Sequel: Remembering Sundays ›
Original Love
Chapter Nine
Erica’s POV:
Erica left the coffee shop with a huge smile on her face. She hadn’t felt that good about something in a long time. The only other time she had felt like she was on top of the world had been when she had finished packing and was in her car driving towards Baltimore a few weeks before. She finally felt like her old, true self was coming out again and that she could finally get the weight off her shoulders. Nothing could bring her down.
Well, that was true until her phone started ringing as she climbed in her car and she read the caller id.
Mom
She had half a mind not to pick it up, but she knew from 21 years worth of experience that her mother would not give up until she got what she wanted. And right now it seemed that she wanted to talk to her long lost daughter.
Her thumb hovered over the accept button and Erica took a deep breath to prepare herself before she answered. But in reality, could anything really prepare her for a conversation with her mother? The last she had spoken to said woman had been a few weeks ago when she had said goodbye to her before getting in her car and driving to Baltimore without looking back. In reality nothing could prepare her for the conversation that was about to take place.
“Hello?”
“Are you ready to come home now?” Was all she got in response to her somewhat civil answer. Sure Erica could have left out the rude tone she used and maybe greeted her with a ‘Hey mom how are you?’ but she really wasn’t in the mood to be kind and civil to her mother. She was half the reason Erica moved halfway across the country anyway. So how could she possibly be nice?
But really? Are you ready to come home now? Erica wasn’t being the most sweetest ray of sunshine to the other woman but really, her mother wasn’t either. In any normal circumstance, said mother in this predicament would be freaking out, asking if said child was alright and if anything bad happened. But this? This was just the beginning of a really horrible conversation.
“I told you mother,” Erica replied, all but spitting the word out with utter distaste as she continued. “I’m not coming home. That place isn’t my home anymore. This is my home. I’m never coming back.”
“Erica stop with these foolish games and come home this instant! Where are you? We can book the next flight to wherever you are and bring you back.”
Erica sighed, “Mother, I told you when I left. I’m not coming home. I left. Do you not understand the concept of that statement?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me young lady! There are people here that miss you. Tony is going nuts about it and I think you’ve proved your point and it’s time to put an end to this. Now tell me where you are.”
Erica flinched as she heard that name. Tony. When she had left she never wanted to hear that name again. Nonetheless actually hear the voice over her over the top mother demanding as always to bring her back to the life she despised. No way. Not going to happen. There was no way she was going to pretend to be someone she wasn’t anymore. It was her time to become a new person and actually be who she really was. Not some lifeless shell of someone she was supposed to be. No. She was just starting to crack the surface and there was no way she was going to back so that they could cover the crack and she continue to be who she was. No way.
“No mother. Like I said before, I’m not coming back. I cut all my ties with Texas and I’m never going to see that place again. It’s time for me to move on and forget about the life I had back there, if you can even call it that. I’m not coming back and that’s final. I don’t want to hear anything more from you or anyone else there. You’ll never hear from me again. Goodbye mother.”
And with one final deep breath, she ignored the yelling on the other end of the phone and hung up. And then she turned it off for good measure since she knew that her mother would call her over and over again anyway, maybe even get the call traced.
She sat in the driver’s seat for a few moments, just staring at the blank phone before bursting into tears. All the pent up emotions and tears were finally surfacing and she couldn’t keep them back any longer. It was all too much to bear and she needed to let it out finally and just get it over with. After she settled down she was fully going to put it behind her and never look back. She needed to. If she was on her way to moving on, she needed to do this.
Though at that moment all she could think of was Jack and how she really didn’t want to be alone. How she didn’t want to have had to cut their time short. Sure she understood, that he had some band things to do but if there was ever a time she didn’t want to be alone, it was then.
But there was nothing she could do about it now so she took a deep breath to calm herself down and wiped the tears from her eyes and fixed her hair in the rearview mirror of her car. After making sure she got all the smeared makeup off her face and she didn’t look like she had been crying for the last ten minutes, she started up her car and pulled out of the parking lot. She would normally be heading back toward her place, but first she needed to make a stop at AT&T.
Step one to moving on with her life was moving to Baltimore. Now step two was to cut all ties with Texas and continue moving on.
Erica left the coffee shop with a huge smile on her face. She hadn’t felt that good about something in a long time. The only other time she had felt like she was on top of the world had been when she had finished packing and was in her car driving towards Baltimore a few weeks before. She finally felt like her old, true self was coming out again and that she could finally get the weight off her shoulders. Nothing could bring her down.
Well, that was true until her phone started ringing as she climbed in her car and she read the caller id.
Mom
She had half a mind not to pick it up, but she knew from 21 years worth of experience that her mother would not give up until she got what she wanted. And right now it seemed that she wanted to talk to her long lost daughter.
