Smile

                                    

                                          

Abby stared at the wall thinking about her conversation the day before with Nick. She rolled her eyes at the memory of him complimenting her on her personality.
"Jerk!" She muttered.
"Who me?" She jumped at the voice and grinned when she saw her dad coming towards her.
She smiled and took out another bowl. "Never. What are you doing here so late?" She poured cereal and then milk and took out a spoon. "Here, have breakfast with me."
He took a seat in the stool next to her, "You are wearing a dress?"
"Does it look bad?" She asked worriedly.
Her father shook his head. "Of course not. You always look beautiful."
"Psh...you are my dad. You are supposed to say that."
"Hmmm...are we having guy trouble? What's going on?"
"There is no guy to have trouble with. Just working on this wedding...that isn't even mine. Oh and I got my car towed. Apparently, I can't tell apart normal parking from a handicapped one."
"You sound like your mother!" Her dad laughed and took a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Abby couldn't help, but smile at his comment. "Hmmm...does that mean you think about mom?"
He swallowed, "Not at all."
They both laughed. "So, is Nick treating you right? He's not making any passes at you? Cause I really don't trust that guy."
A hot rush ran through her body as she registered his question. How would she tell her dad that Nick had chatted up a storm almost every night online for the past two months. He'd set up a date to meet her and had even kissed her.
She cleared her throat and giggled nervously. "No. He's a nice guy. Why on earth don't you like him?"
"He's a loser. A model? A male model? He just poses there with his pretty face...wasting his time. While Tiffany works hard. She's gonna become an attorney any day now."
"That's a little harsh coming from you, dad."
Her dad always had high expectations for everyone that surrounded him. Someone could think they were doing all they could, but to him it was never enough and there was much more that person could do. That was always her worry; to disappoint her dad.
"Speaking of wasting time...have you taken those extra courses? You aren't thinking of staying in that nurses station are you? You have the potential--"
Before he could finish his sentence she kissed his cheek and said her goodbyes. She was happy to hear Nick honking outside. "See you later, dad!"
                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She'd greeted Nick, but had quickly busied herself staring out the window at everything that they passed by. Nick had encouraged the silence, since he was a bit nervous about the photo shoot.
He was curious to know why she'd been so quiet the whole trip. He turned to look at her and she was still lost in space.
"Is everything alright?"
She let out a sigh, "Yeah. I just had a talk with my dad. He's so shallow sometimes...and pushy."
"Hmph...you're telling me." Nick remembered the long conversation with Dr. Hunter and how he had asked if there was anything else in store for his future, besides posing as a pretty boy. It had bothered him to not be able to share his real goals in life with him; then again would they have sounded better. Probably not.