Sunday evening.
Chris had been aware of Clara not coming out of her room since the previous night. Ok, the two of them have had their ups and downs but she couldn't have held a massive grudge against him and even if she did, it wouldn't have been for very long.
He lightly knocked on her bedroom door. "Clara, is everything ok, love? You haven't come out of there since you shut yourself away."
No answer.
"I know you don't approve of what I said last night, but try to see it from my point of view. I don't want you taking on jobs that could hurt you."
He went to give up trying to prise the door open, but it came open anyway. He was surprised at that, as he thought she'd locked it. Either that or she was playing the silent game with him.
He found her room completely deserted, which meant that she'd slipped out without him noticing.
He couldn't see that the window had been left open, and it wasn't as though she'd have been able to slip out through that anyway – they weren't at ground level!
He noticed that she hadn't left the room exceedingly tidy, which was nothing unusual for someone like her, but he did notice a calling card from her work that she'd left on the nightstand.
He wasn't going to let his own daughter keep up such a dangerous job.
"I'm looking for one of your girls." Chris explained to the bar's manager after he'd driven down to the centre in an attempt to get Clara back home.
"She isn't here, mate."
He frowned. "What do you mean, not here?"
"She had an altercation with one of the punters…she was quite badly shaken so we let her have the night off."
He swallowed hard. If she'd been told to go home yet she didn't turn up at the flat, that would have to mean that she wasn't going to come back – voluntarily or otherwise.
He shakily made to leave the bar so that he could get back into his car and drive home without her when he heard sniffling come from the corner of the building.
Frowning, he followed the path round to where the noise was coming from, stopping when he noticed a small trail of shiny flecks shimmer on the pavement like cats' eyes. He suddenly had a horrible feeling.
He came across Clara's slender form huddled in the corner of the small alleyway. Her glitzy outfit had been torn from her and subsequently left in scraps that were barely managing to protect her dignity.
Chris went to her, taking her in his arms after bending down to her level. He found that she was shivering hard and she immediately flopped into his embrace.
"It's ok now. I've found you."
"I don't feel very well…" She mumbled dimly, burying her nose in his t-shirt that was under his open jacket. "I-I wanna go home."
"Ssh…it's ok now, I'm going to take you home." He lifted her up off the ground and carried her to his car. He laid her down in the back before getting in the driver's side to go back.
She was still shivering quite badly when he carried her into the flat and set her down on her bed. "I-I hurt all over…"
"Ssh…it's ok. It's ok, it's over now." Disappearing from her room, he came back in no time at all with a blanket and wrapped that around her. He was aware that she'd been hurt, and he couldn't let that go ignored. He took in her frightened state, knowing that he had to take more action than simply taking her to bed and making her stay there.
"I-I'm sorry, dad…" Clara looked to Chris, watching him dial a number on his mobile. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It's ok, don't worry." He waited till he got through to someone. "It was something you couldn't stop."
"But it was my fault," she noticed the look of concern that was once on his youthful features became stonier, "I didn't listen to you."
What had gone on only enhanced his fears for her. Out of the corner of his eye, he took in what she was wearing, and he felt sick to the stomach at what they were making her put on.
Ok, it was for show and she did have an enviable figure, but she was way too young to be subjected to such things and it wasn't what he wanted for her. After all, what only just happened to the poor girl was proof that she was in the wrong job.
"Please, I…" She shivered a little more. "Don't take me to the hospital."
"That's not who I'm calling." He stated blankly. "I'm trying to get through to the police."
"I don't wanna report it."
Resignedly, he disconnected the call after realising he wasn't going to get through. "Clara, sweetheart…you've been assaulted. Not only that, but it's left you in a very traumatised state. How can you possibly feel ok enough to not take this any further?"
She shook her head sadly. "'Cause it's my fault it all panned out the way it did."
Chris's eyes took on a sadder, softer appearance and he perched next to her on the bed. He wrapped an arm around her. "Is this really what you want?"
Clara nodded slowly.
"Ok." He eventually agreed. "Do you feel any better now?"
"I feel better now that you're here with me." She admitted, cuddling up to him on the bed.
"So you don't wanna sleep just yet?"
She drew in a small, relaxed sigh and rubbed him down his flat front with her hand. He felt so warm and cuddly. "I guess I could get ready for bed, but I'm not exactly sleepy."
"Get yourself sorted then." His eyes took on a happier appearance. "We can stay up for a little bit longer…maybe cuddle up and watch a film together. Like the sound of that?"
She nodded slowly.
"Well then," he went to leave her to get on with that, "let's do it."
Before either of them settled fully into the film that he'd stuck on, he put it on pause and looked to her in an enquiring way. "You want anything?"
She felt like eating something. What, she wasn't sure, but she didn't feel like anything large or particularly filling. "Depends what you had in mind."
"Well…"
They both settled back down watching the film together in between excavating huge spoonfuls of ice cream from the large tub they were sharing.
"I didn't think you were an ice cream person." Clara pointed out.
"No?" Chris's eyes sparkled from the screen's glow. "And why do you say that?"
She shrugged. "I thought you were already sweet enough."
"Well there are many things that you still don't know about me then."
"I'm going to have to say the same for me." She smirked playfully. She noticed he looked slightly confused. "I wanted to suggest something to you…"
"Oh dear." He laughed a little. "That doesn't sound promising."
"With what's been going on over the past few days, have I held you up with your work?"
He shrugged. "Maybe a little. But that doesn't mean to say I won't catch up with it at all."
"Then do you want me to come in and help you?" She asked him sweetly.
"Aww, honey…" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "What made you wanna say that?" He didn't fully like the idea of her helping him, as he didn't want her to get hurt. Although he was going to be with her at all times…
"I don't know." She admitted. "I guess 'cause then I'd be out of the flat and I wouldn't be on my own."
He gave a small, relaxed sigh when she cupped his face and skimmed a thumb along the contour of his cheekbone. "If that's really what you want."
Clara nodded softly. "I feel safer if I'm with you all the time."
He tenderly placed a hand around her wrist. He knew that she certainly gave him that impression. "Then that's what we'll do."
Monday morning.
Chris came into work with Clara in tow.
"So what's on the cards for me to help with then?" She wanted to know, as he took her to his room.
He usually did things at his own pace, so it was fair to say he didn't really know what to give her to get on with. "Well it isn't even time to start yet. Not for another twenty minutes anyway."
"That's funny really." She laughed a little.
He tilted his head in mild confusion. "What's funny?"
"You strike me as the sort of person who likes to come in early and get on with something work-related."
He looked away shyly. "Don't know what you mean." He felt a blush start at his cheeks and he knew she was onto him. She'd nailed him.
He suddenly came over nervous at having to think up something, if not for the fact that his own daughter was in his workplace – watching his every move. Well, not watching his every move, but it felt like that to him.
Clara perched against his desk, watching him in mild amusement as he set about finding something for her to get on with.
"This is proving to be very difficult," Chris dimly admitted, "but I don't actually have anything for you to sort out by yourself as of yet. But maybe after the first set or two something may crop up."
"All this talk you've given me about staying behind and catching up with your stuff, only for you to now say you've done all that?"
"Erm, well, no." He stood not very far away from her. "I still have that same sort of stuff to be getting on with, but it's stuff that's…quite advanced for you." He squirmed at what he'd just said. Since when was marking advanced? The blush reddened somewhat.
"I get it." She smiled softly. "So I guess all I do is look pretty for you."
"You can do more than simply be decoration for the kids to look at." He came closer to her. "There are minor things I can leave you to get on with."