“Wait, wait, wait…you’re telling me that you’ve fucked my dad?”

Madison shrugged and continued to butter her bagel, “Yeah…so?”

“So? So? Are you kidding me?”

“I already told you I wasn’t kidding, girl. You need to calm down.”

“I mean, I know this isn’t your fault or anything, but still…fuck!”

“Like I said, Spencer. You need to calm down and face the facts. Our job takes people away from their families. It’s just the way it is. Now this time it happened to affect you personally, and that sucks. But still, it’s nothing to freak out over. It’ll probably happen again.”

“Madison, no…”

“Look, Mr. Carlin is a real good tipper and he doesn’t require a lot of work. I can’t promise you if he calls I won’t see the dude again. It’s just business.”

I shook my head. I was in complete and absolute shock. I was shocked at this sudden confirmation that my father had in fact, done this before and I was shocked at how casual Madison could be about this whole fiasco. This was my father we were talking about. Not just some client.

“What do you mean he’s not a lot of work?” I ask, forcing the question out. Terrified at how detailed the answer might be.

“I only had to fuck him the first time. These days we just talk mostly. Sometimes we go places.”

“Like, what kind of places?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes we go out to lunch or a movie.”

“My dad doesn’t have the money for this.”

“Apparently he does. Or maybe he worked out some kind of deal with Aiden. Who knows? As long as I get paid, it doesn’t really matter where the shit comes from.”

I collapsed onto a bar stool, literally unable to stand it anymore. Hearing that my father had a secret life was bad enough. Hearing that it involved Madison was earth-shattering. And there was no way I could tell my mom because there was no way I could explain how I got the information. I was trapped in this secret with him. Or maybe he was trapped in mine.

“You ok, girl?”

“No.”

“Look, if it really bothers you this much…I guess I can stop taking the dude’s calls. I mean, I can make an exception since it’s your dad and all.”