Falling In Again

Episode 3: Trap

Mom, dad wants to pick me up from practice and go to dinner, is that okay?

Angelica read the text that was sent to her from Mia about forty minutes ago and pushed her phone back into her scrub pocket before moving onto the next patient. She texted back that it was fine but Roman really should have let her know instead of texting their daughter but who was she to not let a father see his daughter.

She had another hour to her shift and thought better, she pulled out her cellphone and texted a friend letting him know she had a free hour to do a speed date and grab coffee.

When her shift ended, she went straight to the coffee shop where she ordered a pick me up from the long shift that she just had. She looked at her phone again and a voice interrupted her from her thoughts as she looked up to her friend whom she had met up more than once to sneak in spurts of s*x.

He smiled at her with a kind smile that she found to be attractive but they never decided to go further knowing that they may be compatible in the bedroom, they weren’t outside. They were more friends than they were lovers.

“How are you doing?” Jacob asked as he took a seat in front of her with a cup of his own in his hands. She nodded to him and they talked about how work was going. He was a freelance web designer and though he was artistic and talented, he was unpredictable.

“Is there someone on your mind?” He asked and Angelica gave him a look before he shrugged. “You’re constantly looking at your phone.”

Angelica didn’t know if she was worried about her daughter hanging out with her father or if she was just recently constantly thinking about her ex-husband. “My ex is suddenly in my daughter’s life when before he didn’t seem to care.” She told him and he nodded his head. “I know it was a sore topic before, but maybe he wants to be in his daughter’s life?” Jacob put in, testing whether she would shut him down or continue talking.

“But why now? We were okay with the infrequent visits and the gifts in place of his presence but instead of getting a babysitter, now he’s offering to watch Mia. He even took her out to dinner when he knows that he needs to go by me first.” She said to Jacob.

He took a sip of his coffee before thinking about what he was planning on telling her, “Did he have a near death experience?” He asked and Angelica only shrugged. “I don’t know much about him since we divorced and I really don’t care.”

***

Roman had finished with the work that he was doing, buying yet another plot of land that was going to be turned into a business complex. That meant that he made a good chunk of money and he moved away from his computer screen to stretch.

He turned to look at the clock on his desk as it read six thirty. Next to the clock was a photo of Mia when she was six, her smiling face looking at him. Now before he realized it, she was fourteen and her photo was too outdated. He didn’t think that he had a more recent photo of his teenaged daughter and that bothered him.

He was so obsessed with making money that he let what mattered most to him get away. His daughter was growing up before his eyes and he had missed a few good years. He looked to his left hand that was bare, reminding him of when he used to wear his wedding band.

Roman thought back to when he was once married to Angelica, their lives hard having to raise a baby when they themselves were children. They struggled with money, bills, and he knew that he could no longer let his family struggle. He worked and worked to get more money but he also knew that it was his downfall. He was thirty, overworked, and single.

He had a family and he let that go when he chased after the money. Pulling back from his desk he moved over to look at his phone and brought up a name that he missed coming from his lips. The phone rang four times before she answered. “Hello?” Her voice was still sweet as he remembered them but with a tang of disgust in them.

“What are you doing?” He asked Angelica and she sighed as he could hear a voice in the background and light music. “What do you mean what an I doing, what are you doing?” She retorted back at him with no patience in her voice left.

“Just wanted to see if Mia wants any dinner.” He stated wondering what it was that he was planning on doing.

“What do you mean?” She asked him, impatience in her voice. “Isn’t she with you?”

Roman furrowed his brows as he looked out his window that was overlooking the city and setting sun. “No, why would she be?” He asked Angelica and he could hear her intake of breath. “She said she was with you.” Angelica replied before he heard the tone for the call being disconnected on the other end and then his phone going black.

He stared at his phone in confusion before a million thoughts went through his head. He was a teenager once, the worst thing she could be doing was hanging out with friends. But then again, if she had to lie about what she was doing to her own mom, then she was most definitely doing something that she shouldn’t be doing. Panic set in as he thought of the worst case of s****l predators, horny teenage boys, or even drugs crossed his mind. And then he recalled seeing articles on s*x trafficking rings and his heart beat doubled when he called his assistant to ask if they could track a number down.