After all of the months attempting to be a super sleuth by trawling social media for the mysterious man, the solution to my parentage dilemma was strangely easy. A quick google search was all it took. One swab test and I would have all of the answers I had been seeking. Or at least, I would know if I was a product of an affair.
And yet, asking my Dad for a swab had been one of the hardest things I had ever done. There had been no judgement. He had only pulled me into a bone crushing hug and reaffirmed his promise. Nothing would change.
Why does it feel like everything is going to change?
The e-mail sat at the bottom of my inbox. It was the same place it had been for days on end, screaming at me in bold font. And yet, I still hadn't had the courage to look at it. Even now, my hand grew clammy as I hovered the pointer over it and prepared to click.
"Did you want me to do it?" Richie asked, scooting his seat closer to mine. "Or we can save it for another day. You can do this at your own pace."
I lifted my gaze from the screen, noting with a jolt of surprise that we were the last two. Not really surprising when I remembered it was a Friday night. Half of the office had dipped into darkness as the new motion sensor lights ticked off one by one as the occupants left for the day until, at last, it was just them.
They all had plans, families, to get home to. Things to be rushing out the door for.
And yet, the only things I had going for me was the contents of the e-mail and the man sitting at my side. Heck, if he wasn't there, I was ninety nine percent sure I would have left at the same time as the others.
Yet he was here. The friend I had wanted for so long. The steady emotional support I had resisted for so long. Why had I tried so had to fight this? For stubbornness. Pride. Things that didn't mean much when it came down to it.
Pride and stubbornness were pretty fucking lonely. I should know, I had a decade of loneliness under my belt.
It's not weak to lean on someone, Rosie.
I glanced to the side and watched as Richie lifted a steaming mug of coffee with his free and blew gently on the surface. As if he sensed my gaze, he lifted his attention to me, his lips pursed on the rim of the cup before he smiled.
My stomach fluttered and the hollow in my chest was oddly absent. It took a moment to realise that the endless ache of loneliness wasn't there. When had that happened? What had that feeling disappeared?
My lips pulled up into a strained smile. Then, blowing out a slow breath before shaking my head. "No, I can do this."
"If you're sure."
I swallowed and nodded. Turned my attention to the screen once more. Then, with one decisive click I opened the e-mail.
The words didn't registered at first. My eyes moved side to side over the text, the lines blurring together into a smudge as if my brain didn't want to compute the text.
I shook my head and refocused. My eyes skimmed over the very mundane covering e-mail before I opened the attachment. And, all breath left my body with a single whoosh.
"Fuck," I muttered.
"Agreed."
It was all there. In black and white. I couldn't decide if I was happy that my hunch had proven right or devastated at the answer I had needed to know but hadn't truly wanted.
Richie's hand reached up and brushed over my cheek. It was only then that I realised I was crying. It seemed like all I ever did these days.
His touch was warm as he asked, "Are you okay?"
YOU ARE READING
The Secrets She Kept
General FictionEvelyn and Rosie had always been close. They were not just mother and daughter; they were best friends. At least, they were until disease stole away the woman Evelyn had once been. After an incident forces Rosie's hand, she soon comes to realise the...
