Miracle, chapter 2

Miracle, chapter 2

She turned a corner and saw the last thing she wanted to see. Her heart started pounding more and more every step of the way. The palm of her hands began to sweat as she neared the dreadful sight. She looked down towards Delilah, she was asleep in her stroller. Only a few more feet and she was there, Casey kept her eyes towards the ground, avoiding eye contact with the love of her life.
"Hey Casey." His voice sent chills up and down her spine, her eyes still glued to the ground as she heard footsteps coming her way. She then all of a sudden felt his warm, soft hands touch her bare shoulders making her face up. His face showed no excitement whatsoever, but showed a blank expression. Casey tried to smile but turned to look where his hand was now placed. Around her waist. She let go of the stroller and put her hands around his neck. "Hey Joe..." She replied back now staring into his deep brown eyes. They stayed at this position for a couple of minutes before Delilah started crying. Casey broke apart and went towards her daughter. "Aww... what's wrong?" Casey asked picking up Delilah. She cradled her and then put her back in the stroller after Delilah stopped crying.
"So... who's baby is that?" The question that Casey hoped not to answer. Her heart stopped beating as she tried to think of an answer. "Uh..." She felt a lump in her throat. "It's... it's... my friend's." She thought of an excuse, not wanting Joe to be so surprised about the baby. His face quickly turned soft as he walked towards them sitting down at the bench. "What's her name?"
"Delilah Mae." Casey answered as Joe picked his baby up. Her small body was now in the hands of a man who didn't even know the whole truth.
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful baby. Deliah Mae..." Joe said as he examined her. "Can't help but say, she has eyes like mine..." Casey immediately tensed up at those last words, she remained silent looking at her baby. "She has hair like mine too.?" Joe questioned as he turned to look at Casey.
"Uh... a lot of babies have eyes and hair like that Joe." She lied, her heart thumping more and more every second. She looked at his face, his face that was filled with confusion but understanding.
"What's her last name?" This question made Casey's heart explode. She didn't know what to answer. Should she just tell the truth or should she keep on lying? She decided to change the subject, "So how's life Joe?"
"Life's pretty good. You know- touring around the US gets pretty tiring, but performing out there in front of thousands just makes the whole experience worth while." Joe answered her with a smile on his face. He soon put Delilah back in her stroller. "You still haven't answered my question though, what's her last name?"
Casey frowned, "Why do you want to know so badly?"
"Because. Because I just want to know. I might know the dude." His voice showed a bit of annoyance. Casey took a deep breath. Now was the right time to tell him the truth, considering he deserved to know that Delilah is HIS child.
"The last name... is... Jo..." she stuttered. " Jon.. Jonas..." Casey turned around for a second then turned back around to face him. His face now displayed an array of emotions.
"Jonas? What?" Was all he could say.
Casey took another deep breath as the truth was rolling out. "...So yes Joe. Delilah Mae Jonas, is YOUR daughter." Casey closed her eyes not wanting to see his probably angry expression. A moment of silence and Casey opened her eyes soon enough to see Joe walking away from them shaking his head the whole walk. Casey stood up and ran to him.
"JOE! What are you doing?!" Casey grabbed him by the arms but he jerked her off.
"I'm tired of your fucking lies Casey." His answer struck her, making her heart shatter and tears fall from her eyes.
"Why the hell would I lie about that?!" Casey wailed, now standing three feet behind facing Joe's back. Joe remained silent, still facing the trees in front of them, with tears falling out. He had no idea why she would lie about that.
"I... I dont know!" He exclaimed. "But what I do know is that IF that is my baby, then I don't want any part of it." His voice was cold, with this he started walking away leaving Casey standing in the middle of a park crying.

