Leave The Past In The Past

My father; a sick, malicious, truly evil man of whom I promised myself after first seeing him, I’d never see him again. He left my mother after he found out she had an awful disease (which may I add; he caused), and he left me.

So, after all of this, you can imagine how I felt when I read the letter; the letter written by his solicitor, Marie Johnson, asking me to help him. To help my so called ‘father’, who has never helped me. No, who has never even damn liked me! He pretty much wished me dead.

So, what was I to do? I could ignore the letter; pretend it never happened. If only things were that simple. He wasn’t asking for money. He wasn’t asking for answers to why I ran away from my wedding. He wasn’t asking for anything that I wouldn’t be able to give him; he was asking for me to visit him.

He was dying of cancer. I wasn’t sure of the ins and outs, but I knew it was terminal. Five months he had left. His wife had left him, and his two youngest daughters turned out not to be his. As for Aiden, well the solicitor skimmed over that but it seemed he didn’t care enough to stay with his dad. I was all he had…

But that changed nothing right? I didn’t have to see him. Only, I did. Why? Well let me show you a passage from the letter:

So as you can imagine, your father will have to change his will. He’s leaving nothing to his ex-wife (the divorce has come through), he’s leaving nothing to his ex-wife’s two daughters, and he’s leaving nothing to his son, which means, he is effectively leaving it all to you. But here’s the snag in all of this, if you don’t care about him enough to visit just once than he doesn’t care enough to leave you everything he owns. It will all go to me.

I glanced at the pile of bills on the table and felt my heart sink. If he left me everything, I’d be able to pay the bills. I could spend some money on myself; maybe buy myself a car so I’d be able to find a job that wasn’t in walking distance.

I reached for the envelope the letter came in, shook it, and caught a little slip of paper that fell out; a ticket, an aeroplane ticket, to America, so I’d be able to visit my dad. When was it dated for? Two days. That’s all I had to decide whether to go or not.

But, I think I’d already made my mind up. From the second I’d read the letter, I knew what I had to do. I had no choice.

I’d go and see my father, but I’d also get closure. If I could just show myself that after a year and a half Carlton had moved on, then I’d be fine. I’d be able to go on with my life in England. And maybe I’d even find some else to replace Carlton in my heart.

A girl could only hope…