Happy Father's Day Patty

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is a second part to the flash story MERRY CHRISTMAS PATTY I submitted around Christmas time 2020. I meant to submit this closer to Father's Day, but life happened, as it inevitably does. I almost just dropped it completely, but this story is related to real life situations. These two people's tale touches me, and thus I feel compelled to write.

That said, it doesn't really have a traditional ending as far as stories go. Not yet anyway. It is a snapshot of a bigger story, still at play. Nevertheless, I hope you can still find enjoyment in this belated Father's Day story.

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The doorbell rang. Kendra checked her watch before hopping up from the couch and briskly walking to answer it. He was early. Then again, that's typical Patrick behavior. He was always early for everything.

When she opened the door, her mouth nearly dropped in surprise.

"Wow. Hey, Patty." She said, giving him a quick once over. She had to fight her instinct to openly stare at him. Over the past few years, she'd become so accustomed to seeing the mopey, depressed Patrick that she wasn't expecting...this guy.

Patrick was dressed smartly, wearing a blue blazer over a white button-down shirt. A pair of dress Khakis set off his formal-casual look quite nicely. He was neatly groomed and clean shaven apart from his trimmed mustache and salt and pepper beard. His hair, dark with streaks of silver, was cut and styled like he actually went to a salon instead of a quick snip job he did in the mirror.

He looked amazing. Much like the man she fell in love with over a decade ago.

"Hey, Ken." Patrick said with a genuine smile on his face. Peeking around Kendra to get a glance inside the house he used to share with his estranged wife, he asked, "Jessi ready?"

Kendra rolled her eyes and chuckled, "No. Not yet. She's been primping herself for a couple hours now, getting ready for your...ahem...date."

Patrick had to laugh at that. With a shrug of his shoulders, he joked, "Well, she is her mother's daughter."

Kendra laughed as she playfully gave him a shove in the chest. It was then that she felt some firmness beneath that button down he was wearing. It surprised her a bit; she didn't remember his chest being that firm.

Come to think of it, his clothes were hanging on him differently. Her eyes gave him another once over, and she reaffirmed her assessment. His stomach wasn't pouching out above the waistband of his pants, and his shoulders seemed...broader.

Had he been working out?

"So, can I come in, or do you plan on keeping me standing out here like a Jehovah's Witness?" Patrick asked, a humored smile on his face. For Kendra, it was a snap back to the present. She seemed a little flummoxed by her runaway thoughts but recovered quickly.

"Uhh...yes! Of course, you can come in!" she said with a slightly embarrassed giggle. "You're always welcome. I mean, you are still paying half the mortgage."

That was meant to be a joke. Unfortunately, all it did was remind them of their year and a half estrangement. Patrick was partially paying for a house that he wasn't living in. He also still had to pay for his small apartment that was about 10 miles from here.

Kendra mentally kicked herself for her faux pas. After a year of arguing, weaponizing past pains, and throwing insults across like grenades, the two of them had reached a sort of cease fire. It wasn't exactly peace; more like they were wounded soldiers who were tired of fighting. So much bloodshed. So much loss. Their treaty was tentative, but both were careful to steer away from topics that were triggers for emotional explosions.

For now, it was All quiet on the Western Front.

Kendra stepped aside to allow Patrick to enter the house. He did, brushing past her as he did so. It was then that her nose detected a waft of his favorite cologne, Aspen. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and relished the familiar scent.

Oblivious, Patrick strolled around the living room. He looked around, taking note of the things that had been altered from his memory. It was mostly the same as he remembered. Same furniture (she picked it out), same curtains (same), and the same arrangements.

There were a few differences though. For one, there were three crystal, glass blown animal figurines. One was of an elephant, another was a reindeer, a third of a horse rearing up on his hind legs. They were beautiful and looked expensive.

There was also a painting on the wall that Patrick never saw. It was hanging over the biggest, most ostentatious addition to the Living room: a 70-inch, curved screen UHD television set.

Curiously, Patrick picked up the elephant figurine from the coffee table. The tusks were either made of gold or were gold plated. Either way, it was beautiful.

"Hmm. Pretty." Patrick said appreciatively. "Where'd you get this?"

