Chapter 28

A month later, things were still great between Seth and me. It was hard to let him go back on the road but we managed to make it work. I trusted him like I had never trusted anyone before and it was the same for him. I would've liked to wake up next to him in the bed each and every morning, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to be his girlfriend. It made the time together even more enjoyable. Seth left yesterday for a week and I couldn't wait for him to come back to me. I was sitting at my desk in my office, phone in hand, looking at pictures of us, when I received a call from him on Skype.

"Hey you." I said with a smile when his big beautiful face appeared on the screen.

"Hey sweetheart." he said. "How are you?"

"My day sucked until now."

"Miss me already?"

"Yeah I do."

"I miss you too. I wish I could be there to hug the shit out of you…" he let out in a sigh.

"A hug? That's it?" I asked with a smirk.

Seth burst into laughter and that sound sent shivers down my spine. How could I already miss him if we saw each other yesterday? I was addicted to him and it was scaring me even though it was the best feeling in the world. I could see on the screen that my man was lying down in a bed and it made everything so much harder. I wanted to be with him instead of here, at work. He proposed that I could go with him, but I had responsibilities and I couldn't just take off like this. We talked for a while until I was forced to let him go.

"I love you beautiful." he said.

"Love you too."

I sighed when his face disappeared of my screen and put down my phone on the desk. I stared at all the file I had to take care of today and swore. I really wished my life could be different now. I opened one of them and started my work, trying to forget about my super hot boyfriend. When I finally gained back all my focus, my door swung open, making me jump. Mandy barged into my office followed by Bert that closed the door behind him.

"So you guys don't even bother to knock now?" I let out, a little annoyed by them.

"What is this?" Bert said as he put his phone in front of me, on my desk.

"A cellphone?"

"Don't play that game Alison." he said, anger filling his voice. "I'm talking about the picture."

I knew he was talking about that. I wasn't dumb. I just didn't want to talk about what he was really showing me. On his phone, there was an article from one of our biggest competitors. The title was: "Who is Seth's new girl?" and the picture on the screen showed him with me, hand in hand, walking down the street. It had been taking about a week ago and I remembered that night pretty clearly, since it was one of our most romantic dates we had as a couple. Seth had taken me out in this fancy restaurant and after, we went for a walk on the beach. It was cheesy, but we had so much fun.

"Tell me it's not you." Mandy said.

I almost forgot that she was in my office too. She was looking at me with her big eyes, as if I was an alien from another planet. This situation didn't concern her in any way.

"What is she doing here?" I asked my boss.

"Answer the question." Bert told me, as if I'd said nothing.

"I'm not going to say shit in front of her. This doesn't concern her in any way."

Mandy let out a sharp laugh but my boss gave her angry eyes and she immediately shut up. He stared back at me, his eyes running between the two of us.

"Leave us." he finally told her.

"But Bert, if it's her, it means..."

"I know Mandy. I'm going to handle it. Now leave."

She heavily sighed as she left my office, closing the door on her way out, leaving me all alone with Bert. At that very moment, I had no idea who I was talking to. Was he my dad or my boss? I couldn't say.

"It's you isn't it?"

"So what if it is?"

"Are you guys together?"

I stared at him in silence. I didn't want to talk about my personal life with him. Especially since I already knew he would not approve.

"Yeah we are." I finally said.

"How long?"

"That we are officially together or how long has he been fucking me?"

"Alison!" he growled, warning me that he wasn't up for games.

"Hold on a second here. Am I talking to the boss or the dad?"

"What difference does it make?"

I burst into laughter, taking him by surprise. That's all I could do or I would've started yelling and throwing things. I was so pissed off. Who the hell did he think he was?

"Well, if I'm talking to the boss right now, I'd tell him that my personal life doesn't concern him in any way. You give me orders at work and sign my paychecks but you don't get to say who I can or can't date."

"Fine, then I'm the dad now and I'm telling you that I don't want you to see him."

"Why?"

"It's not good for the magazine. You can't go out with the guy that is on our cover month after month. What will people think if they knew he was going out with one of our employees?"

"With your daughter." I corrected him. "You said you were the dad right now. I'm not an employee, I'm your fucking daughter."

"You know what I mean…"

"No dad, I don't." I shouted, interrupting him. "Why can't you just be happy that I found someone good?"

It's was his turn to let out a sharp laugh. I didn't like where this discussion was heading and I just wanted to get the hell out of here.

"He's not good for you."

"And what makes you say that?"

