The rush of the airport was enough to set my hair on end, the claustrophobia feeling of this place causing my attitude to run downhill fast. I sat in an uncomfortable seat waiting to board the thirty minute flight to my destination.
Las Vegas.
Sin city. An exciting place, where you could do anything you wanted if you were above the age of twenty one. But I wasn't above twenty one. I was only just above the age of sixteen.
I was not going to the city to have fun. Quite the contrary. I was here to visit a man I wasn't necessarily fond of. I was here to visit my father.
Jack Bruno.
I flipped my phone out of my back pocket, and looked though my contact's, pressing the button when I found the right one. The ring seemed to go on forever, before the familiar voice of my not so familiar father came on.
"Hello?" His voice sounded tired, like he had been working hard. There was also a lot of noise, like he was at a party. Had he been out? Was that what he was doing? I was gonna be there in 30 minutes or so and he was out at some party or something?
"I just wanted to call and tell you I'm about to board the flight to Vegas and give you the flight number. But I guess you might be too busy." My voice was sharp and I saw my reflection from the window. Caramel skin flushed angrily, dark hair long and curling around my head, amber eyes bright and bitter, and my pink lips pulled back as I bared my teeth.
I turned away from the window, picking my stuff up as my flight began to board. I got my ticket out, making sure not to look at myself. I was a calm person, actually kind, but around my father I couldn't help but let anger take over my emotions. Him and my mom had had a thing while they were teenagers, they weren't safe, and mom turned into a teenage mom. Dad hadn't run away per say, but he wasn't there. He had been off doing whatever while my mom struggled to take care of me and finish school.
"Don't do that to me Janey. I'm just sitting around; tell me your flight number. I'll be there at the airport when you land." I sighed and got into line, placing my book bag firmly on my back and read out the number on my ticket to him. I heard him mummer the letters and the sound of a pen. "I'm really looking forward to spending time with you Janey."
"I really hate it when you call me that." I told him as I showed the flight lady my ticket and she let me on. I checked my seat number and was happy to find I had a window seat. "You know my name is Jane."
"But you've always been my Janey bear." I rolled my eyes at that; I hadn't been his Janey bear for years. Not since I was four.
"I'm on the plane Dad; I'll see you when I get off." I hung up on him and then turned my phone off, sighing and lay back in my seat. I looked out the window, watching everything. I couldn't blame Dad that much, his parents died when he was younger, and he wasn't exactly a saint when he was a kid. But I couldn't really help getting angry, whenever I heard his voice I felt like a pot of water that was boiling over.
I pressed my forehead against the window, just going through the flight as it happened. Buckled up when asked too, accepting the free drink from the Attendant. It was over too quickly and I looked down at the well-known monuments of Vegas. I remembered when I was younger, I had been flying somewhere else with Mom and we had a layover at Vegas. It was night and it was absolutely beautiful. I loved it.
The situation had changed so much now. I was alone, the middle of the day, and going to stay in Vegas. With my father. I sighed and ran a hand through my wild hair, remembering what mom told me before I left.
"I want you to try your best to be kind to your father." Mom looked like the older version of me, we nearly the same. The only difference was her hips expanded from giving birth to me, her slight wrinkles, and the graying hairs interweaving into the dark strands. "He's trying as hard as he can."
"He could always try harder." I answered, flipping though some fashion magazine I has gotten today, looking over the glossy pages happily. I liked seeing the pictures of the models, seeing how they posed. "Or better yet he could just leave me alone all together."
Mom's manicured hand landed on my page, forcing me to look up at her. I could tell she was annoyed, her eyes sharp as she looked at me.
"Jane, at least he's trying to be a father to you. I could count off a million names of guys who just ran away completely. He's trying, really he is."
At that point I had just nodded, not caring enough to really answer her. I just didn't understand why he was so interested in trying to be a father to me now that I was nearly out of the house. What was the purpose? I could see none and so didn't really understand why he was 'trying as hard as he could'.
