Status: ongoing
Priceless
New York, New York
~~~
Apparently, for my mom, “being okay” basically meant getting away. She booked a flight to New York with me and she had told me she wanted to spend the holidays there. I, of course, had no complaints regarding that because I knew she was having a hard time dealing with my father cheating on her for the second time with the same woman. That was all I knew. She wouldn’t tell me anything else, but really she didn’t have to, because I practically knew everything. She was his childhood sweetheart, she didn’t have a husband but she had a child. A child who shared the same father with me. Who was conveniently born three days before my birthday. And yes, it was as painful as it sounded.
When my mom found out about it 8 years ago, they had a big fight, and she had asked him to leave. The two of them had kept it a secret from everyone and my father’s parents helped them hide it from the media. Two months after that, they made up, and my father had promised that he wouldn’t do it again; that they were over, but he would still keep supporting their child.
My mother was okay with that, but she and my father never really became wholly okay. Hence her cold, unemotional persona, which had occurred sometime after she found out about my father’s other family. She hadn’t always been like that—before that big mess, she was sweet with Dad, she smiled truly, and she laughed a lot. But after that, she just decided to focus on work all the time and be completely invincible. I remembered those words she had told me before I turned 9: “Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, Bailey. Don’t show them if you’re feeling sad, down, or crappy. Because they will just take advantage of it. That’s what people do.”
She and I entered our hotel room and she immediately checked herself in the mirror. Looking at her now, it would have never crossed my mind that she was that same woman who was sobbing yesterday, over her husband cheating on her. Now she looked exactly like how she had been for the past 8 years; invincible, unbreakable, powerful.
I glanced at the clock hanging above the TV. It was already 8 PM. We had left Phoenix at around 12 noon there, because it was the earliest flight we could take since the others were all booked already. Mom left Mary in charge of the whole house while we were gone, instructing her not to let my father inside the house and not say a word to anyone who asked where we were.
Before left I made it a point to give Erin all the gifts, and I’d briefly explained to her what happened. She was aware of that whole cheating thing my father did, because she was the one who sat with me 8 years ago when I had a breakdown because of that. She was glad, though, that it didn’t affect me that much now. Well, it still did honestly, but now I was more concerned about how my mother was feeling than how it made feel.
“Sweetie, I’ll be working on a design for a while,” Mom said, breaking into my thoughts, as she turned to look at me. “You can knock on my room if you need something.”
“Okay, Mom,” I said softly, and watched as she made her way to the bigger room and walked inside, closing the door behind her. Sighing, I grabbed the remote from the center table and slumped lazily on the couch, then pulled my phone out of my pocket. Coincidentally, it started ringing, and the screen displayed Stephen’s name. Out of reflex, maybe, I pushed the answer button right away.
“You’re in New York,” were the words I heard from him as soon as I put my phone into my ear. His voice was loud and clear and...I couldn’t exactly decipher what his tone meant. “Erin told me you’re in New York. But she didn’t tell me why. Now I’m going to ask you, why? We still have this Christmas thing—the party...and—and we’ll be leaving second week of January—and I’ll miss you. I already do.”
I blushed a little at his last few words. “I’ll explain everything when I get back, Stephen,” I answered, keeping my voice low. “I promise I will. And we’ll still see each other. I’ll be back before Erin’s birthday. I wouldn’t miss that, or else she would kill me.”
“But—still—it’s just—” He paused for a moment, then I heard him sigh. Now I could detect sadness from his voice. “I just...I’m just sad that you didn’t...you didn’t say a proper goodbye or something. I’m sorry. It’s not—it’s probably not even right, or whatever.”
It’s probably not even right. Why did that statement made such an impact to me? Oh, yes—because this whole thing wasn’t right. Considering my feelings for him and my relationship with Alex, plus that conversation with Tasha that served as my reality check.
“I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “I’m—I’m just really—I was just sort of shocked when I was calling you and your phone was off, and then when I asked Erin and she told me you were in New York, I freaked out. Sorry. I probably overreacted.”
“It’s okay, Stephen,” I said with a short laugh. “Really, it is. This trip was so sudden, that’s why I didn’t get a chance to tell you guys, only Erin. But I owe you guys an explanation, I think. Especially you. It will be ready on Erin’s birthday, I promise.”
“Okay...” There was silence on his part for a few more moments, before he spoke once more. “Bails?”
There was something in the way he said my name that made me catch my breath. “Yeah?”
Long pause. “We need to talk when you get back...about some things.”
His voice was low and serious, and that was what made those words even scarier than usual. My heart was already thumping hard against my chest and I swallowed first before I could muster up the nerve to answer.
“Okay, Stephen.”
