The Girl With Five Watches

25: Her Father

I was more than down to meet Sara's parents and celebrate two birthdays. She was turning nineteen which meant she was older than me by a month. Would I have preferred to be older than my girlfriend? Yes, but what can you do? Although, it did make me a little nervous that her dad was a psychologist. Would he be able to see straight into my soul? And before I knew it, spring break arrived in a blink of an eye. I couldn't believe how nice Sara's house was. The backyard was definitely large enough to host a party. It seemed like the majority of Sara's family had shown up. A few of her friends which included old high school friends and Karla showed up. Karla was without Roger. For the next several minutes, Sara conversed with Karla. I was left alone unsure of what to do surrounded by people I didn't know. My heart began racing once my eyes saw Sara's father. I couldn't believe how sharp and well dressed he looked. He looked amazing for his age. Once his eyes caught me, he began walking up to me.

"You must be Jimmy," the man smiled with a glass of wine in his hand. I shook his other hand. "Sara has told me a lot about you. I'm ecstatic that she found someone that she loves."

"You have a wonderful daughter sir." My stomach began sinking almost wanting to throw up. This was Sara's father! "I'm definitely blessed." He chuckled and agreed. "I hear you're a psychologist?"

"Yes, that is true, but I also recently became a psychiatrist. I do a little of both. Here's my card." He handed me his card which said his name, number, and email.

We continued to talk for a couple more minutes until dinner was ready. Mrs. Parker had cooked steak on the grill. Once everyone had their food, they found a seat. I found myself sitting next to Sara. Moments later, my very own eyes came across a recognizable face from high school.

"Hey walking partner," greeted Daisy. "Haven't seen you since we graduated? How's college been treating you? You have to keep me posted more."

"Yeah, it's hard when I can't find you on social media," I claimed and we both chuckled. "But yeah, college life has been good. I started dating Sara." My mouth gave her a smile and she did the same.

"It really is a small world," interrupted Sara. "I literally had Daisy in all my classes. I can't remember a time we didn't study together."

"And I was Jimmy's bus buddy from middle school all the way until he got his license. Funny, how you guys didn't connect until college."

The three of us began reminiscing about the old days and lost track of time. Before we knew it, Dr. Parker was tapping his wine glass with a spoon and everyone began to quiet down.

"I thank you all for being here today for Sara's birthday," he began. "It really is a blessing to have such a wonderful daughter who has one only one year left of being a teenager. My troubles are almost over." Everyone including Sara laughed in response. "But as I said, I really am blessed to have her. I can't thank God enough every day for her." He took a quick sigh and attempted to hold in tears. "There were times when I thought I was going to lose her. But she's still with us." His eyes caught eyes with Sara and she blushed. Dr. Parker took a moment to pause and looked at me. My heart sunk. "I can't tell you how much I prayed every day that my daughter would find someone good for her. And she has. She found Jimmy. What's your last name, Jimmy?"

Did he seriously just ask me that? "It's Rider. Jimmy Rider."

He began laughing and for the first time, his perfect teeth became completely visible. "Wonderful." He lifted up his wine glass. "A toast to the future Sara Rider."

"To the future Sara Rider," everyone repeated in unison which was followed by clapping and cheering.

As the party continued, Sara introduced me to every single of her friends. It was also nice seeing Karla. The party began dying down once the nine o'clock hour grew close. About a dozen stayed to help clean up. Sara and her mom went to the kitchen to wash dishes and I began hearing some chatter of going to a late-night movie. While Dr. Parker was talking to Karla outside with the sliding door next to the living room opened, I stood in the living room looking at the fish tank. Counting the fish, there were three fish. After about a minute of looking at the tank, My eyes took notice of my sister's face in the tank and my head began sweating. 

"Why did you let me die, Jimmy?" Emily asked. Why aren't you dead yet?"

"It's not my fault! Leave me alone!"

Dr. Parker took notice and looked away from Karla.

"What's wrong with Rider?" he asked Karla. Karla turned and looked at me with Sara out of the kitchen picking up a few cups left on the tables.

"He has a fear of water," chimed in Sara. "He lost his sister Emily in a frozen river one night and blames it on himself."

"Huh," was all he could say crossing his arms. "And how are you doing?" he asked Sara. "Your heart doing OK?"

"Oh yeah, there's been no problems as of late. It's all good."

Once the dishes were done, Dr. Parker took me and Sara to the movies. Mrs. Parker was tired and ready to call it a night. While Dr. Parker ordered the ticket with Sara at his side, he ordered me to find a seat while they bought the popcorn. Walking into a full auditorium, I began looking for seats in the back only to find Roger holding hands with Kim. I almost lost my breath and quickly found seats in the front. During my wait for Dr. Parker and Sara, I turned around a few times and caught the two of them making out. My stomach began to feel sick. What would Karla say if she saw this? She couldn't know. Neither could Sara. Thank goodness it was a full house.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Sara's family. Don't forget to comment, vote, and share!

Thoughts on Dr. Parker?

Thoughts on Roger holding hands with another girl?