"Papa, you're back!" Said the young, fourteen year old girl as she saw the front door open. Nathan stepped into his house and waved to his daughter, "Hey, Cat!" He closed the door behind him and fished his keys out of his jacket pocket before dropping them into the small, glass bowl on a small, wooden stand near the door. He removed his jacket and hung it up in the coat closet. He removed his sneakers and slipped his feet into his soft, pigeon blue house slippers. Catalina ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
"Woah! Looks like someone really missed her old man." Nathan smiled as he hugged the girl back. "Is something wrong?"
She pulled away from her father and looked up at him. Catalina appeared to be around five feet tall and her long, wavy, espresso brown hair was tied up into a neat ponytail. Her eyes were russet brown while her skin was sienna brown. She was wearing a knee length, navy blue dress with short sleeves, a white belt around her waist, a sharp, small v neck, and the bottom of her skirt and her collar both had thick, white outlines. Along with her dress, she wore a pair of white, ankle high socks, white daisy stud earrings, and a matte mood bracelet on her right wrist.
Catalina shook her head, "Nothing. Why would you think something is wrong?"
"Well usually you seem pretty annoyed when I come home really late."
"Yeah, that's true." Agreed the girl, "But today was different."
"Why? Because I took the detective out for coffee?" Nathan chuckled.
Catalina nodded, "Mhm!"
"So? Why are you so cheery about that? It's nothing special, cariña."
"Nothing special? Nothing special?! Papa, this was your first date in *years*! You haven't gotten with anyone since mom passed away."
Nathan's smile faded into a slight frown, "Oh …"
"Huh? What's wrong? Did your date not go very well?"
"Yeah …" The man sighed, "Something like that." He walked over to the kitchen, seeming very melancholy. Catalina followed him.
"I'm sorry, papa." She spoke sincerely.
"Sorry for what, cariña?" Asked Nathan as he opened up the fridge and took out a can of beer. He opened it up as he faced his daughter, "This wasn't your fault." He took a sip from the can.
"But this *was* my fault, papa! I'm the one who pushed you to ask her out."
The man shook his head, "No, don't say that." He spoke calmly, "I'm glad you encouraged me to talk to her. I'm the one who wanted to take her out on a date and you gave me the courage to make the first move. You didn't do anything wrong."
Catalina looked down and sighed, "I guess you have a point." She still sounded melancholy.
Nathan placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face up to look at him.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. Alright? Sometimes, adults just don't click with one another and that's ok. There's nothing that can be done when that happens."
"Nothing? Nothing at all?"
The man shook his head, "No, nothing at all can be done in situations like that. The world isn't perfect. Life isn't like one of those TV shows you and your friends like to watch. But there's nothing wrong with that and it's not anyone's fault. Alright?"
The girl nodded, "Alright."
"Great! I'm glad you understand." He hugged her tightly.
"So …" Catalina hugged him back, "Is Detective Li really psychic?"
"To be honest …" He pulled away from her and scratched his head, "I'm not really sure yet. So far, she's really understanding and intelligent, which is pretty rare for a cop."
The girl smiled, "She sounds wonderful already!"
"Oh, she definitely is!" The man smiled as well.
"But why didn't you two click?" Asked Catalina, sounding very curious, "I mean, you're really smart, strong, you're very reliable, you care about others, you're a great cook, and a bunch of my teachers think you're really handsome."
"Well you see …" The man paused for a moment as he thought back to what happened at the diner, "It's complicated."
"Aww really? Too complicated for you to tell me?" She whined.
Nathan sighed, "Not really. You see, Detective Li didn't realize I asked her out on a date. I asked her if she wanted to go out for coffee so we could discuss the case together and she agreed. Once I told her that we were on a date, she mentioned that she has a boyfriend so I decided to back off."
"Oh …" Catalina paused for a moment as she absorbed all of that information and thought about it, "Why didn't you just tell her to break up with him?"
He shook his head, "That's not an acceptable thing to say to someone. I can't just ask a woman to leave her partner because I want to be with her."
"But why? I mean, he's probably not as great as you, papa."
"It doesn't matter what he's like, cariña. I can't pressure Detective Li to leave her current boyfriend for me. That's selfish and wrong." He took a sip of beer.