~~~
Apparently, for my mom, “being okay” basically meant getting away. She booked a flight to New York with me and she had told me she wanted to spend the holidays there. I, of course, had no complaints regarding that because I knew she was having a hard time dealing with my father cheating on her for the second time with the same woman. That was all I knew. She wouldn’t tell me anything else, but really she didn’t have to, because I practically knew everything. She was his childhood sweetheart, she didn’t have a husband but she had a child. A child who shared the same father with me. Who was conveniently born three days before my birthday. And yes, it was as painful as it sounded.
When my mom found out about it 8 years ago, they had a big fight, and she had asked him to leave. The two of them had kept it a secret from everyone and my father’s parents helped them hide it from the media. Two months after that, they made up, and my father had promised that he wouldn’t do it again; that they were over, but he would still keep supporting their child.
My mother was okay with that, but she and my father never really became wholly okay. Hence her cold, unemotional persona, which had occurred sometime after she found out about my father’s other family. She hadn’t always been like that—before that big mess, she was sweet with Dad, she smiled truly, and she laughed a lot. But after that, she just decided to focus on work all the time and be completely invincible. I remembered those words she had told me before I turned 9: “Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve, Bailey. Don’t show them if you’re feeling sad, down, or crappy. Because they will just take advantage of it. That’s what people do.”
She and I entered our hotel room and she immediately checked herself in the mirror. Looking at her now, it would have never crossed my mind that she was that same woman who was sobbing yesterday, over her husband cheating on her. Now she looked exactly like how she had been for the past 8 years; invincible, unbreakable, powerful.
I glanced at the clock hanging above the TV. It was already 8 PM. We had left Phoenix at around 12 noon there, because it was the earliest flight we could take since the others were all booked already. Mom left Mary in charge of the whole house while we were gone, instructing her not to let my father inside the house and not say a word to anyone who asked where we were.
Before left I made it a point to give Erin all the gifts, and I’d briefly explained to her what happened. She was aware of that whole cheating thing my father did, because she was the one who sat with me 8 years ago when I had a breakdown because of that. She was glad, though, that it didn’t affect me that much now. Well, it still did honestly, but now I was more concerned about how my mother was feeling than how it made feel.
“Sweetie, I’ll be working on a design for a while,” Mom said, breaking into my thoughts, as she turned to look at me. “You can knock on my room if you need something.”
“Okay, Mom,” I said softly, and watched as she made her way to the bigger room and walked inside, closing the door behind her. Sighing, I grabbed the remote from the center table and slumped lazily on the couch, then pulled my phone out of my pocket. Coincidentally, it started ringing, and the screen displayed Stephen’s name. Out of reflex, maybe, I pushed the answer button right away.
“You’re in New York,” were the words I heard from him as soon as I put my phone into my ear. His voice was loud and clear and...I couldn’t exactly decipher what his tone meant. “Erin told me you’re in New York. But she didn’t tell me why. Now I’m going to ask you, why? We still have this Christmas thing—the party...and—and we’ll be leaving second week of January—and I’ll miss you. I already do.”
I blushed a little at his last few words. “I’ll explain everything when I get back, Stephen,” I answered, keeping my voice low. “I promise I will. And we’ll still see each other. I’ll be back before Erin’s birthday. I wouldn’t miss that, or else she would kill me.”
“But—still—it’s just—” He paused for a moment, then I heard him sigh. Now I could detect sadness from his voice. “I just...I’m just sad that you didn’t...you didn’t say a proper goodbye or something. I’m sorry. It’s not—it’s probably not even right, or whatever.”
It’s probably not even right. Why did that statement made such an impact to me? Oh, yes—because this whole thing wasn’t right. Considering my feelings for him and my relationship with Alex, plus that conversation with Tasha that served as my reality check.
“I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “I’m—I’m just really—I was just sort of shocked when I was calling you and your phone was off, and then when I asked Erin and she told me you were in New York, I freaked out. Sorry. I probably overreacted.”
“It’s okay, Stephen,” I said with a short laugh. “Really, it is. This trip was so sudden, that’s why I didn’t get a chance to tell you guys, only Erin. But I owe you guys an explanation, I think. Especially you. It will be ready on Erin’s birthday, I promise.”
“Okay...” There was silence on his part for a few more moments, before he spoke once more. “Bails?”
There was something in the way he said my name that made me catch my breath. “Yeah?”
Long pause. “We need to talk when you get back...about some things.”
His voice was low and serious, and that was what made those words even scarier than usual. My heart was already thumping hard against my chest and I swallowed first before I could muster up the nerve to answer.
“Okay, Stephen.”
~~~
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To be honest, I'm sort of getting...uninspired writing this. I barely get comments even though I update as much as possible, and it kinda just discourages me to write this and that makes me sad because I've already finished the storyline. :( Anyway, I promise to work harder if you give me more comments. Come on 17 subscribers, give me something! :(Thank you!