Chapter 3

Arielle hid the present from Toni, shooting her friend a dirty look and blushed when Gary tried to take a peek, letting Toni come around and take it away so her parents didn't see it. Her mind was still reeling from her Dad's present, knowing that Visa card was good anywhere and then realized where the money had come from. The man was well off, but that was a lot of cash. It was the money he had always saved for her college fund, which she now didn't need because of scholarships and the internship. Thinking of the internship brought Randy to the forefront of her mind and she pulled the two gifts from him towards her, taking a deep breath.

Jasina looked over at Mark briefly; seeing his eyes narrowed and knew he wasn't happy that she'd brought the gifts from Randy with her. He'd left them in front of her door with a note begging her to give them to Arielle on his behalf. Jasina wanted to toss them, but that wasn't her call to make and reluctantly did what Randy wanted. As Arielle began opening them, she had to pull away for a second to gather her emotions, taking a deep breath and whipped her head back when a gasp escaped Arielle's mouth.

"WHOA..."

"Holy cow!"

"More like holy shit, honey." Steve grunted when Trish elbowed him in the ribs.

It was identical to the camera Randy used, a Canon EOS 5D Mark, a three thousand dollar camera and she remembered Randy telling her the only way he would ever buy her a 'decent' camera was when he thought she was skilled enough to use one. This told her he finally believed she was ready and she felt tears pricking her eyes. Reluctantly, Arielle set aside the case and opened the second present, smiling slightly at the sight of a briefcase like he carried, opening it. Inside was a camera case, folded tripod and a portfolio. She pulled it out and opened it, seeing all the photographs she had taken along with articles her photos had been featured in.

Jasina could see a few tears sliding down Arielle's face and immediately bent down to wipe them away, not wanting her sad on this big day. She took the gifts away and set them aside; knowing Randy not being here really shattered Arielle. There was nothing Jasina could do and she hated the fact Randy caused her daughter pain, never thinking he would.

The rest of the presents were money, gift cards and other items like movies and books she wanted. Jasina hugged Arielle tightly and nodded when she went to Gary, both of them stepping outside for a moment for some air, Arielle holding the camera Randy got her. Screw cutting herself off, Jasina went straight to the bar and ordered a beer, her buzz wearing off.

Gary comforted Arielle the best way he knew how, holding her tightly in his arms while she cried a little over the camera, burying her face in his chest. "Shhh don't cry, Arie." He crooned soothingly. "You're supposed to be happy today..."

"Happy?" Arielle pulled back to stare up in his dark eyes, hers slightly red and swollen. "How can I be happy when my Mom is heartbroken and Randy isn't here? It's not right. Why did he choose Australia over us? I thought he loved us more than that. He's such an asshole!"

Gary sighed when she stopped ranting and simply crumbled, squeezing the camera tightly against her chest, the emotions in him starting to surface. He wanted to kill Randy Orton for hurting his girlfriend this much. "I love you, Arie, always remember that."

Mark had no idea what the big deal over the camera was because Arielle rarely discussed her internship on a specific level with him. She just usually glossed over the details and kept him in the loop without pulling him inside it, no doubt because of the tension between him and Randy. There was always certain awkwardness there and he knew Arielle sometimes felt conflicted since he was her Dad, but Randy had also stepped up into that role on a level.

"She going to be alright?"

"Which one?"

"Arielle. You know better, I don't ask about your ex-wife. Trish usually tells me shit even you don't know, I'm in the know man."

After assuring Steve everything was fine, Mark made his way over to Jasina, noticing she had apparently decided drinking was on the menu and accepted a glass of wine he was passed. He knew this was all Lashonna was allowing inside her restaurant with so many underage kids around and it would do, even though he wasn't much of a wine drinker. "Why didn't he come?" He asked finally, knowing Randy was the reason Arielle and Jasina were both down, wanting to seriously injure the man for hurting them.

Jasina snorted as she took another swig of her beer, running the pad of her thumb around the rim of the can, trying not to let anymore tears fall until she was home alone. "He went to Australia for work. Said he forgot today was Arielle's graduation." She couldn't look up at Mark because she didn't want to see the pity in his eyes that she knew was there, feeling her heart clench violently with pain. "H-He said he had to go because he had obligations to fulfill. He was going to take me with him and I normally would've gone in a heartbeat, but...not today. He chose work over family, like always, and forced me to hurt our daughter on the most important day of her life." She finished her beer and crushed the can, gritting her teeth through blurred vision.

"Why didn't you just lie to her?" He asked curiously, holding up a hand when Jasina shot him a dirty look. "Just hear me out, darlin'. I know you don't like lyin' to Arie, but sometimes, there are times when you need too. Like today. You could have told her anythin' else, but the Australia thing until after the graduation party, where she wouldn't have had to deal with the anger." For example, he had lied to Arielle when her first kitten had gotten run over and told her that the kitten had 'moved to Hollywood to star in an animal movie'. She had written that damn cat letters for a month and he had to send them out, but it was preferable over the truth.

"I don't lie to my daughter, no matter the circumstances." Jasina stated evenly, wondering what exactly Mark had lied to Arielle about, deciding it was none of her business. "And besides, what hell was I supposed to tell her? He has no family to our knowledge so saying he had a family emergency wouldn't have worked. And she would've known something definitely was up when she went to the office only to find him gone. Trish was the one who signed him off for the damn trip so she would've simply gone to Trish and figured out I lied to her." There was no way Jasina was doing that, remembering her promise to never lie to Arielle and refused to break it. She hadn't been a very good mother up until Arielle was twelve years old, but she'd be damned if she wasn't totally one hundred percent honest with her daughter.

