“I hold onto this pride because these days it’s all I have, and I gave you my best and we both know you can’t say that. I wish you were a better man…”


Charlotte and Chief were in a staring match as she tore up little bits of roasted chicken to put in his bowl. She figured she could out-wait him. Surely her will had to be stronger than his patience. But Chief had an unforeseen power that even the strongest willed person on the planet couldn’t compete with: the eyes of a begging dog. When she felt he’d had enough of waiting, she set his bowl on the floor and he went after it with gusto. Satisfied with the meal she’d thrown together for him, Charlotte dug through the pantry for something she could throw together for her and Darcy.

It had been a week since her night out with Jules, which she mostly survived thanks to Darcy. Had it not been for him, she probably would’ve stayed in bed for three days with her head hidden beneath the blankets, praying that her eyes wouldn’t pop out of her head when the sunlight hit them. No, instead she had Darcy pumping her with water until she thought she’d explode. But it did cure her hangover faster than she would’ve ever expected. And best of all, he handled it in stride. Despite seeing her in an extremely unattractive and pathetic state, after that night, he never brought it up again. She was sure he had had nights like that of his own and would hope that she’d give him the same discretion.

Just as Charlotte was about to get something cooking for them, Chief went into full bark mode and stormed the front door. A knock followed it up, and shortly after, Charlotte heard Darcy’s footsteps on the hardwood floor, heading for the door. Probably just a delivery of one of the many things she’d bought online, so she didn’t really pay too much attention. The only noticeable difference was that Chief had stopped barking.

“Char!”

She looked towards the living room. Even though she couldn’t see him, she thought it strange that he was calling for her. “Just sign for me,” she called back, turning on the oven to preheat.

“Charlotte!” Darcy called again.

Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows and left the food on the counter, going to see what Darcy was making a fuss about. And as soon as she got into the living room, she understood. There was a second man in the house, sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. He was bent over cradling Chief’s head in his hands as he scratched the back of his ears.

She stood, stunned, unable to move even as the man looked up and made eye contact with her. In her periphery, Charlotte saw Darcy move his hand, and then simultaneously felt it settle on her mid-back.

“Your mom gave me your address. Hope that’s okay,” the man smiled, standing from the chair.

“It’s not,” she murmured, taken aback. She hardly remembered him being so tall. Of course at four, anyone’s father seems like a mountain of a person. But even now twenty years later, she hadn’t been expecting someone of this size.

“Did you get my message?” He took a step forward. Charlotte reciprocated by trying to take one backwards but Darcy’s hand stopped her. She knew he didn’t want her running from this. Her dad rubbed the back of his head, “I see you got yourself a boy.”

“Darcy,” Darcy mentioned, rubbing his hand on Charlotte’s back.

“Scott,” her dad extended his hand. At first Darcy was hesitant to take it, but his good, old manners kicked in and he shook hands. He returned his focus to Charlotte, “I saw an article about your movie a couple months back. Premiered in Toronto, or…” he trailed off thinking she’d cut in and say something. But when silence fell between the three of them, he picked back up. “I was in town passing through on business… your mother gave me the address."

“Pardon me if this sounds harsh, but…” Charlotte shook her head gently, trying to make sense of the situation, “get the fuck out of my house.”

“Char,” Darcy cut in.

She looked up at him, “no, what the fuck? He beats the living shit out of my mom, disappears for twenty years, and then is standing in my house like everything’s hunky-dory.” She flicked her eyes back to Scott, “hate to break it to you, dad…” she emphasized the word, finding the irony in it all, “get the fuck out of my house. Leave, you’re good at that.”

“Same old, Charlotte. Acting like a child,” her dad cut.

“Last time you saw me, I was a child!” She pulled away from Darcy, “you’re a disgrace of a human… a blemish to mankind with obviously so large an ego, it has to ride shotgun! You show up here after twenty years and expect me to welcome you? After your parting words to me were a loving, shut the fuck up?” Charlotte came back to Darcy, “I went on my first date without you. I learned to drive without you. I graduated college, got a job, and became financially independent without you. I found a really great guy without you and without any example of how a man should treat a woman he says he loves.” She glared at her father, bitterly, “get out of my house before I set my dog on you.”

They all glanced over at Chief, who’d taken a spot on the couch, laying with his head in between his front feet, waiting to be paid some attention.

“Charlotte, when you grow up, we can have a conversation like adults,” he spat.

She folded her arms over her chest, “until you start paying rent for the roof over my head, you better watch yourself. I won’t be intimidated and disrespected in my own house,”

“You wanna talk about disrespect,” he glared, moving for the front door.

“Fuckin’ earn it!” Charlotte yelled and slammed the door shut behind him. Chief scurried and tucked his head into the couch pillows. When she looked up at Darcy, she could tell he was trying to figure out how that had gone so wrong. “I’m not angry…” she prefaced, taking her time, “I just want to know what realm of fantasy you were living in when you thought it was a good idea to let him into the house.”

“I didn’t think you’d brawl,” he said sheepishly.

“I have twenty years of pent up anger and animosity,”

She turned on her heels and went back into the kitchen to finish up preparing their dinner. Without having to look, she knew Darcy was following her. “I agree that you have no reason to want to associate with him. Ever. But I think you’ll regret not forgiving. Not for him, for you. He’s a burden on your life that you can never shake because you’re holding onto it; like what he did proves something about you. It doesn’t.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent forward to rest his chin on her shoulder, “you know I love you.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“And you know I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help you have an easier, unburdened life,”

Charlotte nodded.

