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ALL I DO. { irl }
the next morning, niola wakes up later than she planned. she quickly puts on the outfit she picked out – which makes her feel like a fancy CEO. then she goes to the bathroom and quickly fixes her hair to look somewhat presentable.
"are you ready yet?" her father shouts from outside of the bathroom while banging on the door. his tone is urgent and aggressive, making niola's entire body stiffen. she knows that he hasn't done any drugs today nor has he drank any beer. so he's on edge, making him feel like a piece of himself is missing.
being sober is about as forge in to him as being a good father is.
"yeah," niola responds while exiting the bathroom. she opens the door to see him waiting outside for her. he's wearing black dress paints and a grey linen shirt with a white tie. he looks oddly fancy, playing the 'successful, worried father' role pretty well.
"good." her dad says.
they leave the hotel room and walk down the narrow hall toward the elevator. as they pass people in the hall, everyone gives them weird glances due to how fancy niola and her father are dressed.
her dad doesn't seem to mind the attention as he continues walking without faltering. but niola feels judged and insecure as the strangers' eyes are pinned to her as they pass each other.
when they get to the elevator, her dad quickly presses the button to bring them to the lobby. nobody else is in there — which annoys niola since there were so many people crowding her the other day.
"are you excited?" her dad asks.
he's trying to make small talk, trying to make her see him as the father he's going to pretend he is. that way it would be easier to lie about their family.
niola suddenly realizes she hasn't checked on her wound.
what if it healed? then she'd have no proof. she took some pictures of it when it was fresh, but the court won't base their decision off of some images — seeing as she could have edited the injury.
it hasn't been causing her many issues recently because it's been two weeks since she got it. in the beginning, she had trouble sleeping on that side.
but now she's worried it hasn't been bothering her because it's gone.
"niola." her dad says sternly to get her attention.
"huh?" niola says, forcing herself to look her father in the eye despite how anxious eye contact makes her. well, except if it's with matt. in that case, eye contact is fine.
"i asked if you're excited." he restates.
"uh," niola says, thinking of a response. "yeah. i can't wait."
technically, niola isn't lying. truth is, she's excited to see her mom; but she's not exactly looking forward for anything besides that.
the elevator doors open, revealing a crowded lobby of the bottom floor. a couple people were waiting for the elevator to be vacant. so as niola and her father exit, a group of strangers enter.
when niola and her dad arrive at the courthouse, niola sees her mom waiting on the front steps.
her mother is wearing an old black dress with matching black heels. her hair is tied back in a bun, revealing that she'd recently gotten off of work from the restaurant she works at — she's a cook and needs it to be held back and stuffed in a hair net at all times.
"mom!" niola shouts before running across the grass to her mother. she holds out her arms for her daughter, a warm smile spreading across her lips.
the moment niola's mom wraps her arms around her, everything feels like it fell into place.
her mom's clothes always smell like lavender, her body is always a comforting warm temperature, and everything about her makes niola feel at home.
"i missed you so much, honey." her mom says, sighing out a relieved breath.
"did you not miss me, jasmine?" niola's dad says, walking over to them with a happy smile. it's clear that he's only doing this so that if anyone is watching, they won't think he's in the wrong.
niola breaks the hug, taking a step away from her mom. she's still smiling just at the fact that she might be able to live with her mother again.
"missed ya bunches, dave." her mom, jasmine, says to her ex-husband.
there's a sense of sarcasm laced in her voice, but there's also a bit of sadness. she did miss him; she still does. but she doesn't miss this version of him. she misses the man she fell in love with when they were young.
niola's dad, dave, looks at jasmine with a strange emotion lingering behind his gaze. almost like regret, remorse, or something along those lines. and honestly? it probably is regret. like niola explained to matt, her father is a good person whenever he's not drunk. he's kind, caring, and very likable. the only issue is that he's hardly ever sober like this.
jasmine clears her throat awkwardly, "let's head inside."
.∘◦❀◦∘. a/n : i need to know ur opinion on like how to address her parents ☝️ bc i feel like it would be annoying to put "niola's dad" and "niola's mom" every two second, but would it be weird / confusing to write out their real names? ◦∘.❀.∘◦