"Yer call darlin', it was just a question." Mark rumbled, having seen the flicker of curiosity that darted enough her face and decided he'd tell Jasina, maybe coax a grin out of her or at least lighten her mood a bit. "When she was six, she had a kitten named Mr. Butters; it was a girl by the way. Poor thing got ran over out on the road while she was at school and I buried her in the backyard. When Arie came home and asked where Mr. Butters was, I told her that she had moved to Hollywood to star in them animal movies and was gonna be a big star." Mark groaned at the memory. "I did it because she was really young and had some mixed up ideas about death and I didn't want to see her hurt and cry. She dictated letters to me every other day and made me mail them out. She would literally make me go to the post office with a letter addressed to Mr. Butters the Hollywood Cat and watch me give them to the postman."

"Seriously?"

No matter how hard she tried fighting it, Jasina started laughing and shook her head, the sound both genuine and uplifting. Jasina could see Mark doing something like that just to save their daughter from feeling pain, knowing she probably should've done the same thing, but Arielle wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a woman and would've been severely pissed if she found out Jasina lied to her about why Randy had missed her graduation day.

"What did she do when she finally found out the truth?"

"Are we talkin' about Mr. Butters?"

Mark groaned louder. "She never found out..."

"This lyin' bastard paid me to write Arie letters and sign them Mr. Butters, I even dipped cat's paws in ink and stamped the letter with them. That girl had the best lie ever told to her."

"Shhhhh..."

"I'm sure she knows by now that you lied to her."

"You did too!"

"I'm not her daddy and I was also well paid for it."

Jasina was laughing so hard, the tears in her eyes were streaming down her cheeks by now, holding her stomach while doubled over. It took several minutes before Jasina finally calmed down, Trish having joined them when she overheard Jasina laughing hysterically and wanted to know what was up. "M-Mr. Butters..." She gasped out and that's all she could say before she started laughing again, letting the men explain it to her instead.

Trish had laughed herself right into the bathroom, nearly pissing herself.

"WOW, I've NEVER seen her move THAT fast before." Jasina blinked, not realizing she'd leaned against Mark for leverage so she didn't fall over in her chair, wiping her tears away. "Oh my god, you better never let her find out that Steve did that...Then again, the cat should've died by now since she's seventeen now..."

"Hell, Arie probably figured it out at eight but never called him on it." Steve chuckled, cracking open his own beer and toasted Mark. "To the funniest lie I ever heard."

Mark shook his head, smiling in spite of himself and looped his arm around Jasina to keep her from falling when she began laughing all over again. "I'm glad you find that amusin', darlin'." He rumbled, knowing he would never live this one down, but it had been worth it to make her smile.

"That is the funniest story I've ever heard in my life. You know what's sad too? I can totally see Steve picking defenseless cats up off the street to dip their damn paws in ink just to make it believable." Jasina hadn't even felt Mark's arm wrap around her, nodding when Steve offered her a beer, her sullen mood definitely lifted thanks to Mark. "It also shows what a great father she has."

"Couldn't agree with you more, honey." Steve toasted that, both of them taking long swigs of their beer.

"I swear if this kid doesn't come soon, I'm going to reach in there and rip it out myself!"

"Umbilical cord and all?"

Beer spewed out of Steve's nostrils.

"Thanks for a very disturbin' mental image, darlin'." Mark groaned, paling slightly.

"I'm serious, it's tap dancing on my bladder, using my ribs for a xylophone and my lungs as a crack pipe...I'm about to get that cake knife and perform a c-section myself, we even have liquor for pain relief AND antiseptic." Trish was completely serious as she spoke.

"Uh honey, why don't we not do that and I'll rub ya down instead?"

"Can you magically remove the baby so it comes out healthy, alive, and no longer cha-cha-ing on my organs?"

"...no..." Steve hesitated.

"We're cutting it out."

Jasina couldn't stop laughing at Steve and Trish's antics, her eyes suddenly locking on Steve. "You're a good man, Steve. You've been with Trish since day one and you two were meant for each other. Keep that flame going, no matter what, because you never know when it might go out." Jasina held her beer up alone and then downed the rest of it, feeling more than a little tipsy by now and excused herself to use the bathroom, her own bladder crying out to be released.

Trish watched her friend walk away and frowned, still not believing Randy had actually booked his trip to Australia on today of all days, shaking her head. "If you ever hurt me like that, I'll castrate you." She threatened; sniffling as her hormones suddenly erupted. "Because I love you with everything and I expect you to feel the same way until we both die together, old and wrinkly."

"He's not old and wrinkly now?"

"Been tryin' to look at my balls again?" Steve groaned when Trish smacked him and gently pulled her against him, kissing her tenderly. "Honey, you already know I'm with you until the end."

"Good, because I'd kill you otherwise."

"And now that that's been said, I'll go somewhere else and pretend I didn't hear that, just in case you DO wind up dead, Steve." Taking a beer -screw the wine- with him, he went to go see if Arielle had come back in yet, shaking his head.

The party ended a few hours later and Jasina was ready to call it a night, hugging Arielle and Gary, making them both promise to drive safely. She headed out to her car, still sober enough to drive home and couldn't believe what a fantastic, yet heartbreaking day this was. She turned her head, watching Mark head toward his motorcycle and frowned, wondering what he was thinking about.

They were both alone and it sucked. They both deserved happiness didn't they? Sniffling, Jasina slipped into her car and checked her cell phone, once again no messages or texts from Randy. She was tired of checking her phone and sped home, tears sliding down her cheeks the entire time.

The party had gone relatively well, all things considered, at least Mark thought so. Though he knew it was going to take a lot of time for Arielle and Jasina as well to recover from the hurt Randy had dealt them, wondering why the man hadn't cancelled the Australia trip or at least postponed leaving until tomorrow. Then Mark remembered he was going home alone, his girlfriend basically ending things with him and groaned.