

"Thank you so much". I said, a smile taking over my face. Rushing to her, I wrapped my arms around her and she did the same, chuckling.  

" you don't have to thank me, dear. I did it out of my love for your father". She beamed as I pulled away.

"How did you do it?". I asked amidst smiles. "In such a short time?". I asked with furrowed brows. My dad had been drinking since we lost mom. That was two years ago.

" That will be a story for another day. First, go take your bath and come back for dinner". Dad interrupted.

"Come on dad". I pouted.

"we'll tell you everything tomorrow. You just came back and you need rest". Dad replied, smiling.

That brightened my mood.

"Alright, dad". Giving them a smile, I pulled my suitcase up the stairs with newly found happiness. 

Who knew my day would turn out that way?