FALLING FOR MY STEPDADDY

FFMSD – 42

DANIEL

For the umpteenth time, I am watching the surveillance footage in my office at the warehouse, hoping to get some light to see what exactly happened that day when Yolanda moved into her apartment and was attacked. I have one suspect, no more than that. I do not understand why my baby girl is trying to protect that bustard, but when the time is right, I will attack. He will get hurt.

I have placed bodyguards around her apartment block, but she does not know that because she told me and her father that she does not need them. They are always informing me about her, and I am always glad to hear that she is always with her gay friend Tory. Her mother left her with me, so I will not stop protecting her and loving her. She is what I am left with of her mother.

“If I were you, I would delete that footage because we both know who might have done it,” Capo announces as he enters my office.

“I still do not get it. It cannot be him, Capo,” Capo also has the same suspicion as mine, but I have doubts.

“Let’s be honest, Alpha; do you see anyone else coming in or out besides him? I know that you do like that laitie, but besides him, do you see anyone else?”

Capo has a point, but I am very wary of how much he is not fond of the suspect. I like him a lot and I would hate to find out that it is really him. Maybe I should let it go for now and focus on other important things.

“How is business going?” I shut my MacBook and get up from my seat.

“The stock will be arriving tonight at the Depo. The gammas are already preparing the storage for the stock’s arrival,”

I nod my head, putting on my suit jacket.

“Fine. I am going out; I need to fetch my daughter at the airport,”

Thando decided that she wanted to leave South Africa and live in the USA to pursue her influencer career. At first, I did not want her to leave. I wanted her to go to university to further her education, but she seems to love being an influencer a lot more than anything, so I let her follow her own path. I was sad to watch her leave, but I am so happy that she is back home, now.

“Oh, is it that day already?” Capo asks.

“Yes, I have been counting. I cannot wait to see my daughter, Capo. Your niece is coming home in less than an hour. I need to get a few things before getting to the airport,”

“Oh, yeah. Need me to do anything before you leave?”

“No, just take care of things around here.”

***

I have a bouquet of fresh pink and green flowers in my hand, waiting for my daughter to arrive. All these women here checking me out probably think that I am waiting for my wife, or probably hoping that she does not show up. Unfortunately for them, I am not interested in any of them. They are all my type of women, but I have my eyes on one person. She is still giving me a hard time, but I know that what I want to pursue with her is real or could be real.

It has been five minutes since Thando’s plane landed, and I still cannot see a sight of her. I use this time to send a message to Yolanda, reminding her about today.

‘I hope to see you today. Please do it for Thando if not for me.’

We planned a welcome home party with Anele. Living in a foreign country alone would not have been an easy thing for her, but thankfully, I have friends that side that kept an eye on my daughter and I knew she was safe.

Gosh, I miss her so much.

“Hi, dad,”

My eyes shoot up straight as soon as I hear her voice. She is not even in front of me, so I turn and look behind me.

She looks so beautiful but different from when she had left. I am happy to see her.

“Thando, my baby girl,” I prance towards her and hug her. I feel her hands wrapping around me which confirms that she is also happy to see me. “I am getting emotional. How are you?”

“Dad, I miss home,” She says in a sad tone. “I miss you and Anele so much,” We disengage from the hug, and I look at her sombre face.

She still takes care of herself, but even behind all this beauty, I can see how sad she is.

“Are you okay, baby? You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”

What could be the problem? I have followed and supported all her vlogs, interviews, and everything that she has been doing, and everything seemed to be going well for her. I made sure to video call her every week, and she had never shown me any sign of sadness. Was she only pretending to me?

“Don’t worry, we will talk about it when you are ready. I am so happy that you are back home, Thando. Take these flowers while I take your luggage,” I hand the flowers to her and grab all her suitcases.

“Thank you, dad.”

***

A father and daughter moment is so important to me that I had to take her out for lunch and catchup with her and talk about her journey in the States. I need to reconnect with my daughter physically.

“How has she been?” Thando asks. We were just talking about Anele.

“It took her a while to get used to your absence, but she has been okay and happy. The least I could do is allow her to invite her friends to come over to the house just to fill in the void you and Yolanda left. Plus, she sometimes visits Yolanda’s apartment,”

She smiles and nods.

“She has always been very fond of her. They connect more than we would ever do,”

“Don’t say that. You know Anele sees you as her sister first before Yolanda. You all just connect in different ways,” I make her understand. I know that she and Yolanda were not best of friends, and I know they don’t hate each other, but Anele would never choose who is best between them. Oh, my poor little baby is caught up between her older sisters that hardly talk.

“I know, but Anele connected more with Mary, and she sees her through Yolanda because she does not know our mom. I know mom and I miss my mom, dad. Why didn’t you help her?”

Oh, s**t. I never thought we would speak about this truth, but here we are today.

Anele thinks that her mother passed away when she was born, but that is not the truth. Their mother died from an overdose of cocaine. She was a drug addict, and no matter how much I tried to help her, she always went back to being a druggie. That woman was a piece of work, and I am so glad that the drugs killed her first before I did.

“Honey, a lot happened, you know that. I couldn’t have helped your mother, no matter how much I tried to,”

When I met their mother, she was a recovering addict. When she fell pregnant with Thando, I married her. Five to six years later in the middle of our second pregnancy with Anele, she met her ex-boyfriend who did not waste time to make her relapse, and ever since then, she cheated on me, sniffed a lot of cocaine, and stole from me. I could not divorce her yet because she carried my child. I needed her closer to me, so I locked her up in the cottage house with specialists, just in case she tries to harm herself or our baby. As soon as she gave birth in the cottage house, we got divorced and she went back to her ex... three days later, she overdosed, committed suicide, and left a note to me and her kids.

“I was six, dad. Why do I remember so much? I still remember the love she gave me, but also the hate and anger she brought at home,”

“It is part of life to remember what you can, but I want you to know that mom loved you so much. Just that things did not turn out how we predicted. I am here for you girls,”

“And Mary?”

I furrow my brows and look at her.

“What about Mary?” I ask.

She looks down like someone who regrets asking and shakes her head.

“Nothing, dad. Let’s eat our meal,” She says, diving a spoonful into her mouth.

“You have grown a lot, Thando,” I tell her, not sure how to tell her that she has gotten chubbier. Women don’t like hearing that mostly from a man.

“I look fat. It’s okay, dad… you can say it,” She shyly smiles. I smile, just not to make her feel uncomfortable.

***

“I watch as my two girls cry in each other’s arms. Anele had missed her sister so much that she could not help but breakdown the moment she walked in. Most of Thando’s friends are here, and I am so happy to see that Yolanda made it. She is teary but refuses to drop those tears. Tory is also here… I am not surprised at all, but I don’t mind him.

Anele and Thando break their hug and Thando looks at Yolanda. They stare at each other as if one regrets something and the other just wants to kill another. Even after so long, they still don’t want to fix their issues.

“Welcome home, Thando,” Yolanda softly says, walking towards her and hugs her. Thando does not even try, instead, she cries and pushes her off before she scurries off to her bedroom.

“Thando!” Anele cries out.

“Leave her, baby. She is overwhelmed. She will come out when she is ready. Yolanda, are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, it is not like I never expected that from her. She still doesn’t like me,”

“She doesn’t like you, but she loves you. She just hates showing it,” I ease her.