Chapter 43: Chapter 43

“Oh my God, Amy! That was super risky!” Mandy, Amy’s best friend exclaimed in a high pitched voice.

Amy was currently sitting on her bed, Skyping with her best friend.

“I mean… What if your dad decided to walk in?” She continued while trying to stiffle a laugh.

“I know, I know. I just.. I got carried away” Amy confessed, thinking back to the heated make out session she had with Bryan a week ago.

“Sure, you did. I can tell from how crimson you are that he was smoking hot”

“Yeah, he was” Amy confirmed with a dreamy look in her eyes.

“Can you send me a photo of him?.. just one photo?”

“Hell no!”

“C’mon Amy, I want to see those huge biceps that are always clad in suit”

“Uh-huh”

“Pretty please?” Mandy pleaded, trying her best to sound cute.

“I’ve never seen a picture of Jack shirtless, so don’t bother” Amy shook her head in disapproval, mentally smiling at how desperate her best friend sounded.

“I’ll send you one, if that’s what you want”

“Nah. I’m not in the mood to see those chicken wings he calls muscles”

Both girls burst out laughing from Amy’s comment.

“That was a good one, but don’t let Jack hear that!” Mandy laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

“Oh my God! Where is he?” Amy covered her mouth, as she realized what she had just said.

“I was only messing with you. He’s at the gym” Mandy assured her best friend.

Amy breathed a sigh of relief, internally grateful that Jack didn’t hear what she said about him.

“I’ve been dying to ask you this..” Mandy began.

“What?” Amy asked with a suspicious look. Knowing Mandy for so long, she can already tell her best friend wanted to ask a ridiculous question.

“Have you guys gone all the way?” Mandy asked grinning from ear to ear, waiting for Amy’s reply.

“No! Gosh, no!” Amy exclaimed, turning away to hide her obvious blush.

“You’re kidding, right?” Her best friend asked drily.

“We don’t want to rush things”

“Really, Amy?... Is that coming from you?” Mandy paused.

“You’ve been dreaming about this moment for as long as I can remember. Now that you finally have what you want, you want to wait?”

Her best friend was right. She has always dreamed about being with Bryan. She has dreamt so many times what it would be like making love to him, being completely his.

She blushed scarlet at the thought of being that way with Bryan, letting him have all of her. That would be a milestone in their relationship, but was she ready to take that step as it would bring them closer to each other.

“What do you want, Amy?” Mandy suddenly asked, making Amy realize that she was still on a Skype call with her best friend.

“I think I’m ready” She replied, smiling to herself as she was already making plans for that special day inside her head.

**************

Henry was in his bedroom getting ready for work. He stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection to make sure he wasn’t missing anything, when he felt small hands around his torso. He smiled knowing fully well who those hands belong to.

“Good morning, dad. Happy Valentine’s day!” Amy’s cheerful voice greeted her father.

“Good morning, my angel” Henry replied, turning around to give his daughter a proper hug.

“I got this for you” Amy said after the hug, handing her dad a small shopping bag.

“I feel so terrible right now” Henry said in a sad tone.

He wasn’t happy with himself because for the very first time in his life, he totally forgot what today was, as he didn’t get any gift for his daughter. He wanted to blame his busy schedule for his recent absent mindedness, but he didn’t, rather he scolded himself for not paying much attention to his daughter in recent days.

“Hey, dad. Don’t feel bad. I got this for you because I wanted to, not because of some silly Valentine’s day” Amy said to cheer up her dad when she noticed the hesitant look in his eyes.

“C’mon dad, open it” She encouraged with a sweet smile, wrapping her arms once again around his torso.

Henry reluctantly opened the shopping bag and brought out the small box inside. A smile slowly crept up his face when he saw his favorite perfume ‘Clive Christian No 1 Imperial Majesty’

“I noticed you were running out of yours and you’re too occupied to get a new one, so I decided to get you one myself” She murmured against his chest.

