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Damn. You've been so lost in your own feelings and booze this past week (okay, more like the past couple of months, you admit to yourself) that you forgot to check your phone at all.
"A part of me still believed you'd be there though. I didn't want to think a few months of bullshit would break you. I still believed that my Dad, who was always there for me, who was beaming with pride like an idiot when he dropped me off to college just a year ago, was still there and would still push through and show up."
"Instead..." she doesn't finish the thought. Maybe stopping herself from further saying something hurtful, knowing full well the reason why you were acting this way. "I really didn't think the divorce would turn you into... into..."
"This." You finish her sentence for her. "I'm sorry for disappointing you, baby. It's --" your legs falter a little. Maybe the alcohol mixed with fatigue has finally gotten to you. You try to hold the railing but your legs buckle and you're forced to sit down on the step. The sudden movement makes your daughter react "Dad!"
She was hugging you, but her strength was unable to support you from falling, so she fell on top of you instead.
"Are you okay, baby?" you ask her.
"What do you mean 'am I okay?' Are YOU okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine..." you try to wave her off but she cups your face with both her hands, making you stare at her. "Dad." she says pleadingly. In that one word, there's a whole lot of things that remain unspoken, but you know she just wants you to be honest with her.
"It's been a rough few months baby" you finally admit, not just to her, but to yourself as well. Tears begin to flow from your eyes. She hugs you, her arms wrapping around your neck and her head resting on your shoulders. You notice she's crying now too. You return her hug, and hold her tightly against your body. Maybe it's been a rough few months because she wasn't here to support you; to remind you that it's not the end of the world. You both take a moment, for the first time since the divorce was finalized, as father and daughter.
"I love you Dad," she finally says, breaking the silence between you two. It takes you by surprise. Before you could say you love her too, she continues, "I'll always be here for you. Like you were there for me... before all this." she pauses to sniff.
"So, please please please, get your shit together." Her words make it harder for you to breathe now too, as you swell with emotion.
"I can't lose you." she adds, and you're full on ugly crying now. You bury your face in her shoulder and let the tears flow through you. You take a mental note to take her shopping for a new top, since you're pretty sure what she's wearing is ruined now with your snot.
You're not sure how long the two of you stay like that on that stoop. Luckily, no one was entering or leaving the building, and people walking across the street paid you no mind.
"We could've had this talk sooner," she finally says, wiping her eyes as she looks at you with a tearful smile. "Answer your goddamn phone next time" she tells you, playfully pounding your shoulder to emphasize her command.
"You could've called the landline, you know" you answer playfully, a smile returning to your face now too. She jokingly rolls her eyes as her response.
"Actually, you might not have a choice other than the landline since I think my phone has a virus" you tell her.
"What?" she raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "Show me."
You both stand up, and you take the phone out of your pocket. Just like earlier, the screen is black except for the Affection Multiplier app. You tap the app to open and it shows the last screen you were on, which was Cassie's profile. It has a photo of her, with her name, as well as the three types of scores she supposedly has regarding you.
"I don't know what this is, but it has a profile about you and Cassie on it" you tell her. "I can't open any other app on my phone. Including the part where I can use it as a phone. I wanted to call you when you weren't here on the stoop"
You show her your phone's screen with Cassie's profile on it. She looks at your phone's screen, then at you, then back at the phone.
She raises an eyebrow in confusion.
CHAPTER 7.1
How does she react to this information?
Like you're high.
"You're messing with me, right?" she reacts.
"I know right!? This virus is insane. I don't even know how it got on my phone." you tell her truthfully. "Dad, I think your phone's just dead" she tells you.
What?
You turn your phone so you can see the screen and you can clearly see Cassie's profile on it, so your phone can't be dead. You tap on it to go back and open Stella's profile instead. Yeah, your phone's working, so what's Stella talking about?
- Craig, Stella - Affection Score: 100. (+24)
Not that it's real, but you're genuinely happy that this thing thinks your daughter's fondness of you has maxed out because of that intimate and intense conversation. It actually puts a genuine amused smile on your face.
