I Wish I Could.

Mr. Lawson stood before him with his hands clenched into a fist. Aside from Mr Lawson's rigid face and clenched fists, his body posture was relaxed. He stood on one foot, the other was still resting on the wheelchair footplate as he latched on its armrest.

"You asshole! You f*cking scumbag!” The man cussed at Mr. Lawson. "You've broken my f*cking nose!"

He observed his shirt, the persistent blood ran down his neck as he ducked his head. The dripping blood drew an ugly red map on his shirt and from the way it kept dripping down his chin, it looked like its mission was to paint the whole shirt red.

"Look at my shirt!" He frowned. "Do you know how much it cost me? You are going to pay for this Lawson. I'm calling my attorney right now! I will sue you for this, you hear me?" He poked a finger at Mr Lawson, writhing on the floor like a furious man who was burning in a blazing fire. "I will f*cking sue you!" He yelled, his voice echoing in the vast room.

People rushed to our direction and soon two nurses came to the man aid. A male nurse squatted before the man and collected cotton from the other nurse beside him. He tried to cover his bleeding nose with cotton, but the man kept moving furiously on the floor.

"Gosh!" The frustrated male nurse yelled. "Calm down mister!"

I didn't know what to do. Mr Lawson had pushed her to his side. He plopped into his wheelchair and I held his hand as the nurse took the man to the mall health center. Even though he walked out, I could still hear him cursing behind the closed door.

When I no longer heard his voice, I gazed at Mr Lawson. His whole attention was at the door where the man had walked out through.

He exhaled deeply and glanced at me. His eyes softened when it met mine.

"Are you okay?" I inquired.

He clenched the armrest of his wheelchair "I should be asking you that."

He sighed like he was bored of the situation. "Let's get out of here."

I walked with him through the crowd and was relieved to be welcomed by the open air. It was a little suffocating in that room. The chauffeur opened the door for Mr Lawson and I assisted him in climbing into the back seat. He adjusted and leaned his back on the seat before he gazed at me as I sat down beside him. The car started. He leaned close and cupped my chin. I stiffened and looked up to meet his gaze. Slowly, he moved my chin, his eyes studying every feature of my face and shoulder. Afterwards, he dropped his hands and moved away from me.

With a deep exhale of breath, he asked, "are you okay?"

"Yes…" I sat up straight. "He didn't hit me."

"But he harassed you," he said through gritted teeth. "Where else did he touch you except your hair?"

I didn't expect him to be this concerned.

I blinked. "Just my hands and shoulders."

"I'm sorry."

"It wasn't you who harassed me."

He looked at me. "But this happened because of me."

I frowned. "How?"

"Dave harassed you because he knew I would get angry," he clarified. "He was my best friend before I started running my father's airline. Ever since when I became the president, we just fell apart and he wanted to bring me down. It was because he hated the fact that my company was higher than his."

"You must have a lot of enemies," I blurted out.

He chuckled. "That, I do."

It was strange to see him being this free with me, I realized he was acting like this only because he thought he was at fault for Dave's harassment. It wasn't because he wanted you to get close to him, I reminded myself.

We sat in silence until I spoke, "I never really knew my father," I blinked back the tears that threatened to fall as I walked down a memory lane I had left locked and hidden for almost twelve years.

I didn't know why I was telling him this, but somehow I wanted to. Maybe it was because he helped me or the fact that he told me about Dave; I didn't know. I hardly talked about my father to anyone except my best friend, Dominic.

I could tell by the way he moved his neck on the seat that my words gained his attention.

"Why?" He asked.

"It's because he left us," I replied. The long forgotten memories visualized in my mind like a huge inky brush was painting it back to life. "That day, it was raining heavily and I went to his room because I wanted to ask him about something, but I didn't see him in his room. I saw only an envelope on his bed, I didn't read the letter then. I had assumed he went to buy something and was going to come back soon," I let out a shaky breath.

Something moist dropped onto my chest, I raised my hand and realized I was crying when my hand touched my wet cheek. I wiped away the tears and sniffed.

Then, I continued. "So, all through that night, I waited for him in the rain, but he didn't come. When my mom came back from her night shift, she cried as she read that letter. I asked about the letter and she only told me that my Dad had traveled somewhere very far and might not come back soon," I chuckled bitterly as I remembered how I used to wait for him by the window every night. "When I grew older, I found out he had left us because he had another family."

