R U COMING?

Luke found an empty table at the rear of the bar facing the stage. He ordered a single beer and told the waitress to keep them coming, then reached for his cell phone that was vibrating against his thigh.
It was a text:
R U COMING TONITE?

He didn’t reply, instead he stared at the stage and shoved the cell phone back in his pants.

As the waitress set another beer in front of him, he thought about how disappointed she would be, and the thought made him want to smile. Good. It wasn’t like she expected him to come anyway. Or else, he wouldn’t be here.

The lights in the bar dimmed, and all the men, mostly drunk, gave loud whoops. Luke cast them each a dark look before taking a deep drink of his beer. Just as the melody began to play, a woman walked onto the stage. She was dressed in an elegant white dress. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and then to the crowd. Luke smirked when she didn’t look towards the back.
He blended in.
Perfect.

She stepped up to the microphone, and said with her soft voice that made shivers go down his spine, “Hey, my name's Allison. How ya’ll doing tonight?”

Again, more whooping. Luke’s eyes flashed with jealousy as she laughed, smiled. Something he could rarely make her do. It seemed that he lived to disappoint the people he loved. In fact, he was known for that.

“So, I’m gonna sing this song for ya'll, and ya'll can sing along if you want, kay?” The spotlight landed on her, and Luke admired how beautiful she looked right then. How he wished she would flash him a smile, he always loved her smile.

“This song here is dedicated to my Daddy...” she said, looking downcast into the microphone, “Who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight... again.” She laughed a little. Luke shifted in his seat, preparing himself for the song.

Her voice was soothing, sending goose bumps up his arms. Gentle and sweet, just as she was. It chilled him to know that he affected her so. It wasn’t a hate song, nor was it a love song. It was more along the lines of ‘I wish you were different’ and ‘I wish you didn’t stay at work on weekends and maybe Mommy would have stayed.'

Yeah, something like that.

As the tune ended, men clapped and hooted. A man a few tables ahead of him yelled something atrocious about taking off her clothes. The others laughed, but Allison ignored it. Luke forced himself to do the same.

The waitress set another beer in front of him and turned to walk away, but he called after her and asked her, still looking at the stage, “Isn’t she beautiful?”

The waitress smiled, probably thinking he was some drunken pervert, but glanced up at the stage anyway. “Very. She’s a very nice girl."

"Do you know anything about that song she just sang?"

"Uh," she hesitated, probably thinking of a polite way to put it.

He already knew.

"Allison is going through a rough time with her father right now. He promises to come to every show, and never comes.”

“And she still plays that song?” he said, amazed.

The waitress nodded. “I think she’ll keep singing it until he comes.” She picked up his empty beer glass. “Good night, Sir.”

Luke clapped along with the rest of the crowd as his little girl finished on the stage. Allison muttered a shy ‘Thank you’ before disappearing behind the curtain.

He stood up, grabbed his coat, and headed backstage. Today he was going to confront her, tell her he had seen it.

Tell her he had seen it every night.

Backstage, he found a dressing room with Allison's name printed in cursive on the door. Which he opened maybe with too much excitement because the door hit a shelf, and the sound of shattering glass filled his ears.

Luke closed the door behind him, thanking God that no one was in there, and fell to his knees to pick up the broken picture frame.

As he slid the picture out from under the glass, it caught his attention.

Luke saw a younger him cradling a sleeping two-year old in his arms, looking down at it as though it were the most precious thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
He loved her so.

“That’s my favorite picture, yah know.” Luke heard her precious voice say.

Luke smiled slightly, “It’s a good picture,” he said rising to his feet. After he brought his eyes up to hers, he noticed she was glowing with a smile. He made her smile! He had done it! Tears were watering her cheeks, and Luke was happy to be there to brush them away.

“I can’t believe you came!” she choked out finally, wrapping her arms around him, holding him tight. Luke hesitated for only a second before he brought his arms around her. Everything seemed so unfamiliar but so right at the same time.

He felt Allison's kiss on his cheek and breathe into his ear, “I love you, Daddy.”

Luke, knowing those three words meant the world to him, could only hold her tighter. With tears in his own eyes, he somehow managed to breathe back, “I love you too, Allison.”