Immediately, Kendra tensed up. She stammered a bit, as if caught off guard. Finally, she said, "It was...uhh... from some little art shop."

"Really? Where is it? Maybe I'd like to buy a few of these for my apartment."

She chuckled, but it was an anxious one. Grabbing it from him and putting it back on the table, she dismissively mumbled, "You wouldn't know it. It's a bit outta the way."

Her discomfort was now noticeable. She wasn't looking him in the eyes, and she was brushing her hair away from her face and behind her ear. There was only two times Kendra did that. When she was flirting, and when she was avoiding something.

It was then that Patrick put two and two together. His mind flashed back to the two years' worth of text messages he uncovered when he discovered his wife's affair. One of the interests that the two of them shared was art.

These figurines, that painting; these weren't just some odd trinkets she bought. They were gifts...from him. No doubt that King Kong of a television was also a gift. That little "outta the way" shop where these were purchased was probably closer to his house, as he lived nearly two hours away.

His used-to-be house now took on a different look. Everywhere his eyes landed, he could see Sean's piss stains marking his territory. He'd been effectively removed from his family. The only evidence that he was once a resident here were the few pictures of him, Kendra, and Jessi posing for family photos.

Those will probably be removed too, given a few more months.

There was a bit of bile that threatened to rise from his belly. Patrick felt hot, angry, and humiliated. An urge to lash out and scream at his "wife" filled him, but he squelched the desire.

Instead, he closed his eyes. He remembered the techniques he learned from his therapists about controlling his emotions during moments like this. He thought back to the goals he set for himself for 2021 and the progress he'd been making. One of those goals was to work on himself; to build his self confidence and self-esteem. He couldn't heal himself while he held onto the anger of his wife's infidelity. He couldn't let that have power over him anymore. He had to let it go.

What Kendra does has no effect on me. I am my own person. I am free.

Sometimes, it was easy to let Kendra go. He'd barely thought about her in the last couple of weeks. At one time, she was all he would see every morning when he woke up. The pain clung to him throughout the day, and when he laid down to sleep again, Kendra and Sean went to bed with him.

But lately, Kendra's image hadn't sent him into a downward spiral. She was the furthest thing from his mind when he was in his Mixed Martial Arts class. Last week, when he went hiking and rock climbing with some of the guys he'd met and befriended, Kendra never even entered his thoughts. Every night, he did a few cross-fit exercises before he went to bed to make himself so tired that he just fell asleep.

But now, in a matter of seconds, all that progress he'd made was being threatened.

Kendra could see Patrick's mood sour. She didn't want this. She didn't want to ruin the tentative peace treaty that she'd reached with her estranged husband. Quickly changing the focus back to their daughter, she said, "You know, Jessi had me go out and buy her a brand-new dress so that she could look nice for you."

Just as she knew it would, the image of their daughter calmed him. His face relaxed. He recognized what Kendra was doing, and he welcomed the subject change. When his eyes opened and he looked at her, there was no more anger in his eyes. He even managed to put a small smile on his face.

"Oh really?" Patrick asked, his smile pleased.

"Oh yeah! We were shopping for three hours before we found one she liked. You'd think she was going to the prom! At least I don't have to sit you down and interrogate you about your intentions for my daughter."

Patrick chuckled. "Well mom, I promise you that my intentions for your daughter are quite pure. We are going to go on our Father's Day date, have dinner at a nice restaurant, and take a nice walk. I'll have her back by midnight, and I will treat her like a perfect lady!"

"You'd better." Kendra said, her eyes narrowing exaggeratedly. "If you don't, I'll send her father after you. And let me tell you, he is fiercely overprotective about his daughter!"

They both laughed heartily at that. Kendra felt a wave of relief that they didn't devolve into fighting. She also felt a surprising surge of envy. Patrick hadn't taken her on a "date" since his brother died nearly 5 years ago. She would've loved to have him put on a blazer and take her out to a restaurant. Instead, she got to watch him slip into a depression where the only things he wanted to do were eat, sleep, and play video games.

Kendra sat on the couch and motioned for him to join her. He did, though at the opposite end. Both faced their body towards each other, their legs pointing to the middle.

