Emma and Sean tiredly stepped out of the French restaurant. Sean looked at his watch and sighed sadly. It was almost midnight. Not only did Sean have to pay for their uneaten dinner, he also had to pay for the meals that were accidentally dumped on the customers. With all of the money Sean had in his wallet, including the money Craig loaned him and even some of Emma's money, it was still not enough to pay for the overpriced bill. As a result, Sean had to wash dishes for the past hour to make up for the difference he couldn't pay. As if he wasn't embarrassed enough, Emma had offered to help him.
Emma tightly wrapped her sweater around her. "It's getting pretty late..." she implied as they walked along the sidewalk.
The entire night was ruined, and Sean was disappointed that his date was ready to go home. It was already too late to grab something to eat at The Dot. "I know you're probably tired...but do you mind if we take the long way back to your house?" he asked hopefully. He was hoping a quiet, romantic stroll would improve what was left of their evening.
Emma smiled warmly and nodded. "Sure. That's would be nice."
As they made it towards the park, they heard rumbling above their heads. Sean closed his eyes. 'Oh no...' he thought to himself. 'Please...not tonight!' Unfortunately, the last ounce of his hope disappeared when he felt light rain drops fall on his shoulders.
Emma looked up at the cloudy night sky, then stopped suddenly. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed.
Sean stopped along side her. "What?"
Emma disappointedly looked back at Sean. "Manny's umbrella!" She sighed. "I left it at the restaurant."
They both looked behind them. They were already a few blocks away from the restaurant and practically halfway to Emma's house. It started to rain even harder now, and they started to quicken their pace.
Sean sighed as he felt his clothes soaking into his skin. It was official: this was, without a doubt, the date from hell.
xxx
Devon turned up the speed to her windshield wipers when the rain started to pour even harder. She ran the back of her hands across her eyes to quickly wipe away her never-ending tears. She hasn't stopped crying the entire drive back to Toronto ever since she left her dad's house. Events of the evening continued flashing through her mind as she continued down the road.
Pretty soon, the yellow lines in the road were barely a blur through her windshield. She decided to pull the car over to the side of the road. She parked the car and flipped the key to turn off the engine. She pressed her hands over her face and cried uncontrollably as she listened to the thunder rolling above the car. She didn't know if she would be able to compose herself enough to make it back to Mrs. Hoffman's house.
She gripped her hands over the steering wheel and took a deep breath. "Pull yourself together, Devon," she whispered angrily to herself.
xxx
Emma and Sean were practically running through the park to fight the rain. Sean felt that he weighed at least 20 pounds heavier from the water soaking through his clothes as he trudged behind Emma. He looked down and noticed that Emma was quickening her pace because her legs were now caked in mud.
Suddenly, Sean stopped running. He leaned over to rest his hands over his knees to catch his breath. Emma stopped running and turned around when she realized that Sean was far behind her.
Sean looked up at Emma, then out of nowhere, started laughing. He reached his breaking point, and now, had completely lost his mind.
Emma squinted her eyes to look through the heavy sheets of rain and curiously walked back towards Sean. Was he...laughing? "What's wrong?" she called out.
Sean took his hands off his knees and stood up straighter. He continued laughing. "This is the worse date...EVER!" he called back to her in between his laughter.
Emma definitely agreed with Sean's statement, but was still confused as to why her date was laughing. It was so silly, that it was almost contagious. She started to laugh along with him. "What's so funny?"
Sean walked up to her. "Everything that could go wrong tonight went wrong." He held his hands up hopelessly. "And when you think the night can't get ANY worse...it DOES!!" He plopped his hands back down along his sides and laughed lightly. "I've decided that this evening completely sucked. I think that no matter what we do to make this night better...something will STILL happen to make things worse."
Emma nodded in agreement. She finally realized why Sean was laughing. In a bizarre night like tonight...the only thing LEFT for you to do was to either laugh or cry.
Sean playfully kicked a puddle next to him and splashed Emma from the waist down.
Emma shrieked as she felt the water drip down her legs. "You are SO going to get it!" she yelled back at him with a giggle.
Sean started to run throughout the park jumping from puddle to puddle with Emma right at his heels.
Emma suddenly felt the heel of her shoe slip over a slick pile of mud. Her legs slipped from under her, and she ended up falling flat on her bottom.
Sean slid to a halt and turned around. He walked back over to Emma and held out his hands to pull her back up to her feet.
Emma looked down. She was practically covered from head to toe with mud. She looked hopelessly at Sean. "I'm a mess!"
Sean wiped a blotch of mud from her chin and admired her in the rain. Her hair was matted, her make-up was running down her face, and her arms and legs were smeared with mud. He shook his head. "No," he whispered gently in her ear. "You're beautiful." He gazed deeply in her eyes as he used the tips of his fingers to comb the blonde locks from her face and brush them behind her shoulders.
Emma caught his eyes and had to catch her breath. She was completely mesmerized by the way he looked at her at that moment.
Sean slowly leaned in closer, lightly pressed his forehead against hers, and closed his eyes as he felt the warmth of her body against his. He cupped her cheeks in his hands. He smiled sweetly when he opened his eyes. He studied the features of Emma's face as if he was memorizing every delicate curve.
Emma lifted up her hands to rest them over his wrists. As Sean pulled her face closer to his, she slightly parted her lips to greet his gentle kiss.
They stood in the middle of the park out in the pouring rain, but didn't even notice. They were lost in the intensity of their kiss and the only sound they could hear was from the beating of their hearts.
xxx
Devon slammed the car door shut and quickly ran up the steps to Mrs. Hoffman's porch. She quietly unlocked the front door and stepped inside. She looked up the flight of stairs to see if Mrs. Hoffman's bedroom light was on. She was relieved to see it off and knew that Mrs. Hoffman was sound asleep.
She tip-toed into the living room and looked out the window to watch the rain pouring down outside. She leaned against the wall behind her and rested her head against the side of the window frame. The gaze in her eyes slowly became distant as recalled the roughest few hours of her life. Her father's voice couldn't escape from her head: "I'm NOT your father okay?" A tear slowly rolled down her cheek as she felt the heaviness in her heart eat away at her.
She covered her ears to drown out the harsh voice in her head, but even the drops of rain pounding against the window couldn't dampen the sound: "How much is it going to take for you to stay away?...Why else would you be here?"
More tears started streaming down her face and her heavy heart began to beat so intensely to the point where she had trouble breathing. She slowly slid her back down the wall and sat on the floor.
"And accidentally having a child with her?...Well, that was the BIGGEST mistake of all."
She jumped suddenly when a bolt of lightning flashed outside and lit up the entire living room. She got up to run into the kitchen. She started to breathe faster.
"I don't HAVE a daughter..."She desperately looked around the kitchen and rummaged violently through the drawers.
"I don't WANT a daughter..."She didn't realize what exactly she was looking for until it was in her hands. She stared at the shiny object.
"As far as I'm concerned, you don't even exist...and that's the way it SHOULD be." Those were some of the final words her father said to her before closing his doors and completely shutting her out. They continued to circulate in her head.She slowly sank down towards the floor and kneeled on her knees. A reflection of her eyes flashed on the blade of the kitchen knife she was gripping so tightly.
"...you don't even exist..."
Devon could barely see. Her eyes were so full of tears.
"...you don't even exist..."
She looked at the kitchen knife in one hand, then lifted up her free hand in front of her. She stared at her shaking wrist. She took one more deep breath.
"...that's the way it SHOULD be..."