"Daddy?"

You stepped into his office with a piece

of paper in your hands,

a hopefulness in your eyes as you stood there,

waiting for him to pay you attention.

"Hm?"

He muttered underneath his breath,

staring down at some papers on his desk.

"Can I go to a party?"

You asked him hopefully,

anticipating his response.

An irritated sigh leaving his mouth,

he relaxed into the luxury leather chair,

intense blue eyes falling onto you.

"Where is it?"

He asked you.

"Well...

first its to the cinema to see a movie and

then we're going to a hotel room

for a sleepover and we're going

to order pizza and watch movies

and dance and-"

"No"

He cut you off blankly,

refocusing his attention onto the files on his desk.

"You can't go"

"What?"

You breathed out,

tears brimming your eyes as you stared down at the delicate invitation in your hands,

the cursive writing staring back at you like an empty promise.

"You heard me"

He told you lowly.

"But why?"

You pushed him for an answer.

"Why can't I go?

Last year when you said I couldn't go to a party, you promised I could the next year when

I'm a little bit older and I am older,

daddy"

"Look"

He scoffed.

"I'm not letting you stay in a fucking hotel overnight in this fucking city alone.

It's dangerous.

You're naive.

You think people are being nice when they're not and you make stupid decisions,

alright?"

"But I'm not going to be alone"

You tried to change his mind.

"I'm going to be with my friend.

And we'll lock the door and stay in all night.

I won't leave the hotel room,

daddy.

I just want to have fun for one night

and it's always been my dream to stay

in a hotel and have a sleepover like

in the movie pretty woman"

"Well,

you're not a fucking prostitute huh?"

He said harshly,

rolling his eyes at your innocence.

"You're not going and that's that.

If ya wanna have a sleepover,

ask ya little friend to have one here and you can camp out in the living room hm?

I'll get 'cha one of those little indoor tent thingies

ya keep begging me for"

"I don't want a stupid sleepover here!"

You gave him an attitude,

stomping down the hallway to your play room

and slamming the door shut behind you

for extra effect.

"I hate you,

daddy!

You never let me do anything.

You suck!

I'll never trust you again!"

Climbing into your bed,

you crawled underneath the covers,

burying your head into your pillow as you cried,

gripping the material of the sheets

in your little hands.

"Ah"

He muttered to himself lowly

like it was nothing,

seemingly unphased by your little outburst,

taking out a cigarette from the draw in his desk and placing it in between his lips to light it.

"She'll get over it"