Kendra crossed her shapely legs. As she did, the hem of her sundress rose up her creamy thigh a bit. Nothing lewd or salacious, but just enough to remind Patrick that the wife he chose to leave was still a knockout.

He couldn't stop his eyes from looking. Kendra noticed this. While it wasn't her intention to show off, she wasn't exactly upset with the fact that he was looking at her. She knew that she was still attractive. Men hit on her all the time, even ones nearly a decade younger than her. But over the past few years, her husband seemed immune to her beauty. He hadn't wanted to take her out, he hadn't wanted to spend time with her, and he certainly hadn't wanted to fuck her. After begging for his attention for so long, she just became used to the fact that Patrick had lost interest in her.

She leaned back into the cushion and oh-so-casually rubbed her long, silky legs together. Like a sexy cricket. The action not only made an enticing smoothing sound, but it also caused her hem to rise just a bit more. The sandaled foot that dangled in the air showed off her pedicure that she just got not even two days ago. Legs and feet were two of Patrick's hidden "kinks" if you will. No one knew this about her husband but her, and she remembered that he was particularly fond of hers.

Patrick had to force himself to tear his eyes away, suppressing the bubbling nostalgic lust that was trying to resurface.

Unlike Kendra, he hadn't had sex during the time of their separation. He didn't have the luxury of a side piece to run to when the ink was dry on their separation agreement. At one time, those "urges" threatened his sanity. Thinking about sex inevitably made him think about his wife, which made him think about her having sex.

Anger? Yes. Sadness? Of course. Arousal?

Surprisingly, also a yes.

It was confusing. Thinking about her having sex, even with Sean, made his memories run rampant. He remembered what she was like in bed. Before depression hit him hard, he and his wife had a very vibrant sex life. Kendra always had a higher libido than him. She was the one introducing him to the adventurous side of sex. So, imagining her in the throes of passion, knowing exactly what she was capable of, was arousing as fuck.

To his chagrin, he masturbated to the internal movie roaming around in his head on many of nights. Afterwards, it just made him angrier and more depressed.

New Year's Eve was the breaking point. That was the night that he was on the brink of ending it all. There was a bottle of scotch in one hand, a sharp razor in the other. Hours before the ball dropped, he sat in his small living room, gathering up the courage to finally do it. He didn't want to see 2021, not with this crippling depression gripping his heart.

Every time he put the sharp blade to his wrist, his daughter's face popped up. He saw her laughing, playing, telling him that she loved him. Those images made him put the blade down.

As if by chance, his phone chimed with a text at 11:59. Picking it up, he saw that it was from Jessi.

Happy New Years to the best daddy ever!

Patrick broke. Years of tears flowed from him. His brother, his wife, his marriage, his daughter, all of it he sobbed for. His sobs were violent, leaving him curled in the fetal position on the lonely carpet of his living room. He cried so long that he fell asleep with tears on his face.

That following morning, he awakened with a major hangover and a new clarity. Looking at the blade, and realizing what he almost did, he saw that he couldn't do this alone anymore. He needed help. He needed to talk. He needed to not be an island to himself.

So, he did the hardest thing he'd ever done. He reached out. He called his sister. And, as humiliating as it was, he told her everything.

To her credit, she listened. Even as he spoke, he could feel a weight being lifted. To finally get his insides out in the open made him feel not so alone.

The two of them talked for hours. In the end, she gave him her therapists number. It was the same therapist she'd been using to deal with the death of their brother.

2021 had been a year of self-improvement for Patrick thus far. Therapy helped him sort out his demons. Joining the MMA class helped his self-confidence. The friends he made in the last 6 months helped his loneliness.

The only thing he hadn't been able to overcome, was the lack of sex. He was a "Fan" of a few online "entrepreneurial women" who helped him out during those few nights that those natural urges couldn't be suppressed, but that was a Band-Aid. The relief was temporary.

"So, Patty..." Kendra said, her voice containing a bit of light flirtation as she bounced her foot. His eyes on her, after so long, gave her a surge of confidence. "I can't remember the last time I saw you all gussied up."

Patrick shrugged shyly and looked everywhere but at her. "Yeah. I guess the old boy knows how to clean up a bit."