"What?" you hear her ask.
"This virus thinks you're devoted to me now" you tell her, and show her the score on the screen on her profile.
"No, I said that. Didn't I just say 'I can't lose you'? What did you think I meant by that?" she said without a hint of it being a joke. She was completely serious in admitting she is a devoted daughter who loves and supports you.
"Wait, are you calling me a virus?" she says with genuine confusion, with a hint of being offended. Your face fills with panic and you immediately shake your head to say that that wasn't what you meant.
"You're showing me a blank screen reflecting my face, what was I supposed to think? Is this like a metaphor? Like your phone screen is a mirror and you're showing me the face of someone 'devoted' to you?" she says doing air quotes on 'devoted'.
You don't turn the phone to face you this time, and instead move your head to see what she's seeing. You intentionally smush your cheek into her cheek, which she reacts to with fake annoyance, followed by giggling. You look at the screen again and see her profile with her score on it. It even has a message underneath her perfect score that you didn't notice before, and you read it out loud to her:
Congratulations! You've taken a person's affection score to the max!
New feature unlocked: Traits - You can use the points you've earned by improving affection scores to buy different Traits that affect friendly relationships for either you or your friend. Think carefully of what you want!
"What the hell are you talking about?" your daughter asks. "I'm just reading what's on the screen" you tell her, still staring at this new message. You acquired points you can spend on traits?
"Dad, I'm really impressed with your 'pretend reading something on a black screen' acting, but I'm getting worried."
Can she really not see what you're seeing?
"Are you tripping? Did you take shrooms or something?" she asks you.
"What? No!" You look at her, and she's just staring at you now. How is it possible that she can't see something that you can clearly see on your phone? Before you can ponder that question for any longer, your parental instincts kick in again. "How do you know what shrooms do?" you ask your daughter.
She panics a little, before quickly recovering her composure. "No. You're not changing the subject. What's going on with you? You're acting like you're really seeing something on your phone right now."
Your head's beginning to hurt with the amount of thoughts going through your head right now. Is she pranking you? No, can't be. She looks serious about her concern for you. Could it be a hallucination? Probably not. You've had those before, and you're thinking way too straight for this to be that. Finally, the thought you didn't even consider before pops up into your head.
Magic? It was weirdly making sense to you. You haven't charged your phone in a while so it wouldn't be a surprise if the battery died; and if you can somehow open an app on a dead phone and it's some kind of fantastical app that keeps track of your relationships but also enhances how quickly you build them... that's gotta be magic, right?
Then again, you're considering magic over hallucination because you're thinking way too clearly for it to be a hallucination. 'Yeah, that tracks' you think sarcastically.
You rub your temple because this kind of thinking is giving you a migraine.
"Dad, can we just drop this for now?" Stella asks you, her voice filled with worry.
"Yeah, I think I need to drop this for now too. It's giving me a headache." you tell her.
"That's probably just you coming out of your high" she responds.
"How do you know so much about drugs!?" you ask her, half-joking because you trust her not to do the extreme stuff if she was doing drugs, but also concerned because you are still her dad after all.
"I'm in college now, Dad. Let me live a little" she answers you casually. She has a point, but you can't help your parental instincts to be a wee bit concerned. Speaking of parental instincts, you remember that she wasn't in the stoop where you expected her to be when you came to talk to her.
"Hey, where'd you go by the way?" you ask her before making your way up the stoop. "Isn't this your go-to spot when you've had a tantrum? I was surprised you weren't here."
"First of all, that was not a tantrum and you know it."she says with all seriousness. "Second," she hesitates, clearly not sure if she should continue.
"Hey," you say after grabbing her for a hug. "I love you. I trust you. Whatever it is, I'll try to understand". You give her a fatherly smile, the kind that shows that you're just concerned but you'll still love her no matter what it was.
