Not Looking for Love: Episode 6 (A New Adult Contemporary Romance Novel) by Lena Bourne Page B

That's Mike, and I'll very likely never escape his grasp.

    Dad’s phone call wakes me on Tuesday morning. My heart's racing as I search for the phone, my eyesight still fuzzy from sleep. Why's he calling this early? Something has to be wrong. The room's spinning by the time I finally pick up.
    "Gail, did I wake you?" Dad asks, and I actually sigh in relief. It can't be that bad if he's asking me this.  
    "Yes," I mutter.
    "Well, sorry, but it is seven already," he says briskly. "Listen, I will be leaving this Friday. I want to see you before I go."
    "Leaving?" I ask a split second before the knowledge pops into my head. "Already? It's only April."
    "My posting got pushed up a bit," Dad says and the briskness is gone. Any second now he'll ask if I want him to stay.
    "I'm free every night this week," I say to forestall it. He needs to get on with his life, and so do I.
    "Tomorrow night, then?" he asks. "I could come by your apartment first, see where you're living."
    I wince as I bite down on my lip too hard. He doesn't know Scott's not in my life anymore or that I've moved back in with Phillipa.
    "About that, Dad," I start, getting up off the floor and walking to the kitchen. "I'm back at my old house, living with Phillipa again."
    "Oh?" he says and leaves it at that. And I'm glad for it. If he said any more than that, shown any kind of approval about me and Scott breaking up, I'd probably start yelling at him.
    "Yes," I mutter, thinking I'm answering the unasked part of his question.
    "And Scott, he's living there too?" he asks, sounding like he's holding his breath.
    "No," I manage, cursing myself for starting this conversation before I at least had some coffee. A headache is starting behind my eyes. I was up until four in the morning, finishing a paper, and I still have so much to do today, a headache is the last thing I need. "He's…we're not…dating anymore."
    It takes me too long to say it, but I do manage it, so that's got to count for something.
    "OK then, I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night," Dad says, and clears his throat. I love him so much right now for knowing when to end this painful conversation.
    The next two days pass in a whirlwind haze of school, research and typing. Even yoga's not relaxing me anymore. Tears well in my eyes as soon as I slip into Dad's car at precisely seven on Wednesday night. I've forced myself not to think about his move to Geneva since he told me, and now he'll be gone for real tomorrow.
    "Do you already have an apartment there?" I ask, struggling not to unravel. I'm a grown woman. I don't need my daddy here to hold my hand.
    "Yes, my predecessor’s," he says, and pulls away from the curb. "But it sounds like it might be too big just for me."
    "You can find something more suitable," I murmur.
    "We'll look for something together, when you come visit in the summer," he says and smiles at me, squeezing my hand briefly.  
    I nod. "I'll come in July, right after the exams finish."
    I'm already planning it in my head now. I can visit Paris while I'm there, maybe even London, or Rome. My heart skips a beat at the last one though. Rome was the last place my mom and me visited together. I don't know if I could face it on my own this time.
    "We should make the plans," Dad says, as he parks in front of the Italian restaurant we usually go to when he visits. "I'm going to Syria for a few weeks in May."
    "What?" I breathe. "But that's too dangerous right now."
    He lays his hand on my lower back and guides me to the restaurant, because I'm just standing there, staring at him, my mouth hanging open.
    "I'll be in no danger, Gail. Don't worry."
    But I am worried. There's a war on, bombings every day. There's no way he could be safe there. My heart's racing so fast the room actually tilts sideways as we enter.
    I concentrate on just putting one foot in front of the other until I finally take a seat at the table. He can't know how much I'm freaking out about this, else he might just cancel the