Chapter 135
"Can't we just go home?" my dad groaned as we walked into the small beachside café with Uncle Charlie.
"If I gotta drag you to the doctor," Uncle Charlie began, pushing open the door, "at eight in the morning..."
He gestured toward the counter. "...you can cool your jets while I get coffee."
Dad rubbed the bandage covering his left eye. "I must look like an idiot."
"Wish I could tell you otherwise," Charlie quipped without missing a beat.
"You're the reason we ended up at the eye doctor in the first place," Dad muttered.
Charlie shrugged. "You said, 'Throw me a piece of toast.'"
"And I did!" he added, raising his eyebrows. "I tossed you a piece of toast."
I was still staring at Dad, completely baffled. "How the hell do you get hurt with toast?" I asked, eyeing the bandage over his eye.
While Charlie ordered drinks, Dad already had his cup and walked over to the table that had milk and other add-ins. But with no depth perception, he was missing everything—pouring milk beside the cup, spilling sugar all over the table.
"Stop, stop—just let me handle it," I stepped in. "I got this. Go sit down."
He sighed and handed me the sugar spoon.
As I fixed his drink, I heard a voice from across the room.
"Charlie?"
"Charlie Harper?"
I glanced over and saw a woman approaching the table where Uncle Charlie and Dad were seated.
"Hey, how've you been?" Charlie greeted with a charming smile.
"Wow, how long has it been?" the woman responded.
"Way too long. This is my brother, Alan," Charlie introduced.
"Hi. This is my daughter, Milly," she continued.
"Hi, Milly," Charlie acknowledged warmly.
"Hello, Milly," Dad echoed.
I walked over to join them, wiping my hands on a napkin.
"Hey," I greeted the woman, then turned to her daughter. She was a lovely blonde, probably a bit older than me. I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Jake."
"Milly," she replied, mirroring my smile.
Then she tilted her head. "And I know you," she noted, eyes narrowing in recognition.
I raised an eyebrow.
"I went to your birthday. Nice party, and great song, by the way!"
I handed the drink to Dad, then smirked at Milly. "Want to grab that table and talk?" I offered, gesturing with my head. "Let the grown-ups catch up."
"Sure," she agreed, grinning back.
"That really is your son, huh," the woman remarked, a little incredulous after watching her daughter charmed.
Charlie just grinned, while Dad interjected, mildly offended. "Excuse me, he's my son!"
After a short while, Milly's mom returned to the table. "We have to get going," she announced.
She turned to Charlie. "Call me sometime. Maybe we can have dinner, catch up."
As she turned away, I leaned toward Milly and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "See you," I murmured.
She smiled. "See you, Jake."
The three of us settled in to finish our drinks. I ordered a cupcake for myself.
Dad looked between us and shook his head. "You two are unbelievable. We came here for coffee, and somehow you're both lining up dates—"
Before he could finish, another voice broke in.
"Hey, Charlie, long time."
"Hey, Sherri. Yeah. Good to see you," Charlie responded with his signature smile, then turned to us. "This is my brother, Alan."
"Hi," she replied.
"Hello," Dad acknowledged politely.
"And this is my nephew, Jake," Charlie added.
"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking her hand.
She smiled, holding her drink, and glanced at Dad.
"What happened to your eye?"
"Well, I asked for a piece of toast and... bar fight," Dad explained with a perfectly straight face.
"Good seeing you, Charlie," Sherri offered.
"You too," Charlie returned with a grin.
Once she walked away, Dad turned to Charlie. "Wow, you went out with her?"
"Yep," Charlie confirmed casually.
"Why would you stop?"
"I don't really remember," Charlie admitted with a shrug. "Probably got bored."
"Bored? How do you get bored with that?" asked Alan incredulously.
Charlie leaned back and replied, "For every beautiful woman, there's at least one guy out there... who's tired of pretending to listen to her in exchange for sex."
"Well, let me go on record as saying," Alan declared, "I am not that guy.
If I ever had a woman like that, I would cherish her.
I would worship her. I would...
...start a small country and put her face on a stamp so I could lick her head."
"Creepy, Dad," I muttered. "Why don't you go talk to her?"
"Yeah, right," he scoffed. "Gorgeous women like that are not interested in pasty guys like me... unless we're in line for the British throne."
"So you give up without even trying?" Charlie asked.
"Yep. That's my motto," Dad replied.
"Why waste time on 10s when you're already getting rejected by sixes?"
Charlie leaned in and looked at him. "Alan, listen to me. You are a smart, sensitive, good-looking man... with some milky discharge coming out of one eye... but who amongst us is perfect?"
I raised my hand, making the two of them glare at me
"Come on, Dad," I chimed in. "For once in your life, don't settle. Go for what you really want."
Dad paused, then straightened up. "You know what? You're right, Jake. I'm gonna go talk to her."
As he started walking toward Sherri, Charlie leaned closer to me and smirked. "You really like the blonde ones, huh." Referring to Milly
I glare at him for a moment and thought, That's actually true... (Mandy, Laura, Cher, Regina…)
Charlie raised an eyebrow, clearly reading my mind. We both chuckled quietly, watching Dad approach Sherri with caution determination.
We both observed Alan from a distance. At first, things seemed to go surprisingly well—Sherri smiled, Dad looked relaxed, even confident.
But then, just as he tried to sit down beside her, he completely misjudged the position of the chair.
With a soft thud and a loud grunt, Alan missed entirely and hit the floor.
Charlie and I facepalmed at the same time.
"And there it is," Charlie muttered.
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A/N: Milly: Brenda Emily Feldman, mix with Milly - Two and half men, Brenda Feldman - Modern Family. Actress Hayley Erin (both)
A/N 2: Jake is very rich, very popular, and sings well. He's on very easy mode for most high school girls — just like it was for Drake from Drake & Josh. And Drake wasn't even close to Jake.
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