REBEL HEART (GxG)

55

It was after midnight when Lexi crawled back to bed after checking on her father on the opposite room. There were nights when his father's cry would fill the halls of their home. He was in physical pain. It would wake her and she would jump out of her bed and run to his father's room. He'd find Bastienne there too, but only Lexi can pacify his father, which led her to the decision of moving in with his father and brother.

Greg was diagnosed with leukemia about a year ago and it was during that time that his father revealed the truth to her, but only when Lexi started growing suspicious about Greg's odd treatment towards her. He was always delighted to see Lexi and when she's around his attention was only focused on her. He grew curious and interested with the woman's personal life and that intrigued Lexi.

On the night of Greg's birthday, after the guests had gone home, Bastienne and Lexi were happily going over a family album while Greg was sleeping peacefully in his room. Lexi decided to stay for the night since going home would probably pose harm, and it would only trigger memories of Gab and her, every time she'd pass Gab's now empty house. Bastienne held out a picture of his mom carrying him when he was 3 years old. Lexi would tell him how cute and big he was as a kid and they would laugh. Bastienne's mom died when he was just 11 because of heart failure and after his mom's passing, his father and him grew even closer.

When Bastienne slid the picture back to the album, a picture fell on the floor and when Lexi reached for it, her eyes grew wide at what she saw. It was a picture of her mother when she was younger. Lexi and Bastienne locked gazes but before Lexi could open her mouth to throw out the question, Gregory cried in pain sending Lexi and Bastienne to his room. The next day, Lexi left the Wilford home with a clouded mind because she couldn't stop thinking about the picture of her mother and the question as to why the Wilfords had it, haunted her the entire day.

Before leaving, Lexi had asked Bastienne about it but the boy seemed to avoid her searching eyes as she studied Bastienne's face for reaction. Bastienne simply told her that she didn't knew the woman or maybe it was from the previous owner of the house which got mixed up with their photos. Of course Lexi wasn't convinced which fuelled to more suspicions. She grew curious and started asking questions to Greg about his personal life. Greg would find it strange but would manage to give Lexi an answer. Until Lexi had the time and courage, she decided to verify her speculations.

In the basement of her house, she found a box which contained her mother's belongings. She found it strange to find herself in the 4 corners of this dusty room looking for something she doesn't even know. She was clueless, but her instincts were too strong for her to ignore. She strongly thought she'd find something that can appease her, and surprisingly, she did. She went through her mother's stuff, which were mostly books. Lisa liked reading, for her it was an escape from reality.

It made her feel nostalgic as she flicked through the pages of one particular book. The smell of old paper filled through her senses and it was as if she was taken back in time where her mother would rather spend her afternoon busying herself with a book than spend time with her daughter. She remembered how she thought of throwing them away so that her mother would have nothing to read and she'd already play with little Lexi. She felt a squeeze in her heart, so she decided to put the book away. Her expression went stern when she caught a glimpse of an old and worn out diary at the bottom of the stacked books. She took it out and went upstairs where she found herself curious as to what she might find out. It was her mother's diary. Lexi was a bit surprised because she thought that her mother was not the type to keep one.

She flicked the pages and noticed her mom's beautiful cursive penmanship. She let her fingers run through the now yellow colored paper, as if feeling a part of her mother that she missed so much. Even though they did not have an ideal mother-daughter relationship, Lexi loves her mother deeply. The first entry was dated a few years when she was born, particularly when Lisa started working for Sullivan. It says there that she developed a certain infatuation over the man who considered him only as a dear friend. Months passed and the feeling she felt for Sullivan blossomed into something deep, something beyond friendly, something a lot like love. It broke her heart to realize that Sullivan doesn't look at her the same way. Lexi would have skipped that part because it is nothing Sullivan hasn't told her, but not until her eyes wandered to a familiar name on the next lines. Gregory Sebastian Wilford.