A Close Shave

Being a one-parent family can be tough, and when you are a man with a nearly teenage daughter, there is a lot to learn. When her mother said she was leaving, twelve-year-old Daisy was given the choice of staying with you or going with her. It had taken her all of five seconds to decide, and an hour later, you were both sitting at the kitchen table. You with a coffee and Daisy with hot chocolate with marshmallows.

"So what happens now," she asks.

You look at her. By any standards, and you know you are biased, Daisy is a pretty girl. Tall for her age, athletic and slim. She plays football in winter and tennis in summer, although her enthusiasm is greater than her skill. Her hair is so dark it's almost black. Thanks to her mother's genes, she has a perma-tan and dark brown eyes.

"Well. Financially, we should be okay. The business is doing well, so I can pay the mortgage, although we may have to cut back on the holidays. As for the rest... How the fuck should I know?"

A couple of months pass and we have settled into a weekday routine. My business is buying and selling electronic goods. The garage is full of computers, phones, routers, cables, plugs and anything else that I can sell through my eBay shop. I am usually up first and go straight down to make breakfast. Daisy has a glass of freshly squeezed orange with her cereal, and you have toast and coffee. She gets washed and dressed in her school uniform before coming down and you get a hug and a kiss before she goes to catch the bus. You sit down with a second dose of caffeine and open up the computer to see what the day has in store.

The courier collects at around three and you go up for a shower (all that plastic gets dusty), change into shorts and T-shirt if it's sunny, and relax in the garden or the sitting room with a cold beer. Daisy gets home at four and usually goes up to her room to unwind, chat online to the people she has been with all day, and hopefully, do some homework. You cook the evening meal and you sit in the kitchen to eat like civilised people.

Weekends are flexible. Sometimes we go shopping (she goes through shoes and clothes at an extraordinary rate) and find a nice country pub for lunch. When you get home, Daisy likes to have a long soak in the bath, while you catch up with the day's football highlights.

You get a shock