It was only a few days ago I posted last chapter but you guys made me feel a little guilty and I loved the reviews; so here's a new chapter. I really tried to post this as soon as possible and since I have to study today I wanted to post it now, before it got too late. Therefore it might not be very well written.
I hope you'll like it though!
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
-My Immortal, Evanescence
Summer stared blankly out of the window. She was sitting on the floor with her legs pulled up against her chest, still wearing her pyjamas. It was late afternoon but she hadn't moved from this spot much during the day, just a quick visit to the bathroom and she'd gone to the kitchen to get a bag of raisin.
Everything had been so perfect that she almost had started to believe that she could put this behind her. She should have known better.
Of all places she'd think he'd go to, it was here. Her mother had told her that he was in Europe; Summer had believed that he was there. Most times when she'd miss him or hate him she'd have that as a comfort, the fact that he was far away and she'd never see or hear from him ever again. Her mother had made her believe that he was a big ass and a coward, which he was, but she'd never tried to understand him or dream about meeting him. Because she'd known that he was on another continent.
The last couple of hours she'd tried to come up with explanations, explanations of how it was someone else she'd seen. She hadn't seen him for so many years that maybe she had forgotten about how he looked and she couldn't possibly know what he looked like now, after all these years. But deep down, she knew who the man she'd seen was. She knew that it was her father.
He was walking out from the diner, bag in hand and a black jacket over his arm. His hair was still the curly same although not as dark as it once had been and he was possibly not in the same shape. She remembered him as muscular and even handsome. Now he looked much older, more mature and just like any normal American man looked like.
Summer carefully studied him from where she stood, pushed against Seth's back trying not to breath. This was the last thing she'd expected to happen, ever.
Just near them, he stopped and greeted a middle-aged woman and a teenaged couple. The woman looked nice, with a big smile on her face as she received a quick kiss from him. Maybe that was his wife? His new wife. And those two kids might be his kids, at least one of them since two siblings wouldn't be that intimate, their arms around each other sharing a kiss now and then.
With an arm around the 'wife' he began to walk in Summer's direction where she still stood behind Seth, the teenagers just behind.
"Please go," she pleaded as she saw them coming closer. If Seth had said anything, she didn't know. She just needed to get out of here.
He had a new family; a whole new life. Of course Summer never had expected him to not have that, because he'd been so young when he'd left. Of course she'd always known that he would find someone after her mother and probably have children together with her. He'd forget about his "old family".
Pulling her legs down to the floor Summer held up the small picture she'd had pushed up against her chest. It was the three of them, just before her third birthday. She was dressed in a pink summer dress and wore a happy smile, a common thing those days. Summer had been a joyful kid; always laughing, always smiling. And in this picture her parents looked pretty much the same, broad smiles on their faces.
An outsider would look at them and think that they were one of those happy families, one of those where there was lots of love. They'd see that this family still was in that state of family joy, the state most families had in the beginning where everything was great and maybe a second child could be on the way. Summer wouldn't blame that outsider, or try to prove them wrong. Because at that time, there had been joy and there had been happiness.
It had all changed though, quite unexpectedly in Summer's eyes. Though of course she'd only been five.
The small brunette sat in her room, playing with her new doll Beatrice and dressed in one of her favourite dresses; the purple one she'd received as a gift from her grandmother. Summer loved everything she got from her grandmother since she was the only family she had besides her mommy and daddy but this dress was a favourite. It was beautiful; made of silky material just like a princess' dress.
Her mommy had allowed Summer to have some juice in her room so that she and Beatrice could have a tee party. Summer had promised not to spill anything and be very careful though to her disappointment she'd accidentally spilled some juice on Beatrice's white dress, just as she was about to let her have a sip. A yellow spot was now visible on the doll's chest and the little girl desperately tried to get it away; she had to have it removed. Otherwise her mother wouldn't let her have any tee parties any more.
As Summer pulled the doll into her lap, rubbing the white dress while her own dark curls hung in her face, a sudden shriek came from downstairs. Summer jumped, pulling Beatrice closer to her chest. Another sound was heard, the sound of glass breaking. "Mommy?"
Tipping on her toes down the hallway to the stairs, still holding her doll tight, Summer heard yelling and another glass breaking, as if it was thrown to the floor. She was scared and felt how the tears came to her eyes.
"Don't you dare come closer, Neil!" She heard her mother yell on the top of her lungs, so load that it made Summer start to run to the door. She'd heard a lot of that arguing lately but never been this scared. And they never threw any glasses.
As fast as her short legs could take her, Summer ran through the house and out onto the street; she knew the way to her grandmother's house. It was just a little bit down the street.