"You've always cleaned up nicely." She complimented, doing nothing to hide her appreciation at his makeover. "I would've loved seeing you dressed up like this to take me out."

"Yeah, well, I was going through a lot back then."

"I remember." Kendra said, her eyes casting down to the floor. The flirty tone was gone, replaced with sadness. "I guess we both have been through hell."

Before Patrick could stop the words, they spilled from him. "Yeah, but I didn't cheat."

A gasp came from Kendra's mouth as his barbed words hit her. Her eyes shimmered. She was about to say something in response, but fate halted this conversation. They were interrupted as Jessi made her grand entrance, walking into the living room and standing in front of her parents.

"Daddy, I'm ready."

"Oh my God!" Patrick exclaimed, looking at this beautiful girl. Immediately, the past few tense moments with his wife disappeared. "Look at you! I must say that, without a doubt, you are the most beautiful girl on this entire planet!"

Jessi bashfully waved him off as she giggled. "Thank you, Daddy."

Kendra watched this moment with tears in her eyes. She must admit, she was skeptical when Patrick first proposed that he take his daughter out on a "date" for Father's Day. It sounded weird. But the more Patrick talked about it, the more Kendra fell in love with the idea. It was one of the sweetest things he could ever think of.

Jessi gets to experience her first "date" with a man who will not expect anything from her but the joy of her company. She won't have to wonder if he likes her, or if she's eating funny, or if he's going to expect sex afterwards. She gets to see how a date is supposed to be done, and not fall for some slickster who says all the right things to try to get into her pants.

Kendra wished more fathers took their daughters out.

"Shall we go?" Patrick asked as he stood. Jessi nodded. So, Patrick held his arm out, Jessi grabbed it, and the two headed out.

Kendra followed them. As they walked, she suddenly needed to take a picture of this. This moment was special, and it would be such a waste to not preserve it.

"Wait! Don't go yet!" she yelled out as she dashed back to the Livingroom where her phone was sitting on the coffee table. When she returned, she pulled up the camera app.

"Smile!" she said.

Patrick put his arms around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her close. Her arm came around his waist, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They then smiled brightly for the camera.

And that was the picture Kendra took.

Moments later, she leaned against the frame of the front door and watched them walk to his car. Like a perfect gentleman, Patrick opened the passenger door so Jessi could get inside. He then jogged around to the driver seat.

"Have fun!" she yelled out as she waved goodbye. The two of them waved back before the car backed out of the driveway. Then, they were gone.

Kendra let out a sigh as she closed the door. A sadness swept over her as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

***

About twenty minutes later, Kendra was still looking at that photo when her phone rang. She saw that it was Sean calling her. Her lips tightened into a grimace as she let it ring a second time, then a third. She had half a mind to not pick it up, but in the end, she did.

"What is it, Sean?" she asked, not hiding the faint hint of irritation in her voice.

"I was just calling to check on you. I haven't heard from you in a while. Wanted to make sure you're still alive." Then, with a sour bit of dryness in his voice, he added, "At least I can see your phone still works."

Rolling her eyes, she let out a sigh before she asked, "Whatever happened to giving me space?"

Sean huffed bitterly. "I gave you two weeks, Kendra. I haven't called; haven't texted. How much time do you need away from me?"

"I don't know, but more than this."

There was a pause between them. Sean thoughtfully bit his lip, fighting the swirling emotions tornadoing inside of him. He couldn't help feeling like there was something more going on here; something Kendra wasn't admitting to.

A single question loomed in the air. Deep down, they both knew the answer to it, even if both avoided it.

Sean took a gulp and finally asked, "Kendra, do you still love me?"

His answer? A sad sigh. That's it. Yet, there was no more needed. That sigh spoke volumes.

There was so much that Sean wanted to say. He wanted to yell and scream and rage about the three years he wasted on her. The emotional turmoil he suffered. The sound advice he ignored from family and trusted friends who told him to not get involved with a married woman.

No matter how rocky her marriage is, or how much she professes her love for you, she will never be fully yours if she is still half his.

His uncle told him this. Sean's mind knew he should heed those words, but his heart disagreed. He and Kendra would be different. They would be the exception. They would make it.