Amy quietly opened the door to her father’s bedroom. She found him sound asleep just as Bryan said. A smile appeared on her face at the sight of her sleeping father. He looked so relaxed and a lot younger while asleep. She slowly crept towards his bed and carefully sat at the edge of his bed.
Although, she disobeyed Bryan by coming into her dad’s room, she has no intention of waking him up. So, she brought out her phone and started a chat with her best friend, Mandy. Her best friend shared her experience at a party she went with Jack and wished Amy had been there to see all the fun and wild things that happened.
While they were chatting, Amy felt a movement on the bed. She tore her eyes away from the phone and looked at her dad. He was gradually waking up, so she quickly sent a goodbye text to Mandy and kept her phone in her pocket.
“Good morning dad.” She greeted as he was rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
Henry stopped his action at the sound of his daughter’s voice. He looked straight ahead and there sat his beautiful daughter at the end of his bed. He would be lying if he said he was expecting to see her so early in the morning, he was expecting her much later in the day since she’d want to spend some time with her half brother.
“Come here, princess.” He gestured for her to come to him with a bright smile.
Amy wasted no time in crawling towards her dad and giving him a bear hug.
“Good morning, my angel. Did you have a safe trip back home?” He asked while they were still hugging.
Amy nodded with a smile, enjoying the way her dad was gently stroking her hair.
“I missed you so much, daddy.” She murmured into the hug, making Henry chuckle.
“When was the last time you called me that?” He asked after the hug.
“When I was a little girl.” She smiled.
“Um. Dad? I’m-“ she nervously began, but Henry cut her mid- sentence.
“I already told you, you did nothing wrong. So, don’t apologize.”
“That applies to you too, dad.”
“If you insist.” He replied, placing her hair behind her ear and ruffling it affectionately.
“Daddyyy…” She whined, trying to fix her hair.
Henry couldn’t help but laugh at how cute she looked.
“Dad, can we talk?” Amy suddenly changed the subject, making the atmosphere a lot serious.
“Princess, we can do that later. Don’t you think?” Henry said as he didn’t want to ruin this moment because, he was scared they would get into another round of argument.
“No, dad. I think now is the best time for us to talk.” Amy wanted to settle this issue as soon as possible because she wasn’t sure she’d have the same courage to express how she truly feels after this time.
“Okay, sweetheart. Go ahead.” Henry sighed when he realized his daughter wasn’t going to back down.
“I know you want the best for me and I really appreciate it. I do, but…” Amy began, nervously playing with her fingers.
“I’m just not ready this year.” Her voice lowered to a whisper.
Amy lowered her head, waiting for an outburst from her dad but she heard nothing. She slowly lifted her head to see if he was actually listening and he was.
“Go on, I’m listening.” He said in a calm voice when their eyes met.
“I have a lot of things to think about, dad. Like what I’ll be studying and my life after college… I don’t want to make hasty decisions that I’d regret later. Dad the truth is… I’m too scared to run your company. Even after college, I still won’t be ready for such responsibility.”
Amy felt like part of her burden has been released after telling her dad how she truly felt.
“Who told you I was handing over the company to you after college?” Henry’s question confused Amy and she couldn’t help but ask.
“You aren’t?”
Henry took Amy’s small hands in his, stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs.
“No, princess. I can’t pass on such a big responsibility to you at a young age even if I wanted to. Although, I had to run the company at twenty four.”
Amy laughed at her dad’s comment.
“What I’m trying to say is… You’re young and you still have your whole life ahead of you. You have places to go, things to do, experiences to encounter, but… I also want you to be familiar with how to run the company. That’s why I want you studying business administration, so when the time comes for you to take your place as the CEO, you won’t be lost… Princess, there’s still so much time for you to study whatever you want, wherever you want.” Henry explained to his daughter.
“Can’t I just become something else?” Amy mumbled in a sad voice.
“It’s your birthright. You’re my princess and I am your king.. for now. When the time comes for you to ascend the throne as queen, you can’t say no because you’re my heir and only child.”
“I’m sorry, dad. I’m sorry for misunderstanding you.” Amy started to cry.
Henry hated to see his daughter cry, that was why he did everything to make her happy. He pulled her close to his chest and gently stroked her hair.
“Don’t cry, princess. You know I hate to see you cry.”
Amy nodded but her tears wouldn’t stop flowing.
“I love you my angel.” He said, pressing a kiss to her forehead when she had stopped crying.
“I love you too, Daddy.” Amy replied, bringing a smile to Henry’s face. He likes it when she calls him that, it reminds him of when she was little.
“Give me a minute, dad. I’ll be right back.” Amy said and rushed out of the room, causing Henry to wonder what she was up to.
Some seconds later, she came back with a small shopping bag in her hand.
“This is for you.” Amy said, handing him the bag.
“Thanks.” He replied with a smile, opening his present.
It was a Prada sunglasses. His smile turned into a full grin, Amy was happy he liked it. She knew of her dad’s love for sunglasses, that was why she got him one.
“I guess you haven’t seen your closet then.” Henry said with a mischievous smile.
“What did you do?” Amy gasped.
She hasn’t gone into her closet as she was yet to unpack her suitcase. She hurried towards his bedroom door but turned back to give him a kiss on his cheek.
“I give you five minutes to come down for breakfast, dad. I’m famished!” She yelled once she was out of his room.
Henry chuckled at his daughter’s cuteness before dragging himself out of bed to go freshen up.