Her thumb hovered over the accept button and Erica took a deep breath to prepare herself before she answered. But in reality, could anything really prepare her for a conversation with her mother? The last she had spoken to said woman had been a few weeks ago when she had said goodbye to her before getting in her car and driving to Baltimore without looking back. In reality nothing could prepare her for the conversation that was about to take place.
“Hello?”
“Are you ready to come home now?” Was all she got in response to her somewhat civil answer. Sure Erica could have left out the rude tone she used and maybe greeted her with a ‘Hey mom how are you?’ but she really wasn’t in the mood to be kind and civil to her mother. She was half the reason Erica moved halfway across the country anyway. So how could she possibly be nice?
But really? Are you ready to come home now? Erica wasn’t being the most sweetest ray of sunshine to the other woman but really, her mother wasn’t either. In any normal circumstance, said mother in this predicament would be freaking out, asking if said child was alright and if anything bad happened. But this? This was just the beginning of a really horrible conversation.
“I told you mother,” Erica replied, all but spitting the word out with utter distaste as she continued. “I’m not coming home. That place isn’t my home anymore. This is my home. I’m never coming back.”
“Erica stop with these foolish games and come home this instant! Where are you? We can book the next flight to wherever you are and bring you back.”
Erica sighed, “Mother, I told you when I left. I’m not coming home. I left. Do you not understand the concept of that statement?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me young lady! There are people here that miss you. Tony is going nuts about it and I think you’ve proved your point and it’s time to put an end to this. Now tell me where you are.”
Erica flinched as she heard that name. Tony. When she had left she never wanted to hear that name again. Nonetheless actually hear the voice over her over the top mother demanding as always to bring her back to the life she despised. No way. Not going to happen. There was no way she was going to pretend to be someone she wasn’t anymore. It was her time to become a new person and actually be who she really was. Not some lifeless shell of someone she was supposed to be. No. She was just starting to crack the surface and there was no way she was going to back so that they could cover the crack and she continue to be who she was. No way.
“No mother. Like I said before, I’m not coming back. I cut all my ties with Texas and I’m never going to see that place again. It’s time for me to move on and forget about the life I had back there, if you can even call it that. I’m not coming back and that’s final. I don’t want to hear anything more from you or anyone else there. You’ll never hear from me again. Goodbye mother.”
And with one final deep breath, she ignored the yelling on the other end of the phone and hung up. And then she turned it off for good measure since she knew that her mother would call her over and over again anyway, maybe even get the call traced.
She sat in the driver’s seat for a few moments, just staring at the blank phone before bursting into tears. All the pent up emotions and tears were finally surfacing and she couldn’t keep them back any longer. It was all too much to bear and she needed to let it out finally and just get it over with. After she settled down she was fully going to put it behind her and never look back. She needed to. If she was on her way to moving on, she needed to do this.
Though at that moment all she could think of was Jack and how she really didn’t want to be alone. How she didn’t want to have had to cut their time short. Sure she understood, that he had some band things to do but if there was ever a time she didn’t want to be alone, it was then.
But there was nothing she could do about it now so she took a deep breath to calm herself down and wiped the tears from her eyes and fixed her hair in the rearview mirror of her car. After making sure she got all the smeared makeup off her face and she didn’t look like she had been crying for the last ten minutes, she started up her car and pulled out of the parking lot. She would normally be heading back toward her place, but first she needed to make a stop at AT&T.
Step one to moving on with her life was moving to Baltimore. Now step two was to cut all ties with Texas and continue moving on.
♠ ♠ ♠
Two chapters in a matter of hours! Wooooo! Yes I know it's kind of short but super dramatic. I promise that the next chapter will be all happy and random instead of horrible like this one. But kind of needed to start giving more of a glimpse on Erica's past even as sad as it is. But moving on to bigger and brighter things!!! =}The coffee shop that I mentioned in the previous chapter was already thought of/used in another story. The other story being my nano that I abandoned and kind of want to finish but don't know how to unless I scrap the whole thing and rewrite. But I'm like over 50 pages in and really don't have the effort to delete all of it and try and rewrite it. Anyway, yes, the coffee shop came up while I was over at my friends house and we were talking about somewhere cool and weird to meet since my two main characters had sort of a Romeo and Juliet relationship and needed to meet in secret. And in came the Chruch turned coffee shop! Mweehee.
Anyway, this is long and I think I'm making up for a really small authors note in the previous chapter now so I'm going to shut up. But thanks to upxallxnight for the comment! Hope you're wanting to know more about Erica's past is satisfied a little better with this tiny glimpse! See you next chaaapter! =}