She looks at you and stares right into your eyes. She has a look of doubt, but ultimately she relents.
She takes a box of cigarettes out of her pocket.
Author's Note: The interaction for reaching maximum score, and the glossary entry for Traits are from Fantasy's David Walker branch.
CHAPTER 8.1
How do you react?
Like a parent.
"You're smoking!?" you can't help but shout that reaction.
The two of you are now on the apartment building's stairwell, on your way back upstairs to your apartment on the third floor.
"Hey! Don't be a hypocrite! Don't tell me you didn't start smoking again" she retorts.
"That's not the point. How long have you been doing this?"
"Guess." she answers you coldly. Right, probably around the same time you started smoking again too. "Plus, you don't get to play 'responsible parent' right now when you're clearly just coming off of being high," she adds.
Before you can respond, you hear somebody else intrude in the conversation -- "So that's what it takes to get Jay out of his apartment." You see that it was your neighbor, Tanya Ramirez, who made the remark. She's wearing gym clothes and carrying a yoga mat so it's safe to assume where she's headed off to. You can't help but notice how her sports bra's neckline goes low enough to show off her ample cleavage.
"It's not everyday your daughter comes home after her first year in college" you reply to her.
"Oh, based on the shouting match I heard, that's not what got you out of your apartment. So, I was definitely implying it's because you're high" she says with a wink, clearly just teasing you. It still makes you rub the back of your neck in embarrassment though.
"It's nice to see you again Stella" she tells Stella, giving her cheek kisses. "It's nice to see you too Ms. Ramirez" Stella replies politely. "Still so polite, this girl. Tanya's fine sweetie." she tells Stella. "I'm sure my girls would love to catch up with you once they're back from their grandparents." Tanya adds. "I'm looking forward to catching up with them too." Stella replies, with the fakest smile you've ever seen her put on.
"How are the twins by the way?" you interject. "Short story is they're fine. Long story is not enough for a stairwell conversation." She answers with a laugh. "Anyway, I'll get going now. Don't be a stranger, Jay." She gives you a cheek kiss as well, and proceeds to go downstairs. You watch her go downstairs and you notice how her yoga pants hug her... "gifted" backside.
She suddenly stops mid-step and looks back at you. She immediately notices you were looking at her as she was going down the stairs, and her lips curl into a mischievous smile. "If you want to hear more about how my twins are doing, you can always drop by my apartment." The innuendo in the way she said twins was not lost on you. She turns back around, and you swear she sways her hips as she walks to make her ass bounce.
"Ugh. Glad to see she's not treating you any differently after your divorce." Stella says sarcastically. "Yeah, your mom always hated how flirty Tanya gets."
"Bang her."
Your daughter's statement from out of nowhere makes you turn to her so fast you could've pulled a muscle in your neck. You then turn back to look downstairs to make sure Tanya was out of earshot. "You're single now right?" Stella continues nonchalantly, as if everything she's saying should make total sense to you. "It's not that si--" you try to say, but she cuts you off. "Bang her." she says with finality, and continues climbing the stairs back to your apartment.
You both make it back to your apartment and see Cassie holding a trash bag already filled with what you assume are: pizza boxes, chip bags, beer cans, beer bottles, assorted alcohol bottles, and fast-food takeout.
"Kiss ass" Stella immediately says, addressing Cassie, upon seeing her cleaning; to which Cassie responds by just sticking her tongue out. "You always did want to be Daddy's favorite girl" Stella continues to tease, as she probably didn't get the response she was looking for with her original teasing comment. Cassie immediately blushes.
'That's cause for concern', you think to yourself. No way that girl's attracted to you... right?
Seemingly satisfied with Cassie's embarrassed reaction, Stella addresses you.
