Beyond What Meets The Eye

Chapter Ten

Mira woke up to the early morning sun peaking through the windows, a blanket draped over body, Pickles snoring heavily in her arms.

Adrian had offered her his bed, but she had insisted that the couch would more than suffice. Still, she didn't remember falling asleep, nor asking for a blanket. He must've put it on top of her before he'd gone to his own room to sleep. Despite revealing his own ties to the mafia, his actions contradicted the dangerous, scary persona she would expect from someone like him.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Adrian said from a chair on the opposite side of the coffee table, eyes glued to the book he was reading, the glasses he'd been wearing at the book store resting on the bridge of his nose.

"So you really are a nerd, huh?" Mira asked with a yawn as she sat up. He glanced up at her.

"I guess I am," his eyes went back to the book. "I made breakfast if you're hungry." As if on cue, Mira's stomach let out a low growl. "And by the sounds of it, you are." He added and Mira's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she stood up and made her way over to the kitchen counter where an array of eggs, sausage, bacon and fruit sat in all their glory. Her eyes went wide and she grabbed a plate, shamelessly piling it full.

Her phone began buzzing in her pocket, and curiously she peeked down at the caller ID. She almost choked on her food as she quickly answered it and held it up to her ear.

"Hey dad-," she started but was immediately cut off.

"Amira, why did I receive a call from the police department saying that they found you car at a crash site, but haven't been able to locate or get in contact with you?" He didn't necessarily sound angry, just annoyed.

"I'm sorry, I was just so panicked, I had a friend pick me up and I stayed at her place for the night. I'll stop by the police department today and make sure to get things sorted out." She lied, the fact that her car was just sitting in the middle of an intersection having completely slipped her mind amidst everything.

"It's fine, I'll have my lawyer take care of everything. Just please use your head every once in a while." He hung up before Mira could even say anything else. She let out a long breath, realizing that was the most she'd actually spoken to her dad all month, and of course he was pissed at her.

"Sounds like a real great guy," Adrian commented from behind her. "Did he even ask if you were alright?"

That's what hurt the most, he was more worried about covering his own ass than his daughter.

"This is how things are between us, nothing new." She replied shortly. She didn't have the energy to talk about him anymore.

She picked at her food, appetite completely gone.

"So when is your friend coming to look over those documents?" She asked, breaking the silence that had been hanging in the air.

"He should be over within the next hour." Adrian replied. She went ahead and threw away more than half a plate of food, walking over to the sink and washing the plate and placing it in the dishwasher. She wandered into the living room, over to the tall bookshelf that sat at the edge of the room, running her fingers along the spines. There were a lot of philosophical novels, not really Mira's taste, but she smiled at Huckleberry Finn, a classic she'd read back freshman year for school.

"So have you actually read all of these," she questioned as she pulled the classic off the shelf, turning the collectors edition cover around in her hands.

"I've read most of them, but there are a few I haven't gotten to yet." Adrian replied, setting his book down and giving her his full attention.

"I wouldn't have thought you'd have a lot of time for reading on your hands, given your profession and all," she carefully returned the book to its spot on the shelf.