Draft Messages

thirty

"It's fine, take your time," I reassured her. "And I think I'll just wait out here, thanks."

She gave me one last nod as she entered the room.

I stared at her retreating figure before walking towards the chairs. The moment I settled myself in one of the seats, I buried my face into my hands. This stress was so not good for me.

"I'm sure everything would be alright."

I snapped my head to the side, the source of the voice, only to see a guy - most probably a year older than I was - with ash brown hair smiling comfortingly at me.

That seemed to distract me, as confusion took over my dread. "I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?"

"Oh, that's right. How impolite of me," He laughs. "I'm Logan Kennedy, Esther's boyfriend."

My mouth turned into the shape of an 'o' as realization dawned upon me. "Oh! I've heard all about you, I'm Aphrodite." I tell him. "It's so nice to finally meet her boyfriend though not in the most pleasurable circumstances." I joked

"Same here, but that aside, trust me. You have nothing much to worry about."

I nodded, "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem."

Our conversation flowed out from that point - which was a great distraction for me -- and only ended the moment Esther decided to exit and stand by the door of the room.

"Aphrodite," She says, gesturing me to come. I stood up from my seat and with a bid of good bye to Logan, I walked towards where she is.

She immediately stepped aside, giving me space to enter the room. With the slightest bit of hesitation and a deep breath, I stepped inside.

Past the number of fruits and flowers filling in the room, the last thing I would've expected was Noah and Esther's mother - Cara Carter. Lying in the hospital bed.

My mouth went dry with words. I helplessly uttered, "Wh-what. . .?"

Clothed in white hospital robe, she sat up straight with the help of her daughter. She turned towards me with a warm smile, causing even more confusion on my part.

She chuckled, "Not the person you were expecting to see, I'm guessing?" she asked.

I nodded. She patted on the free space beside her - opposite Esther - and gestured for me to sit. My mind was filled with confusion, so I followed her instruction without a word.

Silence ensued the three of us until Cara spoke, "It was my fault, in all honesty."

"Mom, it wasn't-" Esther started but was cut off with a wave of disagreement from Cara.

"You see, long before you and Noah started dating, his dad died because of a heart attack."

I gasped, this was all new to me. Noah was never open with his past. "I'm sorry," I said earnestly.

She held my hand and squeezed it tightly, "Don't be. It couldn't be helped, my husband had a weak heart from the start. Still, the devastation that came from his death created a distance between all of us. We all had separate ways for coping up with it. I, for one, indulged in gardening. Esther, on the other hand, had Logan by her side and helped her through it."

Esther blushed, "Ma, please."

Despite the fact that I had zero clue on where this was going, I smiled at Esther's shyness towards her relationship with Logan. They were cute together, I must say.

"Oh, young 'uns. Anyways, Noah was the one who was affected by my husband's death the most. They were the closest - inseparable, actually. His father was his everything and with no idea on how to deal with the loss, he got involved with drugs and drugs selling."

My jaw dropped open. Drugs and drugs selling? "You must be surprised. Well, this is all new to Esther, too, until Noah confessed everything three days ago."

Cara sighed, "Moving on, he got involved with some bad people. The summer before he met you, he cut all ties with them and went to rehab. It was then I found out, and my heart broke. I kept it a secret from Esther because Lord knows what she would've done."

Esther nodded, "I would've punched him for his stupidity. But he was lost and with no one to help him, I get where he's coming from."

It took Cara and Esther nearly an hour to finish explaining. Apparently, the bad guys that Noah got involved with wanted him to go back in the drug business - even go as far as threatening the ones he loved. And so, he broke up with me.

"He broke up with Mia, too, once he received the threat notice towards her. It was a foolish act on his part, anyway. But he wanted you to move on from him, so he dated her." Esther clarified

Also, according to Esther, he went into hiding when the threat became directed to her and Cara.

"I was telling you the truth that day you came to our house and asked for him. At that time, I didn't know where he was."

And so, everything came to an end when the bad guys decided to threaten Noah by shooting Cara.

"They were not smart, I tell you." Said Cara, "They shot me in the supermarket - it was public so, of course, they got caught when the bystanders called the police."

Esther sighed, "I panicked when the dean called for me. I didn't know what I had done wrong, but when he told me what happened, I went straight for my car and headed to the hospital. To hell with consequences."

Her mother gave her a reprimanding look, in which she returned with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"Anyways, I asked the nurse for details and found Noah when I entered the room. He spilled everything and he. . ." Esther trailed off.

"He what?" I asked impatiently.

"He told us not to tell you and that he was leaving." Cara finished.

All the newfound information was swimming in my head. I don't know how much more shock I could take. "What. . .?"

Esther gave me a pitiful smile, "I couldn't help it. I saw how much despair you've been through, and I just had to tell you. You deserve the truth. He told us he's gathered enough money throughout the years - from all the Christmas and birthday money, I'm guessing - and he's leaving off to somewhere."

"We don't know where, he wouldn't tell us. But from his words, he left to find himself. I'm sorry." Esther tells me

With that, I laughed. My chest hurts and all I could do was laugh. Tears pooled my eyes and I didn't realize I was crying until Cara wiped my tears away.

"It hurts so much. What am I supposed to do now?" I desperately asked while a whole new batch of tears fell.

Cara frowned, "My, Noah truly is foolish for letting a gem like you cry like this. I could see how much you love my son - thank you."

I stayed silent. She sighed, "Well, cheer up, Aphrodite. True love is beautiful and hard to find now-a-days, and great love stories such as yours deserve a happy ending. This isn't much of a happy ending, so it isn't the end. You are the writer of your story. Make it count."

Her words of encouragement made me wipe the remaining tears on my face. "You're right. This isn't the end." I said firmly.

Watch out, Noah, I thought to myself. This is only the beginning.

Author's Note:

Hey! I'm back. I'm sorry this took so long - things were really hectic for me and this was the only time I had the motivation to continue writing this. Anyways, tell me what you think! There's still an epilogue so please don't hate me. Also, please check out my other work entitled "From Me to You" it would really mean a lot. Thank you!

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