Chapter 2: The Lie at the Birthday Table
“Where’s my daughter?””
David’s question cut through the cheerful noise of the birthday celebration.
A few guests stopped talking.
Someone near the kitchen continued arranging plates, unaware that the atmosphere had suddenly changed.
Jessica stood beside the dining table, holding a serving spoon.
For a fraction of a second, she looked toward the front door.
Then she turned back to her husband.
“Jasmine said she had some work to do.””
David frowned.
“Work?””
“Yes.””
He glanced at the clock on the wall.
“She knew it was my birthday.””
“I’m sure she remembered,” Jessica replied smoothly.
“But teenagers have their own priorities.””
David set his glass down.
“Did she call you?””
Jessica hesitated just long enough to make the lie seem believable.
“She mentioned that she might not be able to come.””
David studied her face.
“When?””
“This morning.””
He leaned back slightly.
“That’s strange. She told me last week she was excited about today.””
Jessica gave a small laugh.
“Well, things change.””
David didn’t laugh with her.
Jasmine had never forgotten his birthday.
Not once.
When she was nine, she had woken him before dawn because she was convinced birthdays were supposed to begin at sunrise.
When she was twelve, she had saved her allowance for weeks to buy him a watch.
Last year, despite the growing tension at home, she had made him a handmade card covered in little drawings of the two of them.
He still kept that card in his desk.
Jasmine wasn’t the sort of girl who casually abandoned something that mattered to someone she loved.
“Did she say why she couldn't come?”” he asked.
Jessica put the serving spoon down.
“She said she was busy.””
“Busy doing what?””
“I don't know, David. Schoolwork, friends, whatever sixteen-year-olds do.””
David’s jaw tightened.
“She could have told me herself.””
Jessica’s expression shifted.
For the first time, a trace of irritation escaped her carefully maintained smile.
“Must we make this the center of your birthday?””
“No. I’m asking where my daughter is.””
“And I answered you.””
David looked toward the front door again.
The party continued around them, but he had stopped paying attention to the conversations.
Something about Jessica’s answer bothered him.
It wasn’t simply that Jasmine wasn’t there.
It was the way Jessica seemed determined to make the subject disappear.
He remembered a phone call from a few days earlier.
Jasmine had asked whether he would have time to see her before his birthday.
He had said, of course.
She had sounded so happy that he could almost picture her smiling through the phone.
Then Jessica had walked into his office, and he had ended the call sooner than he wanted to.
He had told himself he would make it up to Jasmine later.
Now he wondered whether she had been waiting for him to call.
“Did you tell her what time to come?”” David asked.
Jessica crossed her arms.
“David, please. The guests are here.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
She glanced at the people sitting nearby.
Several had begun pretending not to listen.
Jessica lowered her voice.
“I’m trying to give you a nice birthday. Can you please stop interrogating me?””
David stood.
“I want to talk to Jasmine.””
“You can call her tomorrow.””
“Why tomorrow?””
“Because today is your birthday, and you have guests.””
He stared at her.
“She’s my daughter. She doesn't need an appointment to see me.””
Jessica’s face reddened.
“No one said she did.””
“You just told me she was too busy to come. Now you're telling me to wait until tomorrow to speak to her.””
“I’m telling you not to turn a perfectly lovely afternoon into a family argument.””
David pushed his chair back.
“I’m going to the door.””
Jessica immediately stepped in front of him.
“David, don't make a scene. Everyone is here.””
He looked down at her hand as she reached for his arm.
Then he met her eyes.
“I don't care.””
Her fingers tightened around his sleeve.
“Please, David.””
For the first time, he noticed something he could not explain away.
Jessica wasn't merely annoyed that he wanted to find his daughter.
She looked nervous.
Not embarrassed.
Not inconvenienced.
Nervous.
David gently removed her hand from his arm.
“Move.””
Jessica stepped aside, but her expression had changed.
He walked through the hallway.
With every step toward the front door, the uneasy feeling in his chest grew stronger.
He thought about Jasmine waiting for him.
He thought about all the times he had promised they would spend more time together.
He thought about the way her voice sometimes became unusually quiet whenever he asked whether everything was all right at home.
He had assumed she was simply adjusting to his marriage.
He had assumed that Jessica was trying her best.
Perhaps he had assumed too much.
Behind him, Jessica hurried after him.
“David, listen to me. You don't know what kind of mood Jasmine might be in.””
He stopped.
“What does that mean?””
“She can be emotional.””
“She’s sixteen.””
“And she knows how to get what she wants.””
David turned around slowly.
“What exactly are you accusing my daughter of?””
Jessica opened her mouth, then closed it.
“I’m not accusing her of anything.””
“Then why are you talking about her like that?””
“I’m just saying that sometimes she makes things difficult.””
David stared at her for another moment.
Then he faced the door.
His hand settled on the handle.
Jessica's voice became softer.
“David, please. Not in front of everyone.””
He thought about the birthday cake waiting in the dining room.
The guests.
The presents.
The expensive decorations Jessica had arranged.
None of it mattered now.
If Jasmine was hurt, he wanted to know why.
If she had decided not to come, he wanted to hear it from her.
And if something had happened that made his daughter afraid to visit him, he needed to understand.
He opened the door.
The afternoon sunlight spilled into the hallway.
For a second, he saw only the porch and the front walkway.
Then he noticed someone standing near the steps.
A familiar girl.
Dark hair falling around her shoulders.
A small blue-wrapped present held against her chest.
Jasmine.
David froze.
She was standing just outside his home, looking as though she had been preparing herself to walk away.
Her eyes were red.
The sight of her stopped every thought in his head.
“Jasmine?””
She lifted her face.
And when she saw him, her expression changed from quiet sadness to startled disbelief.
“Dad?””
David looked at the present.
Then at her trembling hands.
Then at the tears she was desperately trying to hide.
He stepped onto the porch.
“What are you doing out here, sweetheart?””
Jasmine swallowed hard.
“Happy birthday, Dad.””
The words came out so softly that he almost didn't hear them.
David stared at her.
“You came here?””
She nodded.
“I wanted to surprise you.””
He looked past her toward the driveway, as though expecting to find some explanation waiting there.
Then he turned toward Jessica.
His wife stood several feet behind him.
Her face had gone pale.
David looked back at Jasmine.
“Why didn't you come inside?””
Jasmine lowered her eyes.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered something that made the warmth disappear from his face.
“Jessica said you wanted to spend your birthday with your family.””
David felt as though the floor had dropped beneath him.
He looked at his daughter, standing outside with a present she had chosen for him.
Then he looked at the woman who had told him she was too busy to come.
May you like
Suddenly, the empty chair at his birthday table made perfect sense.
And David realized that the story he had been told was not the story unfolding in front of him.
