There wasn’t much to see. Benjamin checked the refrigerator – half a jar of peanut butter, two oranges and a bottle of salad dressing. A half eaten pizza still in the box and some apples. His daughter lived like a total bachelor. The blinds were shut in spite of the fact that it was still early evening. The hall creaked under Benjamin’s footsteps. The bedroom was bare expect for the bed and a wooden stool that was serving as a side table. There was a second room but the door was shut. His sources had informed him that Cora was chaperoning a school dance tonight so he had time to explore. Benjamin frowned. The whole place was a shit hole. Cora deserved better. Benjamin could not understand why she didn’t just use the money he placed faithfully in her account every month despite Peter’s objections that she was a grown woman.
Cora’s laptop was sitting at the end of the bed, half hidden by the balled up blankets. Benjamin left it there and moved on the bathroom. He’d check it out later. Whatever Cora was up to would probably be easier to get straight from her, but if there was something to find Benjamin would find it.
The bathroom was fairly spacious for the size of the apartment, with a shower and a bath. It was pristine in here as compared to the rest of the house. This was obviously her space. The rest of the apartment had evidence of other people; maybe a boyfriend, or roommate. Maybe both. But this was pure Cora. He could tell because she was Chantale’s child through and through and he could see echoes of her everywhere in here. Benjamin’s face flashed in the medicine cabinet mirror as he opened the cupboard. Ibuprofen. Toothpaste. Mouthwash. Scrub. Shampoo and conditioner. No condoms or lube.
Benjamin shut the cabinet and swung the bathroom door closed, kicking a damp towel out of the way. The wastebasket was half full and Benjamin picked it up, setting it on the toilet seat. Candy wrappers. Benjamin smiled, remembering when she was younger and he used to give her lollipops every time they met. She would smile so pretty for him. Fuck, he missed that.
Yellow light hit the tile, staining the white. It was shit hole not fit for his daughter, the kind of place Benjamin hated more because it pretended to be a home. He should have kept Cora with him. Should have insisted. Why the fuck hadn’t he?
Cora was something Benjamin was going to invest in. The kid fought against things she wanted, fought just to fight. But it was time she came into the family fold. She’d shown her mettle, her independence and now it was time to learn what it was to be a Lafitte.
Benjamin grinned and shook the trash back into place, returning the wastebasket behind the door. Back in the kitchen he lit up a cigarette and settled in to wait for Cora.
*****
Cora was late, and she looked like shit. Too thin, tired. Upset about something. Didn’t matter, though. Not anymore. She was tired, maybe a little jumpy, didn’t look too happy to see him but he would change that soon enough.
*****
“Soo, my dad’s in town,” Cora told Paolo.
“Is that so?” he replied face curiously impassive.
“Yeah.”
“I thought you guys weren’t close?”
“We’re not. He kind of broke into the apartment.”
“He broke in?”
“Yeah. I found him waiting for me when I got home from my school function last night.”
“Oh yeah? Did you tell him about me?”
Cora studied him, her face serious, “Did you want me to tell him about you?”
Paolo froze for a minute not knowing what the right answer to that question was, “If…you wanted to,” he said at last.
Cora slightly relaxed, “Well no, I didn’t tell him. We were too busy arguing about him breaking into my place.”
“Oh. Okay.”
*****
Paolo was pacing back and forth in his office, thinking furiously. He wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready for Benjamin Lafitte to find out about him yet.
“Marisol!” he shouted and she was there even before he finished yelling.
“Yes sir?”
“Find out what Lafitte is doing in town and when he’s leaving,” he said.
“Yes sir,” Marisol said leaving at once. That’s what he liked about her. She never wasted time asking irrelevant questions.
His phone went off and he glanced at the door where Marisol had disappeared and then at the caller ID.
Cora.
“Hi,” he said a tad breathlessly into the receiver.
“Hey you. I haven’t seen you or heard from you for two days.”
“Yeah I thought I’d give you some space to spend time with your dad.”
Cora snorted, “How much time you think I spend with that man? He’s just some guy who donated sperm to my mom. It’s not that serious. Come over today after work.”
“Yeah okay if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure. Plan to spend the night.”
“Yeah.”
Paolo sighed as he hung up. The situation had just gotten way more complicated than he’d planned. He needed to abort.
Even as he thought it, he was wondering which movie to take with him that evening. They’d been planning to have an Avengers marathon some time. Tonight might just be the night. Benjamin Lafitte was not going to ruin his life.
Again.