A cry coming from the distance had woken up Casey from her dream. She shot up and wiped her eyes. Surprised to find that her face was wet, then she thought back to what happened in her dream; she had been crying in reality too. She stood up and walked towards Delilah's room but she wasn't there. Casey's eyes grew wide as she started to panic where her baby had gone. Casey quickly searched the room trying to find a place a 3 month old baby could have gone. She then ran down the stairs and sighed when she saw Delilah in Amanda's arms. "Oh my god Amanda. You almost gave me a heart attack!" Casey walked over to the kitchen to grab something to eat, then she went back to the living room and sat next to her best friend who was watching The Notebook.
"It's Saturday morning. Why are you up so early? You deserve some sleep." Amanda asked after placing Delilah in her crib.
"Well I woke up after hearing Delilah. And I'm glad that I woke up. I couldn't stand another second of my dream." Casey replied after taking a bite of her cereal.
"Why? What happened with your dream?"
"Ughh... do I have to tell you? It was already bad going through it one time, now i have to tell you the whole thing?" Casey groaned while Amanda just raised her eyebrow. "Fine. I'll tell you. Gawd." After another bite of cereal, Casey turned sideways in the couch and told Amanda the whole dream, including every detail.
"Oh damn. That sucks."
"That's all you can say? Is "oh damn" and "that sucks?""
"Well, when that time comes. What are you going to tell him?" Amanda questioned.
"I have no idea. Now because of that dream, I'm more terrified." The two girls talked more.

The weekend ended as fast as it came and soon it was back to Monday. Promptly at 7 o'clock, Casey's alarm went off. She groaned and pressed the snooze button. She rubbed her eyes and walked over to the bathroom. Her brown hair was all over as if a tornado struck her, she had bags under her eyes due to the lack of sleep she's been getting, and on her right cheek was a big red sleep mark.
After taking a warm shower for 15 minutes, she hopped out and put on a green Hollister babydoll with black skinny jeans before she walked to Delilah's room. Casey opened the wooden door and found little Delilah sound asleep in her crib. She grabbed the walkie talkie baby monitor and placed it in her back pocket just in case Delilah wakes up. Casey walked downstairs into the kitchen and saw Amanda already preparing her breakfast. "Aww. Thanks Manda. You didn't have to make me breakfast." A plate with chocolate-chip pancakes with sausages and eggs were set on the table.
"Don't worry hun, those are for me." Amanda grinned.
"Oh really now? Fine. I'll just get my own breakfast. Make me make my own food, you know I'm a mother right?" Casey played along, chuckling to herself.
"Naw. I was just kidding. Go ahead and eat before you're late for work." Amanda replied back before she went to the living room to watch tv. After choking down all her food down her mouth and after sipping all the apple juice, Casey went back to check on Delilah.
"Hey baby. Well mommy has to go back to work again alright? Don't give Aunt Amanda a hard time." Casey whispered to her daughter as she placed a kiss on Delilah's tiny forhead.

Casey walked through the entrance doors of the mall taking in the emptiness that would soon be replaced with hundreds of people, even thousands on some days. She walked through the stores that were just opening, glancing at her clock it was already 9:53, her shift started at 10, so she decided to quicken her pace to get to Hollister.
"Hey Case!" Her co-worker Jake greeted her with a hug. "It's been like what, 4 months?"
"Yeah I know! It's been too too long. I missed you." Casey hugged him again. "Oh and I see that you've been working out more often." She winked as Jake chuckled.
"Yeah. You know- gotta impress the ladies." He laughed back. "And you. You don't even look like you had a baby!" Jake stepped back, examining her now skinny body. After working out four days a week to get her shape back.
"Haha, thanks. Well I have to check in. See you in a while." She continued walking towards the back so she can stamp the time she got in.

