6. The Theory of Love

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"I like it, but you need a bit more character development. Why is Markus feeling this way? Why did he decide to sacrifice himself? I just need a little bit more as a reader, I have too many questions," Padre critiqued as he handed me back my printed out version of my short film script that was due by Monday.

My eyebrows furrowed as I held the twenty or so pages in my hands. "I wanted to leave some things up for the audience to decide?" I said, though it came out as more of a question than a definitive reason.

Padre peeked at me over the top of his glasses as he made himself comfortable in his office chair. "Yeah, right."

I sighed in defeat. This was hard.

Every year the creative writing class, film classes, and audio engineering classes got together to collaborate on short films. It made me excited because I would be working with Kyra and Tyler-- the latter making me more nervous than the former-- but also nerve-wracking because I actually wanted our project to be good.

"Hey kid, lose the frown," Padre said as he threw a pencil at me, causing me to let out a cry in pain as he grinned.

"What the-"

"Your idea is good, and I think it'll translate wonderfully to screen, but do you want to be wonderful or brilliant?"

"Wonderful," I said, causing him to throw something else at me. "Ow! Seriously dad, what's the deal-"

"That was a trick question. Wonderful and brilliant are synonyms of each other." I rolled my eyes. One of the few bad things about having a writer as a dad was wordplay. That, and the fact that he was always trying to write stories about our lives.

I sighed though a grin was tugging at the edge of my lips. "How about exceptional?" I asked, flipping the "l" to make it sound snotty and fancy.

"That's more like it," he said with a wink before his focus fell to his computer. His stories had been picking up a lot of traction and he was getting a lot of amazing deals, and though I didn't consider myself nosy, I may or may not have heard him and Papa talking about a possible movie deal. Exciting.

I picked up the things he'd haphazardly thrown at me and laid them on his desk, knowing he'd forget about them until he stepped on them and hurt himself. "Thanks, Addy," he said, his fingers feverishly typing and his focus still on the screen.

"Yeah, yeah. You're lucky dad is at a meeting or else I'd sick him on you for hurting me."

He raised a brow and looked at me. "Oh would you?"

"Yeah, in fact I would. I'd hit him with the puppy eyes and you'd have a hurricane of pencils and pens falling on you."

He chuckled. "Yeah, your father was always a sucker for some good puppy eyes."

His words stirred something in me. They'd been together for so long, and even after all this time, they still acted like lovesick teenagers who'd just started dating. They never really fought, and when they did it was usually something minor, and they always knew exactly what to say to calm each other down. "Hey, Padre, can I ask you a question?"

"Sì. Velocemente (Yes. Quickly)."

"Um, how did you know that you liked dad? Like, you like-liked him and wanted to be with him?"

"I think the word you're looking for is love, Addison."

"Yeah, you loved him. I mean, he was the first guy you'd been with and you didn't really have many relationships before him-"

"Correction, I had many before Madison. I had four girls on each arm at all times in kindergarten."

I rolled my eyes. "Padre, I'm serious," I whined as he cracked up.

"Alright, alright. I knew I loved him when all I would do was think of him. I'd feel so excited knowing that he was coming and I'd miss him like crazy when he was gone." My mind instantly went to Kyra and the way my heart and body ached for hers. The way I instantly smiled when I saw her and how sweet her name tasted forming on my tongue and pushing passed my lips. "He'd always say the right things and when we touched it felt like everything was lining up perfectly." My mind quickly shifted to Tyler in a way that it shouldn't have. I thought about last night when we were at the movies and how excited every cell of my body got when we touched, even if it was only for a moment. "When I went through something, he'd go through it with me, and I did the same. But I think the most important thing was that he knew when I wanted to do things alone, and he let me." Both Kyra and Tyler fought for dominance in my head as my dad's words sunk in. My heart raced and confusion filled my head. What was going on with me?

Padre shrugged. "I don't know. It's hard to articulate an abstract feeling or pinpoint something so gradual to one or two specific things, but that's the best way I could answer it. Why?"

I swallowed the hard truth of what I was feeling. "It's for a new story I'm writing and I'm trying to capture the idea of love."

He nodded. "Well, I hoped that helped. But you could ask your father if you need another take on it."

"Ask me for my take on what?" Papa asked as he walked through the door dressed in a formal white dress shirt and tie along with slacks and dress shoes. His glasses were peeking out of his breast pocket and he was holding his blazer over his shoulder.

