Searching for Dad

Diary of Ashley Borden Matthews Ridicule Borden Matthews Macdonald



I held my phone up to my hear, hoping, no, praying that I would hear a voice on the other line. I knew it would never come, but I held out hope.

"This is Chuck. Leave a message"

He had even changed his voicemail on his phone. I shoved my phone back into my pocket. Why was my step-dad going through such great measures to hide from me? I still couldn't believe that he had hidden that from me. What kind of person hides a father from his own daughter? I guess I can see his side of the story a little. He thought that if he told me about my real dad, then I would choose real dad over step dad. Only that's not true. Dad did more for me than my real dad will ever do. Dad gave me a life, a fresh start. Because of him, I got to meet Nick, who was, at one point, the love of my life. Because of him, I got to meet Brandon, who is the love of my life. I decided to give Uncle Chris a call. Maybe he would know where Dad was. I typed in the number, and brought the phone up to my ear. I listened to it ring a few times, before Uncle Chris answered

"Hello?"

"Hey Uncle Chris, it's Ashley"

"Oh, hey Ashley. How are you?"

"I've been better"

"I bet. So what's up?"

"Do you know where my dad is?"

"I don't. I've actually been trying to get a hold of him for a while. But he won't answer his phone"

"I know. I've called him like, a thousand times, and he won't answer. And no one knows where he is"

"Did you try his office?"

"Yeah. His secretary said he was out and that she didn't know where he was"

"I find that hard to believe"

"Me too. But she wouldn't tell me anything"

"If I were to guess, I'd say he's hiding from you"

Sometimes Uncle Chris could be so obvious

"Yeah, I figured that much. He didn't tell you anything about my real dad, did he?"

"Nope. Charlie doesn't tell his family a lot. I wasn't aware of you having a real dad. Nor was I aware of Charlie's fling with Mrs. Macdonald"

"I think she goes by Ms. Stone now"

"Either way. He doesn't tell me a lot. I'm not surprised that he didn't tell you about your real father"

"Really?"

I was surprised he didn't tell me. Why wasn't Uncle Chris?

"I don't think he wanted to risk losing you. Regardless of who you may have picked or not, he was afraid that by telling you, you would get angry at him for hiding it from you. Then you'd go with your real dad, and Charlie wouldn't here from you again. You know that you're the only real friend that he has right?"

I guess he was right in a way. But still, I wouldn't have just left dad alone.

"I know. But if he wants to keep friends, he needs to do a better job of being honest"

"There's a lot of things that Charlie needs to do. That's one of them"

"Yeah. Anyways, I better get going, Brandon and I are going up to Chicago for a bit"

"Speaking of Brandon, how are the two of you?"

Weird. Uncle Chris never asked about my relationships. Or anyone's relationships.

"Great. He's amazing. I love him so much"

"That's good. It's nice to see you so happy"

"Thanks Uncle Chris. I'll talk to you soon"

"Bye Ashley"

I hung up my phone and put in in my pocket. I'm glad I called Uncle Chris. Even though he was a bit strange, and really boring sometimes, he's always a good guy to talk to. Especially when I felt crappy like this. But now I get to go see Brandon! He always manages to cheer me up, just by looking at him, and talking to him. Not only is he hot, but he's such a sweetheart. I really do love him. I walked over to my car. Well, it's technically Brandon's car, but we share it. I drove back to our house. It wasn't too far. When I got there, I walked inside, and saw Brandon getting up off of the couch.

"Hey babe, I'm home"

"Awesome. Ready to go? Our flight leaves soon"

"Yeah, just let me go grab my bag"

"Did you get a hold of Chuck yet?"

"Nope. He's avoiding me, of course. Hasn't answered his cell phone, his home phone, I've even called his office, and they keep telling me that he's gone, and that they don't know where he is"

"That's horseshit"

"I know. I told them that, but they still didn't give me anything. He obviously told them to not let me figure out where he is"

"Well, if he's hiding at home, he's about to get a surprise visit."

"I hope Anna's not there. I might literally slap her in the face"

I hate Anna. Not just because she smacked me with a hockey stick, but because she had kept Brandon from me for so long. It took nearly a year for Brandon and I to be together for real, and it was all Anna's fault.

"I might do the same thing, so I pray that she isn't there"

I laughed. We were on the same page there at least. I ran upstairs to grab my bag of clothes that I had packed earlier. I ran back downstairs and right out the door. I locked it behind me as I turned to see Brandon in the car, waiting. God did he look hot. I hopped into the car as Brandon backed out and drove off towards the airport. I watched him as he looked at the road, sunglasses covering his eyes, the wind blowing in his face. I can't even explain how much I love him. I want to marry him. I really hope he feels the same way. If he proposed to me right now, I would say yes without even a second thought. I just hope that he feels the same way about me.