Folding clothes and fixing racks for two hours can get boring, but thankfully she had Jake and her other co-workers to talk to while working. Casey walked over to the clearance table and began folding the mess that customers had left as they went through the piles of clothes trying to find something that fitted them. "Darn people. Doesn't know how to clean up after themselves." Casey cursed.
"Excuse me, miss." An unfamiliar voice spoke as it tapped Casey's shoulder. "The tag's missing on this shirt and i just found it in a pile." Casey turned around and saw a blonde about 5'6 holding a blue halter top with an annoyed look on her face. Casey examined her a little bit longer, wondering where she's seen her before. She looks too familiar.
"Oh. Let me go price check that one for you." Casey snapped out and walked towards the cash register.
"Thanks." The girl passed her as she walked towards the clearance section. After five minutes, Casey walked back to the clearance section in hope that the girl will still be there so she won't have to go running around the store trying to find her. She sighed as soon as she saw the girl still looking through the pile. "Here ma'am. The shirt is 24.50." The customer grabbed it and examined the shirt. "24.50? I don't think I'll get it." She threw the shirt into a random pile and walked away. "Bitch." Casey eyed her, silently cursing to herself as resumed folding clothes.
A couple minutes rolled by as Casey finally finished refolding all the clearance clothes, hoping that no one will mess it up. She walked towards Jake who was also fixing clothes, but on the guy's section. "Ey Jakey. Wassup?"
"Oh you know, stuff." He replied with a laugh as he waited for Casey to say, "Awkwaaaaaaaard." They both started laughing until a customer gave them a dirty look making Casey roll her eyes.
Soon enough, an annoying and obnoxious laugh echoed throughout the store, it being the loudest thing you can hear. Casey cringed at the noise and continued working. Finally, the laughter caught Casey's attention as she whipped her head around trying to find out who it came from. There it goes again, this time getting on her last nerves as she searched. At last, she spotted a girl in line throwing her head back laughing at what seemed like something the guy said behind her. Her eyes widening with every laugh that came out as she slapped the guy.
Casey creeped in closer, interested in what was making her laugh so much. She soon realized that the maddening chuckles was coming from the customer that Casey last helped. She started to walk back to a table until she heard the obnoxious girl speak, "Oh Joe. You are so funny." Joe's a common name. Come on- there's thousands of Joe's out there. Casey told herself, hoping it wasn't thee Joe. Maybe I'll keep watching them, just for a few more minutes... She began walking towards a table that was by the line trying to act casual.
After several tries to catch a glimpse of what the boy looked like, she ended up seeing them flirting with each other. Giggles exploded from the girl's mouth as the boy whispered something into her ear while his arms where tightly wrapper around her 5'6 figure. They finally walked up to the register so they can pay for the tops that the girl was holding. After scanning all of the items, the boyfriend (or so it appears) immediately took out his wallet, handing the clerk his credit card as the girl kissed him on the cheek and held his hand. "Thank you for shopping at Hollister." The clerk smiled and waited for the next customer in line.
I finally get to see this "Joe", hopefully. Casey exclaimed in her head, still hoping it isn't thee Joe. After a turn of the face, Casey's eyes widened as far as possible as her jaw dropped on the floor and her heart seemed to stop beating, she couldn't breathe as she watched her nightmare getting closer. The dreadful sight of Joe and his possible girlfriend around his arms made Casey's whole world come shattering into millions of pieces. The couple not even an inch apart. Casey forced her eyes to examine him, noticing he grew a bit taller since the last time she saw him, his style changed from not too tight skinny jeans to the super tight ones, his black converse replaced by colorful nike dunks, and his hair style changing from a fauxhawk to a long choppy style. She gazed at his face that only matured, but still looked the same. The longer she stared, the more tears formed in her eyes.
The couple only a couple of feet away from her, she couldn't help but notice that Joe was staring right back. As they passed her, their eyes still connected to each other, he smiled and mumbled a "Bye." to Casey. That soft, deep voice and the smile he shot her still made her heart melt, but now a new feeling tagged alongside of it; the feeling of stabs. She stood there fighting back the tears as she opened her mouth to say Thanks for shopping at hollister or a simple Bye, have a good day, but instead, silence was all that came out. His face seemed to focus on her more and more as his eyes narrowed, but then shook his head and looked at the girl beside him. Casey glanced down at their linked hands, noticing that his ring finger was now bare. The purity ring that once filled his finger, was now on the hand connected to his; Kim's.
"Joe, baby, don't you just love Hollister?" Casey heard Kim say with a smile on her face as she pulled him closer before they were out of the store.
"Why yes I do baby, never hated it." Joe turned to give her a kiss on the cheek as they walked out of the door. That last thing she saw made her heart shatter even more as more tears came pouring down.
"Bullshit." Casey murmured as she walked towards the bathroom, wiping her tears but more and more came down. "Joe never liked Hollister in his life... Until now- show's how much he's changed." She burst open the bathroom door and locked it immediately. She put her back against the wall and slid down as she brought her knees up to her chest. Her tears exploded as they non-stop ran down her red cheeks. The sight of Joe and his girlfriend kept replying in her mind more and more causing her to break down every second of it.
After ten minutes of wailing, her mind cleared up a bit and everything soon fit like a puzzle to her. "No wonder why she looked familiar!" Casey exclaimed, standing up now infurriated with herself for not recognizing that the customer was Kim.
Casey thought back to the image of his bare finger. The finger that was supposed to hold a ring that kept a promise; a promise that they had broken about a year ago because they were madly in love.
"Babe, I don't think we should do this." Casey nervously said as Joe stripped her shirt off. They were the only ones in Joe's house. His brothers, Nick and Kevin, had gone off to spend a night at their friends' houses, while his parents along with little Frankie went to his Grandparent's house and won't be back home until later that night.
"Casey. Don't worry about it. We love each other right?" Joe reassured her, knowing that she was being so hesitant was because of the ring. She nodded, then wrapped her arms around his bare body. She leaned in closer until her lips collided with his making goose-bumps form in Joe's back. The intensity of the kisses grew more and more until it led from making out to having sex. That was the night Casey regretted the most, but she was glad it happened. Afterall, everything happens for a reason.
Casey shook her head trying to wipe away the memories. The reason why Joe had left her, the reason why Casey moved from California to New York, the reason why she was in this Hollister bathroom right this second, all because of Kim. Casey continued mentally beating herself up about this day. She walked over to the mirror only to see that her hair was a mess, her makeup had run down and her eyes usually filled with happiness was now red and filled with misery.