Bert looked at me for a moment but couldn't come up with one single reason. The only thing that mattered to him was his stupid magazine. He wasn't concerned about me being with Rollins. He was concerned about his employee going out with him. He didn't min who I got to call my boyfriend, as long as it wasn't someone that could end up on his covers.

"I can't believe you're trying to interfere in my personal life for the sake of your fucking magazine."

"It's not just about that Alison, I'm concerned about you. You haven't been yourself lately and…"

"Haven't been myself? You're kidding me right? So what, you're telling me that being happy and joyful because I now have a man that makes me feel good about myself is what's making you concerned about me?"

"Seth is always on the road, he won't be there for you."

"You're right dad, he's on the road roughly 300 days a year, but you know what? He's still more present in my life than you ever were."

"Paparazzi won't leave you alone. They're going to make your life a living hell."

"I can handle myself dad." I stated. "I've been taking care of myself since I'm a teenager. Since the day mom died to be precise. Since the day you stopped being my father."

"Don't say that." he said with anger in his voice. "I care about you and I think Rollins isn't good news. I think Patrick was a better fit for you."

My heart stopped beating the moment he pronounced his name. The room started spinning around me as I was hearing his words over and over again. I didn't know if I wanted to cry, throw up, yell or punch him. I stood up and put my hand on my desk to help me steady myself. He couldn't have said that. I surely heard wrong.

"What did you just say?" I murmured, out of breath. "Did you say that Patrick was a better fit for me? Did you just fucking say that for real?"

My dad's eyes widened. He could see in my face that I wasn't feeling right but he couldn't understand what was going on. If he really was the caring father that he pretended to be, he'd never say that. He'd known he should never talk about him. But again, my dad knew nothing about me. He knew nothing about my life with that bastard.

"Patrick was an abusive son of a bitch." I growled. "How's that a good thing?"

Anger took control of my body and I was glad that I didn't let my fear win this time. I wasn't that weak little girl anymore. I swore Patrick would never tear me apart again and I intended to keep that promise.

"Where were you when he was telling me how ugly I was and how bad I was at everything, huh? Where were you when he kicked me out of my own fucking apartment when he got bored of me? You were supposed to be there, to take care of me, to tell me that he wasn't good for me, that I deserved better, that I was pretty, that I was the best at my job, that I was worth it but where the FUCK were you?" I shouted, making him jump. "You were probably busy fucking your fourth or fifth wife."

"Alison… sweetie…I-I," my dad stuttered after a few seconds of silence.

"Don't. Don't fucking sweetie me. Not now. Patrick was bad for me, dad, not Seth. But my relationship with him never interfered in your business, so you never really cared about it. My relationship with Seth can apparently fuck up your reputation and all of a sudden, he's not a good guy for me? You were literally kissing his ass not so long ago and now you're spitting on him?"

A part of me wanted to burst into tears but I forbid myself to. I couldn't show him weakness. My anger was so out of control and I wish Felix or Seth were with me. Their presence was always calming me and I needed them so bad. My dad stayed there and looked at me without saying anything. There wasn't anything left to say anyway. We were done. I had to get out of there. If he thought that I would stop seeing Seth just because he was asking me to, he really didn't know me at all.

"Where are you going?" he finally asked when I grabbed my bag. "You can't leave, we need you here. It's the end of the month."

I stared back at him and let out a sharp laugh. He was serious. After all the shit I'd just told him, all he could say to me was that he needed me to do my fucking work? I always thought my dad had lost his heart the day my mother died, but I never knew I was right. Sometimes, I just wished things were different, but then I remembered that my life was perfect the way it was, with Seth and Felix by my side. I didn't need Bert at all. I picked up the phone and called the guy in charge of the payroll.

"Hey Kevin, I still have one week of vacation left right?"

My dad looked at me with anger in his eyes as my colleague was looking in his computer to give me the information I needed.

"Fine. I'm taking it now." I said without breaking eye contact with my boss. "Thanks Kev."

I hung up, grabbed my bag and walked pass my dad without looking at him.

"Alison, you can't do this."

"Apparently I can, 'cause I just did." I replied. "I'll be in vacation for a week."

"And who is going to do your job?"

"Mandy. She'll be more than happy to do it, I'm sure." I shouted as I walked away from him.

"Alison, come back here right now."

"Sorry boss, I'm not taking orders from you when I'm on vacation. See you in a week!"

I left the building without looking back. I was being a bitch for leaving all of them in deep shit so close to the end of the month, but I knew they would do just fine without me. And if they didn't, then screw them, I didn't owe shit to anybody in there anyway.