xvii.

"dad!"

     when karl turns around upon hearing a woman calling someone 'dad', it was merely a reflex. one where you spontenously turn around when you hear someone else calling for other people especially when her voice is too loud in the police station. but apparently, the woman is approaching him. her eyes are glassy as she opens her arms for him. and again. it's by reflex when he returns the woman's hug.

     "oh dad!" the woman says. "i thought i really lost you."

     karl frowns above the woman's head. his eyes catch a few other people in the station. all men and all are looking at him and the woman he's hugging. all look sadly relieved, but aside from the three policemen, who are the other two men standing near the door? is the younger man the woman's boyfriend and the older blond man his dad?

     "uhm. girl? i'm so sorry to ruin the moment, but i'm afraid i'm not your father."

     in the embrace, he feels the woman stiffens. slowly, when the woman breaks the hug and looks up at him, he sees the same dark hair and dark eyes as his. he sees the same smile andrea has. something in him tugs. he is still not sure if he's married to andrea and they had a daughter this big but it looks like the woman already knows him. or even if he knew her, it's because she lives together with him in his ma's house. and if he's not mistaken, she is the woman he lives with along with another older woman who helps him take his bath.

     "oh, dad! thank god you're okay!"

     "i'm–i'm sorry to interrupt you, girl. but–but you're not my mother...?"

     the girl gulps. "no, dad. i'm your daughter. christine."

     "daughter?" karl frowns. "i have a daughter? i'm married?"

     "you were. but mum left us when i was a few months old so it's only us."

     "andrea would do that?"

     the woman's face twitch in disgust. did andrea do something to her? or did she do something to andrea? he rufused to believe the latter because to him, andrea is his happy pill. the one who knows how to make him smile. the one who knows just what to do when he's upset. the one whom he loves all his life.

     "are you from the future?"

     if this woman is not andrea and not his mother, then she's either a stranger or someone from the future...

     right?

*

author's not: a short chapter for karl's p.o.v. hope you like it.