The New York apartment doors opened to reveal a puffy faced Casey making Amanda jump not expecting her to be home early. Amanda dropped what she was doing, which was cleaning Delilah's baby bottles and immediately walked to the living room. Casey was already lying down on the couch holding onto the remote flipping through the television.
"Hey. Why'd you come home early? Are you sick?" Amanda asked plopping down next to Casey. Casey remained silent for a moment until she turned off the television and sat up straight facing her best friend ready to vent. "Why are your eyes all red?" Amanda asked oblivious to anything that happened at work.
Casey took a deep sigh and replied looking at the ground, "Joe." Instantly, Amanda's face dropped as she came up with possible ways as to why her best friend had said that name. "What do you mean?" Amanda's tone was calm but inside, her heart was beating fast itching more.
"I saw him." Casey's voice was hoarse from the cries but it was still serious. Her heart shattering again as she told her best friend the whole story. As she finished, she was once again on the verge of tears. "The purity ring Amanda, it wasn't on his finger anymore!" Casey continued to sob. "He said he'll place it in the hands of the girl who owns his heart." She just sat there, tears flowing out of her eyes once again while Amanda rubbed her back.
"My whole world just came crashing down." She paused once more, "And the worst thing is that he doesn't even remember me..." Amanda just looked at Casey with sorrow, taking in every detail that came out of her best friend's mouth and put it in her head.


Author's Note: Sorry I didn't update in a LONG time. I wasn't getting any reviews so i decided to wait for a while. But i still didn't get any.
So what i'm REALLY REALLY asking for is some reviews. So after you read it, PLEASE review.

Or if you just skim it, idc. just please review.
The more reviews i get, the faster i'll update. :
-Bianca.