The girl sighed, "Fine, I guess you have a point."
"So how was your day?"
"Not bad, I guess." She shrugged.
"Is Mrs. Ronald still giving you a hard time in English?"
Catalina nodded, "Yeah, she's always such a bitch-"
"Hey! We don't use that kind of language." Said Nathan, in a stern tone, "At least don't say stuff like that around me."
"Sorry, papa." Said the girl, "But she's always so mean, especially towards me."
"Oh? Well I'll talk to her during the upcoming parent-teacher conference. What happened this time?"
"Mrs. Ronald made us write a paper on 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and talk about why it matters to us. I wrote that it matters a lot in today's society because racism is still a big issue whether people realize it is or not. I even mentioned the Chicano moratorium and how many of those people were beaten and arrested despite the fact that they were protecting peacefully."
"So what did your teacher say about that?" Asked the man, nonchalantly.
"Mrs. Ronald gave me an F and said that it's disrespectful of me to compare the injustice Tom Robinson had to face to the injustice that was done to those protestors. She claimed that they're not the same because, unlike Tom, those protestors weren't innocent."
Nathan stared at his daughter for a moment, clearly confused. "Cariña …" He began slowly, "Does your teacher not understand the meaning of injustice? Is she not aware of why those Chicano students were protesting in the first place? Is she unaware of how those kids are being treated in their own schools?"
The girl nodded, "She does. But she tends to shut people down when they talk about it happening to anyone who's not black."
"Wait what? How the hell does that work?"
Catalina shrugged, "I'm not sure but she always treats Miguel and I terribly. We're the only Latinos in her class so I don't think it's just a coincidence."
"Sounds like I need to have a *very* serious discussion with her then."
"By the way, I made dinner." She threw her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to the dining room behind her, "Green bean casserole with a side of garlic bread."
"Sounds great!" Nathan smiled as he placed his can of beer on top of the kitchen counter, "I'll go clean myself up and change out of my work clothes. You can start eating without me." He exited the kitchen and headed upstairs to one of the bathrooms. He stepped into the master bathroom and walked up to the sink mirror. He opened the medicine cabinet and took out a small container along with a bottle of clear liquid. The container had two pockets with two separate lids. One lid had a capital R while the other one had a capital L. He unscrewed the lids of the container before facing the mirror. He began to remove the contact lenses in his eyes, revealing the true colors of his eyes. His sclerae were jet black while his irises were a deep shade of Sacramento green. He cleaned both lenses with the clear liquid before placing them into their appropriate sections of the container. He screwed the lids back on and it, along with the bottle, back into the medicine cabinet. After closing it, Nathan stripped out of all his clothes and turned the shower on. Once he saw steam coming out from behind the curtains, the man stepped into the tub and began to bathe himself.
Nathan's tall, brawny body was covered in bone beige scars, which were a bit darker than the rest of his skin. His shoulders were broad while his muscles were well defined. The most prominent scar was the large, diagonal one that reached from almost his right shoulder to his left hip. It was spread across his toned abs and firm pecs. His back also had scars but not as many as his chest and much smaller as well. He put his head under the shower head, letting the hot water flow down his ear length, jet black hair. After he washed himself and rinsed everything off, soapy water streamed down his toned legs which also had a few, small scars on them. Once he was done getting clean, Nathan stared down at the tub drain as he began to think about Mei. There was something about her that he really desired but he couldn't figure out what it was.
*What's so great about her? Why do I like her so much?* Wondered the man, feeling quite devastated that she is unavailable, *Is it her modulated voice? Is it her captivating gaze? Maybe it's her intelligence? Or her ambition?* Nathan let out a deep sigh, *I just started talking to her and I already can't wait to see her again. I know I can't be with her since she already has a boyfriend but … I really want to make a move again. But I can't do that. She already rejected me …* He looked up and grabbed onto the shower knob before turning it, causing the water to stop flowing. He opened the curtain and stepped out before wiping himself down with a towel. He wrapped it around his waist before walking over to the bathroom door.
At one point, he stopped in front of the sink and looked into the mirror. He observed his reflection and suddenly had an idea.
*Mei already rejected **me**, but she hasn't rejected **Saban** yet …* He smirked at the thought of his idea.