Page 259 of My Best Friend's Dad

“No,” I said shortly. “I don’t want you, Hannah. I want you to get your things and leave. And I want you know that if you ever try to trespass at my office or in my home, I will have you arrested on the spot.”

Hannah blinked. It seemed like the severity of the situation was finally starting to sink in that thick, blonde skull of hers.

“Now,” I said sharply. “Come on.”

Hannah still didn’t move. Her feet remained firmly planting in the plush white carpet. When another second passed and she hadn’t moved, I grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her out of my bedroom.

“Wait,” Hannah shrieked. “My clothes!”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snarled. “If you wake Brett, I’ll make you regret it.”

Hannah glared viciously at me as I dragged her towards the front door. When I got to the foyer, I wrenched open the door and dragged her into the harshly lit hallway.

“Stay here,” I ordered. I slammed the door in Hannah’s face before stalking through the apartment and grabbing her clothes, shoes, and purse. When I returned to the hall, Hannah was standing there, leaning against the wall and smirking.

“You think you’ve won,” Hannah said softly. “You think you intimidate me.” She threw her head back and laughed. “The truth is, you asshole, you don’t know anything about me.”

“Good,” I snarled. I dropped her clothes and purse on the floor, taking satisfaction when the bag spilled all over. “Now leave.”

Hannah gave me one last, lingering sulky glance before pulling her jeans on and grabbing her things. I stood in the door and watched as she got into the elevator and disappeared.

With a sigh, I turned and walked back into my condo. Brett was standing in the hall, looking small and scared.

“Dad, what happened?” His voice was trembling.

“Nothing,” I said. “Don’t worry about it,” I added.

“Dad, I’m hungry,” Brett said. “Hannah never ordered dinner. She just told me to watch TV until I fell asleep.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry,” I said. “She’s not coming back here. I fired her.”

“Oh.” Brett frowned. “Are you okay?”

I sighed. “Yeah,” I said. “I’m fine. Come on, let’s order a pizza.”

Brett grinned and raced into the living room, jumping on the couch. After a few seconds, I smiled. This wasn’t exactly the end of the night that I’d wanted, and all thoughts of sexy June had been pushed from my head. But if it meant that I had a chance to finally bond with my son, I didn’t care. After all, Brett was the most important thing in my life. And I would’ve done anything to make sure he realized that.

--

In the morning, I woke up and sat in bed for a long time, reading the paper. I could hear Isabelle and Brett chatting animatedly in the kitchen, and the whole condo smelled of bacon and soft-boiled eggs.

When I finally got into the kitchen, Brett grinned. I grinned back – maybe this was for the best, maybe the departure of Hannah would finally mean that Brett and I would be close.

; “Hey, Dad, Isabelle brought a surprise,” Brett said. He held up a bunch of comics.

“Oh, that’s nice, did you say thank you?” I raised my eyebrow.

Brett nodded.

“He was very polite,” Isabelle said. She smiled. “Would you like some eggs, Mr. Thomas?”

I nodded, helping myself to a piece of bacon from the platter on the island. It was perfect – not too crisp, not too soggy.

“Thanks, Isabelle,” I said. I took the plate she offered, neatly cutting the top of one soft-boiled egg and taking a bite.

Brett smiled again. “Hey, Dad, can we go to the zoo this weekend?”