"Hey, babe," Padre greeted before Papa planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"Hey, come è andato il lavoro oggi (how was work today)?" Papa asked as he ran his fingers through Padre's hair to give it some semblance of structure.

"Good, I just need to finish looking over some things and write a little bit more then I should be done, how about you?"

Papa grinned. "I really worked the client-"

"Excuse me?" Padre asked, raising an eyebrow, causing Papa to hit him.

"No like that, Noah, you know what I mean."

Padre laughed. "I know, I know, continue."

"I persuaded the client into booking us. We're making big money too, but I can't say too much because a lot of it's classified."

"That's great, babe." Padre smiled.

"Thank you," Papa said before their lips met again.

I averted my eyes after they didn't pull apart after a few moments then cleared my throat after they hadn't come up for air after almost ten seconds. They pulled away, and the looks on their faces told they'd forgotten that I was there. "Oh hey, Addi, when did you get there?" Papa asked playfully and I had to resist the urge to pull a Padre and throw something at him.

"Hi," I said as flatly as possible, causing him to roll his eyes before he stood up and wrapped his arms around me in a massive bear hug, something that could easily turn life-threatening because my dad was a huge, strong man. "Okay, okay, let me go, let me go!" I laughed, causing him to release me.

"What did you need?" he asked as he took his place beside Padre in his own comfy office chair.

"I was just asking Padre how he knew he loved you since you guys have been together since you were young."

Papa smiled as he looked at Padre. "Awe, Noah, what did you tell him? That you fell in love with my sexy body and my soothing voice?"

"Ew, no, why would I lie to our child like that?"

Papa frowned. "I don't like you."

"That's okay because you love me."

Moments like these were exactly what I was talking about: they're still children even thirty-odd some years after first meeting.

"Well, if you ask me, I knew I loved Noah when I knew I would do anything in the world to protect him, the same way I feel about you and your annoying siblings--don't tell them I said that."

"Definitely tell them. Then I'll be the favorite," Padre jumped in with a wink, causing me to roll my eyes.

"You two are-"

"-the best parents ever? Awe, thanks Addi," Padre said as he put a hand on his heart.

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say," I said before I checked my watch. It was almost noon, time for me to go to Kyra's house. "Alright, I'm heading to Kyra's."

"Okay, make sure that you get your keys. Oh, and tell your sister to check her text messages," Papa said.

"Okay-"

"Oh, wait, Addison, before you go, how was that movie you went to see last night? You came in and went into your room in such a hurry that we didn't get to see you," Padre said.

I felt heat creep up my spine. "Uh, good. Good."

"And who did you say you went with? Titus? No, Thebes-"

"Honey, that's a city in Greece."

"Oh yeah."

"His name is Tyler. Can I please go now? I don't want to be late," I said, though I really just didn't want to keep talking about Tyler or think about the way he made me feel.

"Yeah, I'm tired of seeing you anyway," Papa childishly answered.

"Thanks," I breathed out as I turned to head toward my room.

"Oh, Addi?"

I stopped and turned back toward my fathers. "Your script is good. Just remember what we talked about and make sure not to force it."

I offered him a thankful grin. "Grazie papà. Ti amo entrambi, ciao! (Thanks dad. I love you both, bye!)"

I hurried out of their office, anxious to see that one that I loved.

***

Hey y'all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if so, feel free to comment and vote. I'm sorry, but Noah and Madison are still so adorable it physically hurts. They're setting high standards for everyone's marriage, it's crazy. On a serious note, I know that this is a scary and new time all over the world due to the virus and natural disasters among other things, but we need to remember to stay informed, and, in the words of Dr. Mike, "Alert, not anxious". So, make sure that we're practicing good health practices and social distancing. I know it can be boring and lonely, but trust me, it's worth it. How are y'all sending y'alls time? I've just been reading, writing, and watching YT videos. My school got shut down until the 1st of April (but there's like a 75% chance they might shut it down for the rest of the school year since our neighboring state did so), so my days will be filled with those same three things. On the bright side, I got my first car, so that's exciting. It's a Volkswagon Jetta 2017 and I named him Vinnie. Alright, that's enough of my life update, tell me about y'alls in the comments. Also, if you want to read chapter seven, it's available for early access on Inkitt. Just click the inkitt link in the bio of my profile and you can read it for free. And the best part is that it's free for you and it'll also help me get paid! A win-win! So yeah, click the link for chapter seven and I'll see you guys next week!

Love y'all- Jordan

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