Chapter 1: Prologue

AN: I hope that this chapter isn't too boring. It's a prologue, after all, so nothing really happens. If you haven't finished Joseph's third date yet, I would recommend doing that as this story will be a continuation of his "good" ending. This chapter will also completely spoil the ending, so if you don't want it spoiled, please go finish it and then come back and read this after.

Thanks guys, hope you like it?


The summer leading up to Amanda leaving for college was okay.

Her graduation party was awesome; aside from it being the setting in which Joseph un-professed his love for me. I just didn't get it—I still don't. He said he had to do right by his family, but from what I have gathered, they're miserable. Maybe a change in pace would have been right for his family?

I just can't believe that after the night we had… If he hadn't made up his mind yet, why would he lead me on like that? That night, on his yacht, was… beyond words. There was something there, something more than an easy rebound. At least I thought there was.

No one else in the cul-de-sac seemed to be aware of the little rift between Joseph and I. We still had barbeques as normal. Everyone treated us normal. Hell, Joseph even acted completely normal. I'd honestly be questioning if it even happened if it weren't for Mary. She was the only one who acted differently—I mean, she had every reason to; still does.

I tried to avoid Joseph at all costs; still am. Things have become a bit easier as the days passed but to be completely honest, it killed me to have to be around him. To have to act normal and friendly. When I was invited to some sort of dad-gathering, I would try everything in the dad-book to get out of it. It was hard though, being away from everyone else and the fun, and letting people down just so I wouldn't have to bear seeing Joseph and his nice arms, cute smiles and winks... So I wouldn't have to be tortured with lust and guilt just by being near him.

Amanda doesn't know either. I feel like she has a sense, but it would be too weird for her to bring it up. I know she would feel out of place; asking her dad if he had a thing with the married youth minister. It's beyond uncomfortable.

Mary, however, almost played it like a game. She invited Robert and I out for drinks constantly. I declined some days, and some days Robert would ask me to go to the bar and there Mary would be, waiting to torture me.

The first couple of weeks after the… uh… "incident"... Mary was nowhere to be found. I spent that time down at Jim and Kim's drowning my misery in beer, The game, and shots of whisky courtesy of Robert; but Mary was absent.

"Tucked away in bed with her little husband," is what Robert grumbled. I think she may have been trying to avoid me. Going to different bars in different areas. Something like that. I only suspect this because one of the nights I was less-than babying a beer at a table alone, out of the corner of my eye, I caught her strutting into the bar; but by the time I thought to look up, I only saw a mere flash of her red hair outside rip past the window.

It would make sense also, if she had been cuddling up to Joseph, trying to make things right after their almost-divorce. If that was the case, it didn't last long. She was back swinging on boys in the bars in no time.

She would say things to me like, "you should really come over soon. I'm sure you miss hanging around with Joseph." And, "I think you may have left a pair of boxers on the yacht… what's your size?"

It was humiliating.

I think Robert might have been catching on, with Mary's "teasing" and all. He never brought it up though, so either he felt too weird or didn't care enough to ask. I respect him either way.

Despite making every day a constant pity party for myself, I did try to make Amanda's last summer before college as memorable as I could.

We went on a, not one, but two week camping/fishing trip with Brian, Daisy, and Maxwell. Over those fourteen days, I think I warmed up to Brian. The guy really does know how to fish. And not to brag, but I think I might be not too bad myself—thanks to my competent teacher, Brian.

He made some mean fire roasted trout.

Daisy and Amanda made a real strong bond too; it's humbling to see her making connections.

We spent the time eating good food, drinking good drinks, enjoying some good nature, and really, just having a good ol' time.

Amanda said she wants to do that every summer. I hope we do.

She also said she wants to go on Joseph's yacht every summer too. That I'm not as keen on.

We spent a day on his boat with him and Mary and the kids. I made excuse after excuse for it not to happen but Amanda was hell-bent on it.

"Why would you deprive me of such a privilege?" She cried, overdramatically imitating fainting. "Only fathers who hate their daughters don't let them ride on their good friends yachts!"Good friend? Maybe not.

She won't let me ditch either. For some reason it was an important "father-daughter" moment for her. I would not let my little girl down.

The yacht ride was… bearable. We only went out for a couple of hours. I sense Joseph and Mary both wanted to cut that adventure short. Amanda was oddly very interested with the mechanics of boating, which Joseph was beyond-himself-excited share. She made him promise her that he would teach her everything, and eventually get her behind the wheel.

I spent most of the time leaning against the rail, watching out for whales… Thankfully I didn't see any. Joseph tried to make small talk. So did Mary, but in a less pleasant way.

It was nice being on the boat, despite the circumstances withstanding. I made a point of staying above deck. And not drinking Twilight Rouge. And not looking at Joseph for longer than a second.

I played that night we had on the yacht over and over again in my head. Trying to decode every detail, to see what went wrong. Was it too fast? I mean, it was definitely too fast. You usually wait until you actually get a divorce, and maybe wait until the first official date before you take a guy below deck and well… go below deck with him.

As painful as that afternoon on the yacht was, I'm glad Amanda got to check out it out.

I barely remember the day I dropped her off at her dorm. It was barely a week ago, but I was in some kind of trance. Like a dad-leaving-his-daughter-alone-in-a-new-place-all-by-herself-for-the-first-time-ever trance. It was draining. She kept promising me she was going to be okay and I kept crying and telling her that on google it said the closest IKEA was only a 23 minute drive away and I would make sure I gave her money to decorate her dorm however she wanted. It was a weird day.

She's been calling me every night though to spill the beans on her A-M-A-Z-I-N-G college life. Hearing from her every day it making this emptiness a little easier to bear. She's already made a few friends. Her dorm-mate, Lauren, is apparently really crazy, but in a cool, fun, and exciting way. I'm comforted in seeing her find herself.

I'm sure as she get's more settled in I'll hear from her less and less, but it's a novelty I'll enjoy while it lasts.

Now that I finished my nice little recap, I think it's time to share the real news.

I received a call just over an hour ago. It was from Joseph. He said he needed to escape to The Margarita Zone, and asked me if he could come over around 9 after youth group.

So here I am, sitting at the breakfast bar, sweating like a pig, nervous as all hell, with a bottle of margarita mix in front of me, and poorly constructed, taped printer paper sign with words above my head reading:

Welcome Back! To The Margarita Zone!