Need Some Help

Mending Family Bonds

"You're fired! You're fired! All of you!" Audrey was already halfway out the door before Chloe had recovered. What had just happened? Her mom had just...flipped. Over a steak. How could someone get upset so easily? Then she thought of herself, all those years she'd spent trying to be just like her mother...oh how wrong she had been.

Andre Bourgeois was already chasing after his wife, once again trying to calm her down. Chloe and Zoe had stood up, but now they were frozen in place. Both of them began to wonder, was there even a chance their mother could love anyone?

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked Chloe.

She shook her head. "I'm just glad I chose not to be like her. She has everything, except what really matters. Love. Family."

Chloe didn't have any doubts anymore. She had seen what her mother had been like, and she knew that she did not want to live that life. It might look glamorous on the outside, but on the inside, it was miserable and lonely. You had to be kind and deserving to have people who cared about you.

Chloe knew she had made the right decision. It had been tough, but she had changed her ways. She was still working on being a better person, but no matter how hard or challenging it was, she knew it would always be better than living a lonesome life where you hated everyone and the world around you.

***

Luka let out a long sigh. It was what he had feared would happen. Today was career day for his sister Juleka's class. Their mom was busy, so Luka thought this would be a great opportunity for his father to bond with his sister. His mother had tried to warn him how untrustworthy and unpredictable Jagged Stone could be, but Luka didn't listen. He wanted to believe that he could rely on his father, but he had been wrong.

"He didn't come today," Juleka mumbled. Luka's whole heart was crushed inside of him. He had let his sister down too.

"Stay here. I'm going to sort some things out." Luka knew exactly where his father would be. The Bourgeois hotel.

Even though it was already the evening, Luka paddled as fast as he could on his bike over to the hotel. Chloe, nor Zoe happened to be there, but that wasn't the reason Luka had come.

"Luka! How nice of you to come by!" Jagged Stone remarked as soon as he saw his son.

Luka wasn't falling for it. "Why didn't you come to school today? You said you would, and you didn't."

A shocked expression crossed Jagged Stone's face. "Oh, that was today? I forgot. Sorry."

"You let my sister down. This isn't the first time you've said you'll be somewhere and you haven't." It hurt Luka a lot more than he liked to admit. It was great, finally getting to meet his father, but now he was starting to understand why his mother had kept it a secret all these years. She didn't want her kids to accidentally get hurt by their father's carelessness.

"Luka, I'm sorry. Next time-"

"No!" Luka yelled back. "That's what you always say, but you never mean it. Can't you see we're giving you a chance? I don't want to play this game my whole life."

"Luka-"

"No- just- I need to be by myself." Luka left before Jagged Stone could stop him. He needed to go somewhere where he could think freely.

***

It was just as Luka had reached the Saint-Martin canal when he saw that he wasn't alone. Chloe was sitting cross-legged, right at the spot where he had first seen her. Luka approached her and took a seat down beside her.

"You okay?" he asked. She wasn't crying, but her eyes looked watery.

"I think so. As good as I can be, considering the circumstances." Chloe let out a ragged breath, once again thinking back to everything that had just happened.

"Yeah."

"Rough day too?" Chloe asked, after looking at him.

"Yeah," Luka admitted. He didn't want to talk about it, and he could tell Chloe didn't want to either. So they just sat there, watching the sunset. It was peaceful, and comforting to just sit there beside each other. It made them both feel calm in a way they couldn't explain.

"You know Luka, I've decided something," Chloe announced. He waited patiently for her to continue. "I'm glad I made the choices I did. It's been hard, adjusting and changing my ways, but I think it's been worth it. Because now I can finally see how awful I was. I don't want to end up bitter and alone. Not like my mother." She bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"So what are you going to do?" Luka asked.

Chloe shrugged. "Family is forever. You can't give up on them, no matter what."

Luka shook his head. She was right, of course. He would always be there to give his father another chance. He could only hope that one day, he would finally be able to fix his mistakes.

Without thinking, Chloe reached out and grabbed Luka's hand. It felt so warm, so nice. She squeezed it tightly and held it even closer. "Thank you, Luka, for being here for me."

"Always."