"Grandma," Summer cried and threw her arms around her dear grandmother Hattie as fast as she'd opened the door, Beatrice still in her arms. She buried her head in Hattie's apron which always smelled like newly baked cookies.
Shushing Summer, the old woman lifted her only granddaughter up into her arms, gently rocking her shaking body. "What's wrong, my little angel? Why are you crying?"
Rubbing her wet eyes and sniffling load, Summer looked up at Hattie. "I was scared. So we came here, Beatrice and I."
Hattie nodded and carried the child into her kitchen where she sat down on a chair, still holding Summer against her. Stroking some wet hair from the girl's face she started to sing. Hattie sat there holding her granddaughter and singing to her as Summer continued to cry and hold Beatrice close to her chest.
That was one of the earliest memories Summer had and that was when everything started to shatter. Peace by peace the once so happy family was torn into so many peaces that it would be impossible to ever get them together again.
"I still remember the day you were done. No one's ever hurt me as much, no one ever could." Summer whispered to herself.
"Mommy?"
It was starting to get late and Summer could feel how hungry she was. She'd been upstairs in her room for several hours, not daring to be anywhere else. She'd been playing with Beatrice and tried to ignore the silence from the house; she'd turned on some music and been in her own safe world. But now she was hungry.
"Mommy? I'm hungry." Her mother sat on a chair in the kitchen with a glass of red whine in front of her, staring into space. She didn't seem to notice Summer as she just sat there, not even moving to look at her daughter's face. "Please, I'm really hungry."
No answer this time either. So Summer decided to get something from the refrigerator herself. On the shelves she could reach were come vegetables, eggs, a bottle of juice and a pack of potatoes. She pulled out the bottle of juice and saw how the cereal stood on the kitchen table. "Mommy, can you give me a glass for the juice?"
As Joanne Roberts didn't reply Summer sat down on a kitchen chair, eating some dry cereal from the package and drinking the juice from its bottle.
He'd disappeared as soon as the divorce was finished. He never called, never came back. And after some time, Summer got used to not have him around. She threw away everything he'd ever given her, all photos of him now had their place in a box inside her closet; she never expected to see him again. She tried forgetting and after a while all her was to her was a biological father.
vvvvvvvvv
"Hi, it's Summer. Please leave a message."
Seth quickly poured the coffee into his now empty mug, spilling half of it onto his hand and the table where it created a plate-formed brown pool. He cursed to himself and threw a napkin over his now pink hand. Hot coffee and a bad mood was just not a good combination.
His bad mood had come yesterday. He wasn't mad or anything, just worried to an extent where he felt absolutely helpless. Summer could be anywhere doing anything and he had no idea. Not that she always needed to tell him everything, but this was just different. He was worried of what she might be doing and not knowing what was the reason of her feelings did not make it better; it only made his worry grow. It could be anything. She didn't want to talk and she didn't answer her phone. She always answered her phone.
All the more reason to worry.
The entire day he'd thought about driving to her place, just to make sure that she was alright. But something inside him told him that he should give her time, not push her. He knew that she knew she could trust him and tell him. Maybe he just had to be patient and wait; wait for Summer to come to him. Though it was starting to get dark outside and he knew that sleep wouldn't be anything he'd be doing before he knew that she was okay.
Throwing the napkin over the coffee on the table, Seth hurried out of his apartment, grabbing the car keys on the drawer.
vvvvvvvvv
Summer took one last look at the picture and then put it in the pocket of her jeans. She'd quickly changed clothes from her pyjamas as she couldn't stay in this place anymore. She'd been sitting on the floor for hours and now she just needed to get out; she was used to be outside a lot, walking around.
"You going on a date tonight?" a man in the stairs asked, grinning. She'd never seen him before, he was probably new. He seemed to know who she was though. "Maybe you're on your way to your boyfriend."
Summer shivered as he brushed by her arm. "Could you please move to the side, I can't-"
"I know. And sure, maybe you can't be late for your boyfriend. Maybe he'll get mad," the man went on, still wearing that awful grin on his face.Summer didn't answer and quickly slipped through the small area between him and the wall. She managed and hurried down the stairs. "Hey, babe! Maybe your man's gonna get lucky tonight."
She accidentally ran into another person at the end of the stairs because of her hurry. Mumbling a 'sorry' she went for the door. "You could stay here and I'll take care of you. I'm sure you'd like that!" The man called after her as she ran out of the building, into the dark.
I really loved all of your guesses, some of you were even (almost) right.
Please let me know what you think!!!