once bitten, twice shy

Georgina opened her eyes, startled by the sudden ringing of her alarm clock. She scrambled out of bed, reaching out to put off the alarm. Then, she rose to her feet and slipped on her flip-flops before walking out of her room, past the hallway into the living room. Just as she got to the door adjoining the hallway and the living room, the sweet smell of waffles wafted through the air to her nose. She took in a deep breath, inhaling the aroma. Pushing her feet into the living room, she saw her dad, Mark, standing by the dining table, an apron tied around his neck as he spread out the waffles on the plates. A small smile appeared on her face. "Hey, dad," She greeted in a groggy voice.

Mark glanced up and he smiled. "Hey honey. Awake yet?" he asked teasingly.

"Not yet, soon," she said, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. She gave him a small grin. "You are cooking this morning," she said to him. "Must be a good day."

He waved his hand in the air dismissively. "I thought you deserved a treat this morning," he said, pushing a plate towards her. "Here."

She grabbed it. "Thanks, Dad."

"You are welcome," he answered, taking his seat across her. "Going to work today?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Ella expects me to be there today. She says she has an important meeting, so, she needs me to look after her kids."

"That's alright," Mark said.

"What about you? What plans do you have for today?"

"I want to go through my students' assignments today. I should have done that yesterday but I was feeling pretty lazy," he told her. Mark was a teacher at the high school in town, and a pretty good one at that. "Jane is coming today. We are going to stay in and have lunch."

"Ooooh," Georgina said in a sing-song tone, wriggling her brows. "Sounds exciting."

Mark scowled playfully at her. "Get your mind off the gutter, young lady. We are just having lunch."

"Sure," she drawled. "Lunch. Anyway, whatever you do, don't do it near my room and….be careful, I don't think I'm ready to have siblings yet," she teased.

"Shut up."

"Okay, I'm just saying," she said with a shrug.

"What about you?" he asked.

Georgina glanced down. "Me, what?" she asked, feigning ignorance. "I already told you my plans for today. I'm babysitting."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," he said to her, a frown on his face.

"So, what are you talking about?" Georgina asked in a blank and uninterested tone, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Gina, sweetie, you are almost twenty five years old. Don't you think you should have a boyfriend by now?"

Georgina said nothing at first, just munching slowly on her food while her father waited for her reply. Then, she sighed and looks up. "I don't know, dad. I don't think I'm ready for that," she said. "I'm trying to organize my life."

"Who says you can't do that with a boyfriend?"

"Me," she answered.

"Look, honey, I get it. You want to make something of yourself before going into a relationship and that's perfectly okay. But, sometimes, these things are easier when you have someone by your side supporting you all the way."

"I have you," she said in a strained voice, signifying that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. She looked at him, hoping he would take the hint but he didn't.

"Gina."

"Dad." She sighed. "Why are you so insistent on this? Maybe I take after you, who knows? You've never even gotten married before," she told him.

"No but I've dated people in the past. In fact, I have a girlfriend right now. You've never introduced anyone to me as your boyfriend."

"Dad," Georgina groaned. "You are ruining breakfast."

He stared hard at her for a while. Then, he says, "Fine, I'll drop it." Gina let out a relieved sigh only to hear him add, "for now."

"Of course," she muttered. She pushed her chair backwards, rising to her feet. "I should go and have my bath now. Ella will be expecting me anytime soon," she said.

"Of course," Mark answered, watching as his daughter walked towards the adjoining door. "Gina," he called and she stopped turning to him. "I hope you are not mad."

Georgina smiled at him. "Dad, I'm not mad, I promise," she said and he sighed in relief.

"Good. You can go."

She chuckled and walked back to her room to prepare for work.

Georgina and her father, Mark, have had all their lives alone. According to Mark, he adopted her when she was a baby and had been taking care of her ever since then. Mark was an high school teacher and Georgina was a waitress and a nanny. Mark had never gotten married to anyone ever since he adopted Georgina. At first, it was because he needed to concentrate on raising her. Later on, when she matured to the age of thirteen, he decided to try dating and possibly getting married but none of the women he dated loved Georgina the way Mark wanted them to love her. None of them showed her that affection he wanted them to show her. He decided he couldn't get married to any woman who didn't love his daughter.

Mark stared at Georgina's retreating figure has she walked away. His daughter had always been hardworking and he knew she deserved all the good things she could ever have, except, she didn't have many good things. She had a crappy job, still lived with her father at twenty five and has never had a boyfriend. It hurt Mark to know that he couldn't give her all the amazing things she currently deserved but he wished she would at least try to find herself a boyfriend.

He sighed, glancing down at his plate. 'One thing at a time,' he said to himself as he rose to his feet.

~~~~~

Georgina pulled off her clothes slowly and walked into the bathroom adjoined to her room with a towel wrapped around her body.

As she picked up her toothbrush and toothpaste to brush her teeth, her mind went to her conversation with her father. He was always so insistent about her getting a boyfriend, claiming that she and never introduced one to him before. Well, that was true. She had never introduced any guy as a boyfriend to her father, but that didn't mean she had never had a boyfriend.

Infact, she had one she loved.

Or used to love.

Or maybe she didn't love him. Maybe she was just infatuated but at least, she felt something for him. Something more than anyone she had ever felt for.

He was her first and only boyfriend and she thought forever was in the cards for them.

Until he got married without informing her, broke all ties with her and broke her heart too.

Now that she thought of it, she realized that the signs were there. The signs that he was been a cheat, the signs that he didn't truly love her.

However, she simply got carried away by him, by his money and by his affluence, by the affection he showered her.

She should have known better.

Anyway, she had since made up her mind that she would look hard and think harder before she jumped into another relationship. She wasn't going to let her heart be broken a second time. Once bitten, twice shy.

When she finished brushing, she rinsed her mouth and toothbrush, loosened her wrapper and walked into the bathroom to take her bath.

It took her about thirty minutes to finish bathing and by the time she got back to her room, she realized that her boss, Ella, had called her phone a number of times and even left her a couple of text messages.

Hey Gina, please can you arrive here faster? I need to leave as soon as possible.

Georgina swiftly texted back: on my way.

She hurried to her closet, throwing it open and began to pull out the clothes in it, looking for an outfit.

Eventually, she settled on a pair of jeans and a cashmere sweater. She slipped on her converse, grabbed her phone and bag and practically dashed out of the room.

Her father was still seated in the living room but this time he was on the couch, watching a football match on the television.

"Hey Dad," she said. "I just received a message from Ella that she wants me to come as soon as possible. I think she's in a hurry."

"So, you are leaving?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. Bye," she said as she moved to the door. "And have fun with Jane!"

"Yeah, yeah, thanks. Are you meeting with Kyra?" He called after her.

"No, I don't know but I don't think so. Bye dad!" She yelled, closing the door and heading out of the house.