22

We stand there stoically for a few seconds, neither of them notices our presence at first which gives me a tiny bit of hope that we can just turn back around and run the heck away, but luck isn't on our side as Denise catches us by the corner of her eyes.

Her eyes widen for a second but the shocked expression is soon replaced by her signature fake warm smile. We have no other choice but to hesitantly walk up to them, finally gaining my dad's attention — he pales down a few shades upon seeing us seeming more panicky than Daniella and I combined.

"Anna, so nice to see you here, and... Daniella Evans, this year's Calculus teacher," she says after taking a good look at Daniella, as if she was making sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, proceeding to look between the two of us. "I never expected to see both of you in the same room, same time, let alone hanging out together in such a manner given, of course, your age difference."

"How come?" I raise my eyebrows.

"I can't imagine that you two have much in common to carry on any kind of conversation, or do I happen to be wrong?"

"Yes, you are," I answer back without hesitation.

"Daniella is a good friend of mine," my dad butts in before Denise has the chance to answer back. "They're very close... in a sisterly manner."

"I see," she nods her head slowly. "Well, sit down with us, I have so many questions."

"Of course you do," I say under my breath.

Daniella only gives Denise a small courtesy smile as we sit down, and while we could have refused, I'm pretty sure that would only make the situation weirder.

"We didn't talk much at the dinner, there are so many things I want to know about you, Anna, since we'll be spending a lot of time together. It's important that we bond — the same goes for you," she looks at Daniella. "We never got the chance to chat much at school, I didn't know you were a family friend. Let's get along, shall we?."

"Of course," Daniella answers with a smile far too wide for her usual character, which I'm certain she's using to mask her cringing expression.

"So, how did you two meet?" Denise asks, redirecting her attention to my dad. "It's quite the age gap between you two as well."

"Friends in common, it's been a really long time, I don't really recall all the details," he chuckles awkwardly, this man can't make up a believable lie to save his life... he really is my dad. "Age is of minor unimportance when it comes to friendship, I'm a jovial person, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely," she answers quickly, totally falling for his cringe-worthy charm, but if that's what is going to save us, then I'm all for it.

Thankfully the waiter also comes around at the right time to take our orders, momentarily saving us from any more of Denise's questions, which definitely won't last long. If anything, the few minutes of silence will only prompt her to think of more questions to ask — more intrusive ones.

I eye Daniella from across the table, her eyes are stuck on the view but her mind is somewhere else. I can only imagine what's going on in her mind, we're already so cautious when we go out together, making sure it's in discrete locations and out of the city, yet this is the second time we get caught... and I have a feeling things won't go as smoothly as last time.

At this point I don't even care if we go out in public anymore, thinking back to a few weeks ago that would most definitely crush me, but right now all I want is to be in a worry-free relationship with Daniella. Even if we never get to come out officially as partners.

"The BBQ chicken is our favorite, we have it every time we come," my dad says, eyeing both Daniela and Denise. "You two should definitely try it, it's their specialty."

"Sure," Daniella says, slightly brushing her leg against mine, the gesture instantly helps calm down the nerves that were eating me from the inside. In a way it feels like she's trying to tell me she's not upset at me for putting us in this situation, I guess she was able to see how worried I was. She does it one more time but she lets her leg rest against mine instead of retreating it, her warmth sends waves through my whole body, and for just a second I forget we're sitting right in front of my dad and his evil girlfriend... It's only when Denise speaks that I'm brought back to reality.

"I'd love to try it," she answers with her signature forced smile that tells me she doesn't really fancy the idea — but props to her for faking it for my dad's sake.

Both Denise and Daniella look like they don't belong in a place like this, the difference is that you could take Daniella to dine out at Mcdonald's and she'd be totally fine with it except for her usual sarcastic humor, she'd absolutely make so much fun of me but I know that in the end, she doesn't really care where we go out to eat. Denise on the other hand seems to look at the disposable paper placemats with disdain.

"Great, then we'll have four of those please!" My dad says to the waiter excitedly.

"So," Denise starts. "You two are pretty close then, having dinner together."

"What about it?" I answer involuntarily, gaining a glare from my dad from across the table. "We're just eating out, seems pretty normal to me."

"I mean, don't you two have a boyfriend you could have come with instead?"

I once again have the instinctive drive to give her a sarcastically dry response, but I go against it for the sake of my dad. "I'm really not that interested in me—"

"Anna is not interested in relationships right now," my dad says quickly, cutting me off. I look back at him, confusion written all over my face. What's the point of occulting such a major fact about me? It's not like Denise knowing that I'm a lesbian is going to suddenly make her think Daniella and I are in a relationship... until it hits me.

I continue to stare at him but his eyes are stuck on her. It's like he has lost his mind, honestly, his whole sense of awareness over this woman that he no longer can distinguish what's wrong and right, because this? This is wrong. And I know I could end all this BS right about now and get rid of Denise once and for all but I simply sit up, nearly making my chair fall back behind me. "I'll be taking my leave," I say simply before turning on my heels and walking away at a nearly running pace. I can hear Daniella's high-heels clicking as she tries to keep up with me, the confused calls from my dad, and Denise's disapproving comments but I don't slow my pace until I'm out in the dark parking lot.

"Anna," Daniella calls as I reach my car. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Didn't you hear him?" I say, suddenly turning around, nearly making her crash into me. I look up at her, the expression on her face instantly making me regret having spoken to her like that.

"I did, but running off like this is only going to make it worse," she says softly, running a hand down my arm. "How will we explain this?"

"He's more than capable of saving his own butt, since he's so good at making things up," I sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let out my anger on you, and to have worsened our situation... more than it already is. I just couldn't bear being in there anymore."

"Hey," she calls, taking a step closer to me, so close that I can now feel the heat emanating from her body. "It's ok, I understand. We can just go back home for today. I can cook something for both of us, what do you say?"

"I'm sorry for ruining our night."

"You didn't ruin our night," she sighs into my hair.

"I did, it was supposed to be relaxing, a night we could forget about all of this and I just had to bring you right to where the wolf's mouth is."

"You didn't know."

"And now you want to cook for me, even though the date was my idea but I can't cook you something because I'm useless..."

"Anna," Daniella says, taking my hands, and stopping my crazy rambling. "You're not useless, your questionable cooking doesn't change that," she chuckles. "We can get takeaway if it makes you feel better. Come on, let's go home."

⁂

"I can't believe I wasted such a good dress on this horrible night," I sigh, letting the dress slide down my legs. "I should have taken your proposal to dine in instead."

"We can still do that," she looks at me from the bed, a glint suddenly emerging in her eyes. "We had dinner at home after all."

"That's very tempting."

"But?"

"I have so much going on in my mind, and sure, the moment we start I'll forget all about Denise and dad but I think I need some time to actually think about it."

"Cuddles then?" She opens her arms, allowing me to lay down on top of her in the bed as she caresses my hair. "But don't overthink it, it's not worth it."

"I know, I just don't understand... I mean, I do. He's ashamed. He's ashamed of me and himself, why else would he hide the fact we're Jewish and that I'm a lesbian? All of this time making us think he's trying to protect you and your job while he's just trying to protect himself and his repulsive relationship."

Daniella is silent for a long minute, all the gears in her head working together to make up something to say. "This is just so out of character for him... I guess love makes people make incredibly stupid decisions."

"This isn't love, Daniella, it's desperation," I groan, lifting up my head so I can be at eye level with her. "I have to confront him."