Apologize

The Past

"Morning, sweetheart. Did you have fun last night?" My father asked as he handed me a plate of eggs. I shot him a glare before bursting into laughter. He's too nice for me to be the one to tell him... But he's too nice for me to not.

"No, dad, he was just trying to get my phone. I promise there was nothing going on," I reassured him. He smiled and took a bite of his omelette. I guess I needed to tell him, for his own good.

"Hey dad? Uhm... I don't know how to say this," I admitted. How do people do this stuff? "Dad, Shery was cheating on you and I caught her." I sighed. My family has always been against family secrets, so this announcement was a huge weight off of my chest. There was a clang of dad's fork onto his plate. Silence. I stood up and wrapped my arms around him, "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine. I'm going to deal with this, thank you for telling me," Dad said quietly. I watched him stand up and walk to his room. Dad, the man who always made me laugh. Dad, the man who knew how to take care of his daughter better than her mother did. Dad, the man who always walks into my room at the most awkward of times, just found out that his second wife was a cheater. This reminds me of when Shery first came. How I reacted was completely fine if Dad had already known what she would do to him.

"Okay, sweetie, I have somebody you should meet. Her name is Shery, she's really nice and beautiful, and I think you'll really like her," Dad was so enthusiastic about her. If only he knew. We were at the Olive Garden for my twelfth birthday.

"Hi! I'm Shery, who are you?" The lady held her hand out for me to shake. Newly twelve year old me was especially awkward, but I shook it anyways.

"I'm Kayla ," I said in almost a whisper. Who is this lady? Why, of all people, is she talking to me? I made a motion that I learned on the playground. The clanging stopped dead, conversations hung on a thread. All eyes were on me.

"Kayla , put your finger down," my dad hissed. I just flipped Shery off. Almost the whole restaurant saw it. I didn't regret it. I don't regret it at all.

"She won't replace mum. You know that. I refuse to let her," I mumbled. I was a brat, yes, but she deserved this. She couldn't replace mum in beauty, intelligence, love, or creativity. Ever.

I finished my eggs and flopped onto our couch. The rain pitter-pattered on the window. Spring was such a pleasant season. It was the season mum left. I closed my eyes to see if I could remember her smile. A heartwarming smile that reached her beautiful eyes, that showed her white teeth, that matched her angelic laugh.

"I love you, Kayla. Don't ever think I'm leaving because of you," mum whispered into my ear. Then she was gone. The last thing I saw of her was her silky black hair.

I know why mum left: Dad had become a workaholic. No matter how much he promised to stop and take time for me, I knew he wouldn't. But when mum left, he knew I needed him. But mum couldn't be replaced.

"Kayla, can you help me with this box?" Dad hollered for me. Tomorrow was the day Shery would return from vacation, maybe he was packing the rest of her bags. I hopped up off of our couch and made my way to the master bedroom. Dad had packed all her stuff in separate bags and boxes. He was writing a note.

"What's up?" I asked, genuinely curious of what he was writing. He showed me the note:

Dear Shery,

Guess who found out that their wife was cheating on them? That's right, me! So, to be nice on you, we can play a game. I left your stuff in these wonderful places of our past.

Your clothes are at the place we went for our first Christmas Eve activity in 2016
Your makeup is at the last shop I went into with you
Your shoes are at our favorite fast food place
The rest is in the dumpster out back (The trashmen come on Sundays)
Good luck finding the stuff before others do!

"What do you think?" Dad asked proudly. I laughed and asked to add something to it. He handed me the note and pen. This was going to be good.

P.S. Don't stand next to ovens. Plastic melts.

-Kayla & Joseph

Okayyy guys ..this chapter was short but I tried 🤪n e wayssssss hope u enjoyed

~Kàí łÿä🖤😜