She was gone for a while, and I slowly started to calm down. Oddly enough, I didn't feel sad at all. The only thing on my mind was fulfilling my daughter's last wish.
Right before she lost consciousness, she held my hand and weakly pleaded, "Dad, Mom won't let me have a dog. Can you talk to her for me? When I come home every day, I'm all alone. With a dog, I wouldn't feel so lonely anymore. "
She hesitated, then added, "Dad, if I don't make it, the puppy can keep you company. I'll take care of it, I promise…"
Tears streamed down my face as I remembered how much I'd failed her.
When my daughter first told me about her wish, I went to talk to Nora. But she threatened me with divorce and told me to drop it. Now, fulfilling this one wish was the least I could do for my daughter.
As fate would have it, I ran into Nora at the entrance of the pet shop. She was clinging to Julian's arm, laughing like they were the perfect couple.
"Nora, I really like dogs. How about we get one?" Julian asked.
Nora smiled sweetly and replied, "Sure, it can keep you company when I'm not around. "
I felt a surge of bitterness. My daughter had asked for the same thing, but Nora had crushed her dream without a second thought. Her child's happiness meant nothing compared to a simple "I like you" from her first love.
When Nora noticed me, her smile faded.
"Ian, are you following me? What are you doing here?"
"To buy a dog, obviously, " I said.
Nora quickly let go of Julian's arm after notice my indifference, but I just found the whole situation absurd.
"I've known about you two for a while now, so no need to put on a show for me, " I said.
Nora frowned. "Ian, are you done yet? I told you, Julian's only here for three days. I'm just being a good host. Do you really need to make this difficult?"
"Our daughter is seriously ill, and here you are, wandering around. Just go back home!" she snapped.
Ignoring her self-righteous rant, I walked into the pet shop. Julian, the man beside her, blocked my path.
He sneered, "Nora said to leave. Didn't you hear?"
I stopped, staring him down. "Who do you think you are? Move. "
I shoved past him and headed toward the store. My daughter had fallen in love with a Pomeranian dog in the display window the first time she saw it.
I pointed at the dog and looked at the shop owner, but Julian suddenly pushed me aside.
"We already bought this one, " he said smugly.