“Dad, I want you to know that I love you, not because of all the nice things you give to me but because you’re my father. You’re the only person who truly loves and cares for me. I love you so so much, dad” Amy hugged her dad even tighter, as a stray tear rolled down her face. She wanted him to know that she needed nothing from him to make her happy. His presence was more than enough for him.

“I love you so much, my princess” Henry finally said, his voice cracking a bit at the end.

“It’s not even Father’s day and I’m already using up my speech” She then joked, pulling away from the hug and adjusting his tie as well as the area on his suit that had creased from the hug.

“Where is my thank you kiss, dad?” Amy pointed at her cheek, waiting for a kiss from her dad.

Henry smiled at his daughter’s childishness and gave her a kiss on both cheeks.

“Happy now?” He asked with a chuckle.

Amy nodded with a satisfied smile, taking the gift bag from her dad and placed it on his nightstand. She then picked up his briefcase from beside his bed and handed it to him.

“You know, Amy…” Henry began.

“Valentine’s day is also a special day set aside for you and your boyfriend”

Amy couldn’t believe what her dad just said. He was trying to get something out of her, she could tell.

“I’m not having this conversation with you, dad”

“C’mon princess, who is he?” Henry teased to get his daughter to say something.

“Dad, I don’t know what you’re-“ Amy’s sentence was interrupted by a call on her phone. She looked at the caller ID and saw Kyle’s name on her screen.

This was new and unexpected. Kyle barely called or rather, Kyle doesn’t call. So, why the sudden change?

She glanced at her dad to see if he was looking and indeed he was, with a smirk on his face.

“You know you can answer the call, right?... I won’t judge” Henry suddenly said, turning around to look at the mirror.

“It’s not what you think” She countered in a small voice, still staring at her phone.

“Right.” Her dad chuckled.

Amy took a deep breath before answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Amy. How have you been?” Kyle’s deep voice asked, making Amy aware of the fact that she hasn’t heard his voice in a very long time.

“I’ve been great. It’s- it’s been quite a while” Amy mentally scolded herself for stuttering.

“My bad. I’m really sorry about that. It’s just… I’ve been very busy” Kyle replied, sounding really apologetic.

“I know. I know, don’t mind me”

“No. Really, I’m sorry for not keeping in touch. That’s why I actually called”

“Really?”

“Yeah… I’m kinda free today, so I was wondering if you would like to have lunch?”

Amy thought about it for a while. Why would Kyle suddenly call to have lunch with her?

‘This is kinda weird.’ She thought to herself. But, on the other hand, this wasn’t a bad idea.

She has been thinking of an excuse to go out, so she could spend her Valentine’s day with Bryan. This could be the perfect excuse, she concluded within herself.

“But, if you’re busy, we could do it some other day” Kyle’s voice made Amy realize that she had been silent the whole time.

“No, no. Lunch is fine… Where do we meet?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll come pick you up by 2pm” Kyle replied with excitement in his voice.

“Alright, Kyle… I’ll see you at 2”

“Bye” Kyle said and ended the call.

‘Did I just speak to Kyle?’ Amy wondered because he sounded like a totally different person.

“Kyle, huh?” Henry’s voice brought Amy out of her trance. She had totally forgotten that she was still in her dad’s bedroom and he hasn’t left for work.

“Dad, I told you I don’t know what you’re talking about” She tried to excuse herself with pouty lips.

“You don’t sound convincing, princess… Besides, the blush on your face tells me otherwise”

Amy felt like disappearing from her dad’s presence.

“This is so embarrassing” She mumbled to herself, covering her cheeks. She didn’t have the slightest clue that she was blushing.

“It’s alright, sunshine. Just play it safe, okay?”

“Daaad!!!”

“I’m only saying the truth, my love” He chuckled, kissing her forehead before walking out of his bedroom.

“Do you have any plans for today?” Amy asked, following closely behind her dad.

“I’ll be going to Bryan’s place later” Henry replied.

“It’s not fair! Don’t you wanna be my Val?” Amy pretended to sound hurt.

“You already have one, Amy. Maybe next year” Henry decided to play along with his daughter’s joke.

They went back and forth until they got outside the mansion, where Amy said goodbye to her dad.