Rollercoaster
Chapter 31
The night before
Frank's POV
It's the tearing sound of love-notes
Drowning out these gray stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up. As Cubicles continued playing on my cell phone, I checked the time on the alarm clock. 5:00 am. Who would be phoning me at this time? I slid the phone open and mumbled into the receiver.
"Yeah?" I snapped.
"Mr Iero? It's Janice."
I suddenly became more awake as I realised it was the care home phoning.
"I'm terribly sorry to be ringing you at this time," She continued. "But I just thought I should let you know..."
I waited for her to finish, but silence grew even more awkward.
"Janice? I'm listening." I spoke into the receiver.
"Well I don't know how to say this, Frank," She began. "Aimee's mom. Uhh, she... She, umm. Frank, she wants Aimee back."
At that moment I dropped the phone. My stomach churned upside down as I heard what she had to say. She wanted Aimee back? Eleven years later and she wanted her back? How could she? Hardly a caring mom would leave her only child with her abusive father. She coud have been killed for God's sake. And did she even have any idea how much she'd gone through? After all Aimee's been through, she's finally starting to pick up the pieces of her life. And her own mother wants to ruin that?
The quiet buzz from my cell slowly took my out of the trance. I picked it up.
"Frank? Are you there?" Janice shouted down the other line.
"Yeah, I'm here." I rubbed my hand through my hair and sat on the end of the bed.
"Uhh, what can we do, Janice?" My voice shook slightly as I tried to stay calm.
"I'm not sure there is anything you can do." I could tell she was upset about it too.
"What? What do you mean nothing I can do? She lives with me for crying out loud! She's been living with me for the past three months! That has to mean something.." I felt my eyes starting to well up with tears.
"I'm sorry, Frank. It would be different if she was adopted, but she's not." She trailed off.
"What? What about this woman, her mother. She left her when she was three! Hasn't seen her for eleven years, yet I changed her life for the good and you're taking her away from me?"
The tears now began to roll down my cheeks. I didn't stop them. What was the point?
"But she's related to Aimee. It's law that she can take her home with her." She stopped for a minute before speaking again. "Again, I'm so sorry Frank. None of us saw this coming. She'll be there at Gerard's later this evening. Be sure to pack all of Aimee's things. Bye Frank."
She hung up, leaving me a mess on the bedroom floor.
It was so weird the way I was acting. I mean, if you saw a twenty five year old man crying on his bedroom floor, what would you think? I had only been with Aimee for three months, but we had got to know each other so well... We had been through our ups and downs, but we always managed to cheer each other up.
What was going to happen when she left? I don't know what I'd do...
I slowly made my way downstairs. A frame was lying on the floor, face down. I picked it up and peered at it carefully. The concert. It was the first time I met Aimee. How much my life had changed since then...I had my arm around her awkwardly and she had a really girly grin on her face.
I held it tightly to my chest, more tears following the already shed ones.
I had to be strong. For Aimee...
Making my way to the sink, I poured myself a warm cup of coffee. What a way to make things better...
I had no idea how I was going to tell her... I'll just leave it till later on.
Sitting beside the table, I thought of all the memories I had with Aimee. Good ones, bad ones. No matter how bad, we always came up stronger than before. She was my new reason for living. Without her, I don't know what would happen.
I slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, thoughts running in my mind about the phone call I had and what was going to happen now...
Frank's POV
It's the tearing sound of love-notes
Drowning out these gray stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
I groaned and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up. As Cubicles continued playing on my cell phone, I checked the time on the alarm clock. 5:00 am. Who would be phoning me at this time? I slid the phone open and mumbled into the receiver.
"Yeah?" I snapped.
"Mr Iero? It's Janice."
I suddenly became more awake as I realised it was the care home phoning.
"I'm terribly sorry to be ringing you at this time," She continued. "But I just thought I should let you know..."
I waited for her to finish, but silence grew even more awkward.
"Janice? I'm listening." I spoke into the receiver.
"Well I don't know how to say this, Frank," She began. "Aimee's mom. Uhh, she... She, umm. Frank, she wants Aimee back."
At that moment I dropped the phone. My stomach churned upside down as I heard what she had to say. She wanted Aimee back? Eleven years later and she wanted her back? How could she? Hardly a caring mom would leave her only child with her abusive father. She coud have been killed for God's sake. And did she even have any idea how much she'd gone through? After all Aimee's been through, she's finally starting to pick up the pieces of her life. And her own mother wants to ruin that?
The quiet buzz from my cell slowly took my out of the trance. I picked it up.
"Frank? Are you there?" Janice shouted down the other line.
"Yeah, I'm here." I rubbed my hand through my hair and sat on the end of the bed.
"Uhh, what can we do, Janice?" My voice shook slightly as I tried to stay calm.
"I'm not sure there is anything you can do." I could tell she was upset about it too.
"What? What do you mean nothing I can do? She lives with me for crying out loud! She's been living with me for the past three months! That has to mean something.." I felt my eyes starting to well up with tears.
"I'm sorry, Frank. It would be different if she was adopted, but she's not." She trailed off.
"What? What about this woman, her mother. She left her when she was three! Hasn't seen her for eleven years, yet I changed her life for the good and you're taking her away from me?"
The tears now began to roll down my cheeks. I didn't stop them. What was the point?
"But she's related to Aimee. It's law that she can take her home with her." She stopped for a minute before speaking again. "Again, I'm so sorry Frank. None of us saw this coming. She'll be there at Gerard's later this evening. Be sure to pack all of Aimee's things. Bye Frank."
She hung up, leaving me a mess on the bedroom floor.
It was so weird the way I was acting. I mean, if you saw a twenty five year old man crying on his bedroom floor, what would you think? I had only been with Aimee for three months, but we had got to know each other so well... We had been through our ups and downs, but we always managed to cheer each other up.
What was going to happen when she left? I don't know what I'd do...
I slowly made my way downstairs. A frame was lying on the floor, face down. I picked it up and peered at it carefully. The concert. It was the first time I met Aimee. How much my life had changed since then...I had my arm around her awkwardly and she had a really girly grin on her face.
I held it tightly to my chest, more tears following the already shed ones.
I had to be strong. For Aimee...
Making my way to the sink, I poured myself a warm cup of coffee. What a way to make things better...
I had no idea how I was going to tell her... I'll just leave it till later on.
Sitting beside the table, I thought of all the memories I had with Aimee. Good ones, bad ones. No matter how bad, we always came up stronger than before. She was my new reason for living. Without her, I don't know what would happen.
I slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, thoughts running in my mind about the phone call I had and what was going to happen now...