I paused and took a deep breath. I didn't want to cry, but my eyes were already tearing up. I sniffed. Mr Lawson brought a handkerchief from his jacket and stretched it to me. I collected it and used it to wipe my wet eyes.

"Somehow I knew it would happen," I admitted. "My Dad used to be very caring: he buys me presents and encourages me. He used to take my mom out for dinner and we used to go on family vacations. Suddenly, he stopped doing all those things and started acting strange. He started coming home very late. He argued with my mom a lot and would complain about almost everything. He stopped buying all those birthday gifts and sometimes even missed my birthdays. Also, he wouldn't come home for a whole week. Then weeks turned to months until he stopped coming home."

Mr Lawson turned and brushed my hair backward with gentle strokes. "Do you miss him?"

I wasn't even sure of the answer to his question. He had caused my mom a lot of pain, both mental and physical.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I spent all my childhood missing him and now as an adult I don't know if I still do."

"Will you accept him if he comes back?"

I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling drained of energy and I needed the comfort of his broad shoulders.

"I wish I could," I replied.

I blinked rapidly as I tried to stay awake, but I found myself diving deeper into the abyss.

When I woke up, I was lying on something soft and warm. I moved my face, my cheek brushing soft petals. I was so relaxed that I didn't want to open my eyes. The fragrance of fresh mint filled my nostril. I smiled, I could stay here forever. I could sleep in this lovely garden all day, just smelling all the flowers and lying on this bed of roses. I stretched out my hand, moving it up a smooth surface. It jerked and I stopped. I turned my head again on the soft bed loving the warmth it provided.

"Are you awake?"

Who is that?

Rick?

Oh Rick! How I missed him!

He was my world, my whole life revolved around him; just like the moon revolves around the sun. We could stay in this garden forever, like how it all started. Like when we first kissed.

I smiled. "Rick?"

"What?"

Wait…

This wasn't Rick.

Immediately, I opened my eyes and was brought back to reality. I wasn't lying on a bed of roses, I was lying on Mr Lawson's lap!

I raised my head and saw him looking at me. I must have slept off when we were talking. I looked around and noticed we were in the parking lot of a restaurant.

"Why are we here?"

He shrugged. "It's noon and you haven't eaten anything," he opened the door of the car. "If you are hungry, let's get down and find something to eat." He said.

The pin holding my hair into a tight bun had fallen down, my curls came down in waves around my shoulders. I brushed my hair backward and bent down to look for it.

Where is it?

I checked around the seat.

Mr Lawson turned and arched his brow at me. "Aren't you coming down?"

I raised my head and glanced at him. "I'm coming, I'm looking for my hair pin."

He sighed. "You can do that later."

He took my hands and led me out of the car.

"No wait! I'm coming," I struggled within his hold. "The pin—"

"The pin is secured in the car, now let's go."

Afterwards, he released my hand and we entered the restaurant. I walked towards an ornate table, my shoe clicking on the tiled floor. I could smell fish stew as I sat down on a chair around the table. Mr Lawson settled down next to me. My stomach moaned in hunger and I moved forward to pick up the menu. My eyes almost fell out of my socket as I checked the price of the meal. All the foods listed here were so expensive, starting from the hamburger to the beef steak. I closed the menu, there was no way I would spend a huge amount of money on these meals. A waiter approached our table. She bowed slightly and asked for our orders. I was about to tell her I wanted only a glass of juice when Mr. Lawson told her the lists of the meals we wanted.

I smiled at him. "You are going to pay, right?"

He smirked, he knew I didn't have the money. "Of course, a gentleman always pays for a lady meal."

I snorted. "Who told you you are a gentleman?"

He leaned close and his scent swept around my nostril. "Instinct."

Soon, some waiters came and placed our orders on the table. I hungrily glanced at the Egg burger that was placed before me. It always makes my day. I was about to close my mouth around it when I saw the last person I wished to see at that moment. It was my runaway father.

He walked out of the restaurant with a beautiful pregnant woman who was wearing a lacy floral dress with a single pearl necklace around her neck.