I got off of the plane, turning on my phone as I got bumped around from other passengers. Despite Dad being so tall, I went after mom's family, barely reaching five three. It was why I hated crowds; I couldn't see anything and often times would end up lost. I smiled as I saw a text from mom, telling me she loved me and that she was missing me already. I sent her a reply, saying I loved and missed her too. I then saw a text from Dad saying he was waiting outside. In his taxi.
Dad had gotten a job here, driving taxis, very different from his racing days. Every time I had come and seen him before he had been working for the Wolfe guy. Mom really didn't like me hanging out with Dad when he was working for that guy. It used to be fun when I was younger though, riding in the car with with him, sitting up front. Mom never really did tell me why she was so against me seeing Dad at that point in my life. A taxi though, it would be boring. I really hoped he wouldn't be working but didn't hope too hard because I knew he would be.
I stopped to get my luggage, a simple blue and black suitcase, and dragged it outside. Dad was leaning against his taxi, the only way he could have stayed there without someone trying to get a ride from him, but he smiled and walked towards me as soon as his eyes set on me.
"Janey!" He called out, wrapping me in his arms quickly for a hug, me squeezing him back awkwardly. I could easily be rude to my dad when it wasn't to his face but here, with his eyes practically shinning at me, I forced myself to be civil. "Oh, I missed you sweetheart." He gave me another hug.
"Are you on duty?" I asked him, looking over at his taxi cab and then back on him. His apologetic look was all I needed as I walked to his cab and put my luggage in the foot space of the front seat. I couldn't put it in the trunk since he would be having other business.
"I just have to do one more ride and then we're done for tonight. We can go get some take out or something and then go home. How does that sound? Good?" I got into the car and he leaned over my open door. I sighed unhappily and nodded, it didn't matter wither I thought it sounded good or not, I was kind of stuck.
When I nodded Dad smiled and closed my door for me, walking to the other side of the cab and getting inside. It wasn't long before someone got inside, a good looking lady who wanted to go to Planet Hollywood. I couldn't help but notice as Dad's attitude change to a less friendly one. I knew he wasn't too happy about working as a taxi driver but I thought it was odd how annoyed he seemed.
The lady talked for a while, and I smiled at some of the things she said, thinking it was rather nice how wowed she seemed to be by Vegas. With all the street lights and such on now, it did look amazing, though Dad kind of just gave her a look. My flight back home would be at night and I was so excited to be able to see everything as I flew away.
I listened, interested, as we arrived and Dad and the lady began to talk. I was really interested in what she was saying. The possibility of there being aliens? That actually seemed like a good idea, if there every turned out to be aliens. To prepare people for the possibility. I myself thought there could be, some evidence I had researched seemed like it could have some truth behind it.
I watched as Dad read her name on the paper, before throwing it onto the dashboard. The look on his face reminded me of the pictures I had seen of him and mom together when they first started dating. He had been interested in that woman? I frowned and turned away from him, facing the outside. I was still childish in the idea that I wanted my parents to be together. Though I knew it would probably never happen, I didn't want to push away the dreams that it could.
"And that's it." Dad said now as we drove. I assumed he meant him being down with driving now. "Are you in the mood for pizza? Chinese?" He asked me, driving out of the gambling and show area.
"I'm actually not that hungry, I ate on the plane." I lied, looking out the window. I wasn't feeling hungry at all right now though, my stomach a tight knot. I really wasn't looking forward to spending the week or so with my dad.
"You sure?" He asked me. I nodded and he shrugged his shoulders. We drove to his 'home', some crappy motel. I really wasn't impressed at all and frowned as he offered me the bed, saying he would sleep on the recliner. Oh well.
I barely slept that night, some couple yelling in another room, Dad punching the bag when he couldn't sleep. I ended up reading a book until the early hours in the morning. When I finally did fall asleep, my only lingering though was that I really was not looking forward to how uneventful this week was gonna be.
A/N: To me, it seems like it would fit for Jack to also have a daughter. Since he was in so many things before, I can see him ending up getting someone pregnant and him wanting to see his child and trying his best for them later on. I'm gonna end up changing a lot of the dialog or just going over it briefly because I'm sure everyone else is just as annoyed as I am for all these story's being on here basically coping the movie word by word. I actually started writing this about a year ago, finished it today. Tell me what you think :)