It took me some time to get enough courage to tell Shereen. It broke my heart to see her cry, but I knew I owed her the truth. She did not ask too many questions. She just asked the one question which mattered to her –
"Will I get to meet him?" I saw the hope in her eyes, and hated that I had to put out that light. But I had to give her an honest answer. When it comes to her father, we have long ago decided that I would always tell her the truth – no matter that it will hurt her.
"I don't know. Maybe one day you will get to meet him. But not just yet. Everything is too complicated now. After what I have told you, meeting him would hurt too many people. I already hurt him again when I walked away from him. I think it would be more painful for him to meet you and then let you go." I don't know if I was making any sense at all. But I knew I had to try to explain to Shereen why it was not a good idea for her to meet her father so soon.
"I... I understand." She kept on crying, but I knew that she really did understand.
"Just know that he knows already about you. And that he loves you even without having met you."
"How – how do you know?"
"Because I saw it in his eyes." I hugged her and let her cry on my shoulder, thinking back to that night when her father cried too on my shoulder.
As simple as that, Shereen accepted what I said. I don't know how I knew, but I know that knowing her father loves her soothed the pain somewhat.
It did not take long for Shereen to recover from the deep loneliness that she had after I have spoken to her about her father. It's true that the young recover faster. But then I guess the bears helped a lot.
YOU ARE READING
Borrowed Time
Short StoryA finished story in progress. Lori and Andy, the classic star-crossed college sweethearts. Their story never had closure. Fourteen years later, they meet again, not quite incidental. But theirs is a story that will not know a happy ending, nor wi...
