A Little Hopeless Romantic

Chapter 8 - Memories

“You’re not going to school today?” my dad asked me, waking me up in the morning. He’s looking at me all suited up ready to go to work. 

And there’s Nick standing in my door.

“Huh?” I said. I looked at the clock slowly. 

My eyelids feel so heavy, I’m barely open my eyes and look around. I feel a lot better than yesterday, but still I’m sick as hell.

 “So you’re skipping school today?” my dad asked again.

“You should take a rest for today,” Nick said. My dad put his right hand on my forehead to feel my temperature. 

“Should I go to the doctor, dad?” I asked my dad as he’s giving me an odd kinda look. 

“No, the doctor will do nothing but give you some unnecessary medicine. You just need some rest,” My dad answered.

 “You want me to buy some herbal tea or something to make you feel better?” Nick asked.

“Or maybe I should accompany Candace at home!” he looks at dad.

“You’re just making an excuse to skip school aren’t you Nicholas? Go get ready for school,” my dad looks at Nick. Nick just smiles and then left.

My dad’s eyes suddenly give a look at a frame photo that I hung in the wall. It’s a family photo shoot. There is my mom, and then there’s me, Nick, and my dad are sitting in a bench surrounded by trees in the wood. My dad stares at the photo. But no, he doesn’t smile at it. His eyes are obviously looking at my mom on the photo.

They divorced for about 4 years ago. My dad thought my mom was cheating on him, he didn’t believe her again. I wonder why they love didn’t work out. My mom is my idol, just like my dad. My mom is living in an apartment all by herself. She told me that she would never fall in love for the second time in another guy except my dad.

“Dad?” I said. I look at my dad’s eyes, he’s about to cry but not letting his daughter sees him crying in front of her.

“I’m going to work now. Take care Candace,” he said as he’s giving me a kiss in the forehead and leaving my bedroom without looking back.

I count the steps that he takes as he’s leaving the room. One… Two… Three… Four… He’s leaving the door opened. Just like that. The reason why I’m not staying with my mom is because of the family tradition; my dad thinks that my mom is not responsible enough to take care Nick and I.

I’m forcing myself to get up, and drink a glass of water. I’m bringing my phone everywhere but I’m not checking any massages. My headache is getting worse as I’m walking downstairs. There’s another family photo shoot on the wall in the dining room. The photo was taken several years ago; I think I was 10 back then. I miss my mom. I have passed a year not seeing her. I remember the day when my dad is kicking my mom out of the house;he almost slapped her in the face. But luckily, he didn’t slap her. I asked myself over and over again, what could I do to make them back together again? I’m sitting in the dining table with a glass of orange juice in my hand. I look at my mom’s face in the photo. I remember the last time I saw her, she was begging on her knees looking at me smiling.

“Where are you leaving?” I asked my mom. 

“I’m not leaving Candace. I’m just going to go to an employee gathering outside the country for my job,” she said lying to me.

 And then my dad shouted, “You better leave. My daughter don’t need your bullshit women advice.”

That moment my mom cried, and quickly erased her tears with a smile and left the house. I looked at my dad’s face; he was full with angers and resentment as he looked at my mom. But I know that my dad loves my mom, which is why he still hangs the photo of our family. My mom came to my primary school graduation, so as my dad. In that event, my dad acted like he didn’t know my mom. She was a complete stranger for him.