Teach Me How To Love

Part 56 ~ Flight To Nowhere

Michael just stormed out of the house. Poor baby. I tell Casey to call back later and hang up. Michael needs time to himself now. He needs this right now. I sit down with a hot cup of coffee and think of a way to start a conversation with Zaira. I'm pretty sure she doesn't wanna talk to me but I can at least try. I walk into her bedroom. She's writing on a piece of paper. 

"Zaira? Can we talk?"

"I'm not apologizing to you"

"Umm . . no . . I'm not expecting you to . . I just wanna talk to you"

. . . . .

. . . . .

"Zaira?"

"I'm busy right now . . where is Dad?"

"He, uh . . he went for a drive"

"When will he be back?"

"I - I don't know . . but I'm sure he'll be back soon . . can I come in?"

"You already walked in, so . . ."

"Zaira . . you must know that I love your dad very much"

"My mom loves my dad too, so . . ."

"Zaira . . I know this isn't easy for you . . but you need to know that I think you're a beautiful, smart young lady and I love having you around me . . I really hope we can find a way to make this work, ok?"

"I don't want this to work"

"Zaira . . we have to find a way to make this work . . ok?"

"Dad loves me more than he loves you, who do you think he's gonna choose?"

"Choose? . . Zaira . . I'm trying to have a conversation with you . . there is no need for you to act so cold towards me . . I don't want to do you any harm, do you understand? I want us to be great friends . . but first you have to let me, ok?"

"We're not friends! Dad, mom and I went to the sportspark today and afterwards we went to the movies! Mom and Dad sat next to each other and shared popcorn! They even shared a large coke! My mom and my Dad are going to fall in love again!"

"Sweetie-"

"Don't call me sweetie! . . I'm not your sweetie! And don't call my Dad honey!!" I swallow hard. I have to admit, this is getting to me. Zaira's cold words are hurting me to no end. There is no way I can keep having this conversation with her. She keeps attacking me and she's succeeding. I tried. I really tried. "I'll leave you alone now . . if there's anything you need, please let me know, ok?"

"Just let me know when my dad is back!"

. . . . .

"Sure"

She storms out of the room and walks downstairs. She takes a seat on the couch and turns on the TV. I walk back into the bedroom and sit down on the bed. I know it's none of my business but I just have to take a little peek. I get up and take a quick look at the letter Zaira's been writing. It's a letter to Michael. I wonder what she wrote. But I would just hate for her to catch me reading it. I have to be careful. I check for Zaira to make sure she's still sitting downstairs in front of the TV. She is but this is way too risky. I can't risk her catching me. I have to resist. I just have to. 

I just realized that Michael left his phone here. I see that Casey left him a bunch of messages. I put the phone on the kitchen table and look out the window. I hope Michael will be alright out there. He left at a very bad time . . it just started to rain heavily.

An hour has passed. Zaira and I are both downstairs but we haven't spoken a word with each other. I'm in the kitchen, reading a magazine. She's in the living room watching TV.