Check out my full novels on Kindle. Follow Your Heart and Game Changer. I hope they are enjoyed as much as my fanfiction. :D


Disclaimer: The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not


New Story. This is going to be an AU fic.


Chapter 6

I was on my way out when I stopped at the door with my father's name stamped on a shiny plaque. I didn't think I'd be ready to go in so soon. I wasn't completely sure I was ready when I put turned the knob. I stepped inside cautiously as if I expect the ghost of the man to be in there. It looked familiar. That's when I remembered I had been there a few times before. When I was really young. My mother had brought me as a guilt trip to get the guy to write her a check on top of the one he already sent her each month. I wasn't sure how to feel about my father. My mother was good to me, I guess. She wasn't overly doting and she didn't care where I was when I got old enough to go off with my friends. I would be gone for days at a time and she never yelled or lectured me.

Inside was the same as I remembered it. The big mahogany desk. The tall matching book shelves lined with books. The black leather sofa. The only thing missing was the man I thought was the strongest man in the world. He was a hero to me as a boy. I thought of him the same way most kids thought of superman. It wasn't' until I got older that I began to feel resentment. Yet, I didn't want to completely hate him or shut him out of my life. I wrote him letters. I always told him what I was doing and I didn't stop as I grew up. Sometimes my letters were full of questions. Some were angry. I'm not sure if he got the ones I wrote him when I was little. I always assumed they ended up in the same place as the letters I'd sent to Santa Clause. But I know he got the letters I sent when I was older. I'd mailed them all myself and it made me sad to think about some of the things I had said in them.

I strolled across the room and sat in my father's chair. I spun it around like I did when I was little. I remembered him twirling me in the chair and how I had laughed. It was like an amusement park ride to me. I couldn't believe I had forgotten, but I was barely a toddler. Oh, how I wished I had more memories with him.

I opened the drawers and smiled when I saw a pack of cigarettes hidden under a legal tablet. I took them out and lit one. We smoked the same brand and even though it was a little stale I smoked it in a sort of a tribute to him. I had already heard stories about the old doctor from the people who'd come to the clinic. They talked about him like he was this superhuman gift. I didn't know if I would ever live up to the legacy he'd left behind.

There was a big picture of him on the wall across from the desk. It had been a gift from a patient. The last old lady I had admitted had told me how she'd painted it for him a ten years before. I stared at it and saw a little of myself in him. We had the same eyes, nose. I stared so hard that I realized that I was able to see what I was going to look like in my future.

I looked through a few more drawers. The bottom right was a deep drawer and when I opened it I found a shoe box. A big shoe box. I took it out, opened it and put a hand to my mouth. He had received my letters and he'd saved them all.

I sifted through them. He'd kept everything. The cards I'd sent him on father's day and Christmas. The crafts I'd made in art and wanted him to have. I laughed. I don't think mom kept those things. When I looked up at his desk, I saw an ugly ceramic dish. I recognized it. The lumpy thing was a bowl I had made. Mom said it looked like an ashtray and I had sent it to my father because I thought he'd like it more. I guess he did. And beside it, was a picture of me. As a little boy and then another on the day of my graduation. I was more confused than ever.

Then I saw an envelope in the bottom of the drawer. I lifted it out. It was sealed and had my name on it. I opened it.

My dear son,

I wasn't part of your life even though I wanted to be very much. I don't think I could write enough words in this letter to make you understand why I have kept my distance. I guess it all boils down to this, the most important reason.

Your mother and I had a hard time standing in the same room together without it turning into a shouting match. I didn't want you to grow up like that. I didn't want you to be in the middle of it or become something we fought over. I grew up that way and I couldn't do it to you. If I was wrong, I am so sorry, but I did it with the best of intentions.

Roman, I am very proud of you. You have grown into a man. Not just a man, but a good man. You worked hard in school and you have a kind heart. That is why I am leaving you my clinic. I had bigger dreams for this place when I first built it, but I never got to fully make it into what I envisioned. There wasn't much need for it, but I think in your time, it may be the only vision that will keep this place from closing down. But I don't want you to follow my dream, son. I want you to follow your own. So, do whatever you wish with what I leave behind. Keep it, change it, sell it to help you on your own path. Just be happy. That's all I have ever wanted you to be.

I love you. I'll be looking out for you.

Dad.

I dropped the letter on the desk and pinched the bridge of my nose. I couldn't handle being there anymore and I knew I wasn't ready to use his office as my own. Not yet. I was also really tired and I didn't feel like going to the home that was my fathers. I wasn't sure if I could – I had barely been able to handle being in his office. I needed more time so I decided I would continue to crash in the lounge a few more days.