“And this came for you,”

She looked down, immediately noticing the large envelope Darcy was holding out in front of her. As she gave it a closer look, she realized it was from the Sundance Institute, and her stomach dropped. Charlotte had been waiting for this particular envelope for months now. And with it in front of her, she almost didn’t want to open it. Not knowing if they’d made it into the festival was somehow better than living in the reality of not having made it.

Darcy nudged the envelope into her hands, practically begging her to tear open the top and see what the results were. Ripping it open was a reluctant and hesitant act. He backed up and leaned against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. Charlotte pulled out the first piece of paper laid in the envelope and let her eyes scan over it. And when she was confused by the words she was picking up on, she figured it would be better to just start from the top and actually read the letter. Her eyes danced over the words for just a moment before she began screaming and jumping up and down.

Once Darcy made the connection that she was screaming in excitement and not complete agony, he pulled her in for a hug and began jumping up and down with her. All of her wildest dreams were coming true with this one film, and he was bearing witness to it all.

“Is this really happening? Is this real life?!”

Darcy grinned and cupped the back of her neck in his hand, cradling her against his body as they quit jumping and began swaying side to side. “I’m so proud of you, baby,” he pressed his lips to her temple and kissed his way down her face. He settled his lips by her ear, “you’re fucking amazing.”

Charlotte smiled softly and tilted her head towards his until he moved and placed his forehead against hers. And only then did Charlotte lift her arms and hook them around his neck, “I’m in love with you.”

He smiled back, boyishly, cheeks turning pink at her words, “I’m in love with you too. Every moment of every day in love with you,”

---

The boy Charlotte was helplessly in love with was smarter than she ever gave him credit for. He said he’d have a surprise for her if she’d just meet him at his favorite coffee shop in South Bay. Only when she sat down at an empty table there, did she realize that it was a game night for him. And visiting this coffee shop was definitely not in his game day routine. That’s when she saw her father walk in. He looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. Apparently Darcy had each promised them a meeting at the shop, only the meeting would be between the two of them. If nothing else, that boy was determined.

“Your boyfriend lied to me,” Scott said as he sat down across from Charlotte.

“Yeah, well…” she shrugged and had to bring herself to care about whether or not Darcy lied. She should’ve known this was his plan all along. He was medalling, thinking that it’d come to make her have a simpler life. “He thinks resolving my pent up issues with you is going to give me a better life,”

Scott turned his head away and looked out the window. For a moment Charlotte thought about what she was looking to get out of this exchange. Did she want to hear her dad say that he had fucked up? Did she want to hear him admit that he was a terrible person? What could he say that would make Charlotte feel like she was getting closure out of this?

“I can't imagine Darcy ever treating me the way you treated mom. I can’t imagine him yelling at a child like the way you yelled at me. I don’t know what kind of sad excuse of a man does…”

“Are we going to have a conversation like adults, or are we just going to hurl insults?” Scott interrupted. He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward, “I know the relationship you have with your mom now. You never see her. You never call her. She knows as much about your life as I do. So take the long trip down off that high horse,”

Charlotte sat back in her chair, trying to create more distance between her and her dad.

“Your mom accused me of cheating on her constantly when she was pregnant with you. And nothing I said could convince her otherwise. I hadn’t cheated on her; I loved her endlessly. And shortly after you were born, I decided to make her accusations real. I’m flawed. I’ve got a short fuse made more volatile by the relationship I had with your mom. I don’t know what you want me to say,”

“You just left,” she murmured weakly. It was so faint that she wasn’t even sure her dad had heard her. “And then never even tried to be in my life at all. You just disappeared.”

“I was damned if I stayed and damned if I left. Would you have rather me been around so you could watch me beat the crap out of your mom?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes, “you could’ve stayed and not beat the crap out of her.” She nodded her head towards his left hand, “you got a ring on that finger. You beatin’ the crap out of someone else?”

Scott spun his wedding band around his ring finger, “that’s different. I never had a healthy relationship with your mother. Mel is different.”

“So you just pick and choose who you abuse?”

Her dad leaned back in his chair, “Charlotte, I don’t expect us to be friends. God knows we don’t actually know each other. And you’re right; you learned to drive without me, you graduated college without me… you’re as strong as you are because I left.”

“It wasn’t the way I would’ve chosen,”

“We never have to talk again if you don’t want to. I just wanted to see the girl that was the collateral of all my bad decisions. I may have not been around but that doesn’t mean I didn’t think about you, or love you. Your mother and I would’ve killed each other if we were in the same room. So I kept out of it,” Scott stood up and scratched the back of his head. “Tell that boyfriend of yours thank you for lying to the both of us.”

“Quick conversation,” Charlotte murmured.

“We both know we’re not going to see each other again. You’ve been living a good life without me; I wouldn’t want that to change.” He smiled softly and turned away.

“Dad,” Scott paused and looked back at her. Charlotte looked down at her lap before gaining the courage to look back at him. “I don’t hate you,”

“I love you too,” he turned back and walked out of the coffee shop nearly as quickly as he walked in.

Notes

"Better Man" by Little Big Town.

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