"You. Shower. Now." Her authoritativeness takes you by surprise, but you immediately spring into action. Before you can get any further though, she says "Wait --"
"Cassie, beard or no beard?" she asks Cassie, most likely referring to the unkempt beard you grew during isolation after the divorce was finalized. Cassie stops picking up random trash laying around and looks at you. You swear she bit her lower lip again before smiling. "Beard," she answers. "Beard it is." Stella declares, before turning back to you. "I agree with Cassie. The beard suits you. So, just trim it, don't shave it." she commands you, her tone still full of authority. "I'll help her out with cleaning this place up, and order some takeout so we can have lunch." she continues, not giving you any room to argue.
You're seriously impressed. Your daughter really is all grown up. It puts a proud smile on your face. You basked in her maturity for too long and it forces her to bark "Go!" at you, but with a smile on her face because even she knows how parental she's acting right now. You mentally thank her for it since you've really needed that kind of structure in your life since Diane left, but you also take a mental note to not rely on her too much.
You're the parent here, not the other way around.
CHAPTER 9.1
What happens next?
Shopping.
After your shower, and after grooming yourself for the first time since you last had human interaction, you and the girls had some Chinese takeout for lunch. They complimented how you trimmed and shaped your beard, and Cassie even said you looked handsome. You noticed she was blushing when she said it, and it conjured fantastical thoughts in your head that this girl might actually be into you. In return, you complimented them on the job well done in getting the place cleaned.
During lunch, you talked about their first year in college and how it went for them. It was mostly taking General Education classes and volleyball practice. You were surprised to learn they've kept contact with each other when Cassie and her mom moved out, and how they were both ecstatic to reunite when they learned that they both got accepted as varsity volleyball recruits for the same college.
Cassie told you that her mom was probably going to spend her summer with her new pro-baller boyfriend in a different country, which resulted in Stella inviting Cassie to stay with you and her for the summer.
You told them how your next book was practically finished, but still asked your publisher to move the publication date for personal reasons, which they fully agreed to as they sympathized with your situation -- but it also meant you had nothing to really do for months and that was partly why they saw you in the state you were in just this morning.
Cassie also mentioned that she missed your cooking, how she fondly remembers the dishes you made for her and your family back when you were still babysitting her. With that suggestion, the three of you agree that they'll continue the clean-up of the apartment while you go shop for groceries.
You went to your barber first, since you didn't want to continue looking like a mess while you were out; then proceeded to the grocery store. With all your tasks done, you're now inside your car with the groceries loaded in the back, and you're staring at your phone once again. It's working perfectly fine now, after you charged it's battery while having lunch, and the Affection Multiplier just looks like any other app on your phone.
With everything that's happened after lunch, you're definitely starting to accept the idea, albeit slowly, that this thing might be real and might be magic. You try to recall every indication that this thing could be the real deal.
First, the moment you plugged it into a charger earlier, you noticed that the battery was at 0% and charging, but the Affection Multiplier was still functional. The phone really wasn't on, and you could still access the app.
Second, all Stella could see when you first tried showing the app to her earlier was a black screen because your phone was off.
Third, when you tried showing it to her again after lunch before you left, and while the app was on her profile page, you showed your phone screen to her asking her "What do you think?" to be as vague as possible, and she told you she thought it was sweet that her photo as a kid was your wallpaper.
Fourth, when you showed the same page to Cassie after she was curious about Stella's remark, she also could only see your wallpaper and not the Affection Multiplier page that was open. Which leads you to the conclusion that you're the only one who can see this thing, and you're stone-cold sober now. No way you're hallucinating this.
Fifth, the folder for "Recent Interactions" before you left to buy groceries added a profile for Tanya Ramirez.
- Ramirez, Antonia - Affection Score: 41. (+13)
Lust Score: 67. (+19)
So she's a good friend who has no romantic feelings for you, but probably would come on to you given the chance. Knowing Tanya, you wouldn't think that's too far-fetched from reality. Hell, she practically came on to you earlier today already. Which makes her score the most believable one you've seen today.
So if this thing has one score that's not completely unbelievable, and Stella practically admitted earlier that her 100 Affection Score reflects what she felt, doesn't that mean Cassie's scores are around the realm of possibility too?
