Pic of Sasha's painting
Sasha spluttered on the glass of chilled lemonade she had just put in her mouth. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she read the email once again.
She was in the kitchen enjoying a lazy day. Solomon was stationed in the living room with her dad. Sylvie was helping her mom make a picnic lunch and Sasha had been sitting around sketching in her notepad. The sight of the email was shocking and she felt hope rear his head.
"M-mom?!" She croaked.
"Yes darling?" She replied, paying attention to the thickness of the tomatoes Sylvie was slicing.
"Read this..." She handed her phone to her mother. Mrs Stewart's eyes roved over the email and widened in shock. Sylvie had already stopped slicing and was peeping over her shoulder.
"Wow. Could this be real?" Mrs Stewart asked, wiping her hands on her apron nervously.
Sasha shrugged, her heart racing.
"Maybe we should call the number here. And ask if it's a practical joke. Before getting all excited." Sasha suggested, trying to keep calm.
"Forward it to your father. Let him see."
Sasha did as she was told. Her fingers shook slightly as she completed the simple task. Almost immediately, both Solomon and her father were in the kitchen.
"I just read this. What?" His voice was incredulous.
"I know! This is... this is impossible!" Her mother replied. She tugged at her dark hair for a few seconds before putting a hand on Sasha's shoulder.
When Sasha had been born, her face had come up nearly a mishmash of features. Nobody could understand what sort of genetic malformation it was. It seemed to be a combination of more than 5 classified genetic mutations. She'd undergone surgeries periodically ever since, in a bid to gradually get her face to a normal position but everything had to stop when she was seven. Her parents couldn't keep up with the medical bills.
No doctor was able to give her a proper diagnosis and since the mutation wasn't life threatening, she had to leave it at that. For a while, many doctors had come to her parents, wanting to do research on Sasha and so many experimental surgeries but they had refused. She was already heavily damaged and suffering almost day from the pain of her surgeries. They were tired of putting her through such grueling experiences and felt that maybe when she was older, she would make the decisions by herself. By the time she turned ten, the interest had waned.
This was why Sasha spent her time saving up money for her surgeries. She knew she needed at least $500,000 so that at least she would be able to keep up with the various surgeries necessary for a few years. She didn't want to start and stop halfway.
Now, Sasha stared at the email on her phone. Apparently, Dr Michelle Herring, a world class surgeon with specialties in genetic mutation correction was interested in her. The email was simple and read:
Dear Miss Sasha Stewart,
It's an honor to write to you today seeing as you have developed into quite a unique lady. It has come to my attention that you were born with certain genetic mutations and after looking through your file, I feel like with a few tests, we will be able to properly diagnose and correct the mutations. Cost is not an issue as this is a personal quest of mine.
If you are interested, feel free to call me on my private number which is listed in the header of this page, at anytime of your convenience. I will be very interested in helping you as much I can.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Michelle Herring M.D.
Genetic Mutation Correction Specialist,
C-Herring Genetics.
Sasha breathed in and out, picnic forgotten. She needed to know that this wasn't some sick joke. She needed to call that number and hear what Dr Michelle had to say for herself.
"Mom... Dad... Let's call her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sasha raced upstairs immediately after the phone call. It was impossible to explain how she felt at this point. It was like the sun had just broken out from behind the clouds on a particularly cold and damp day, bringing light, heat and joy. Bringing hope. She felt so hopeful. So happy.
Dr Michelle had sounded extremely composed and professional. Her voice had been warm and it was clear that she cared about what she was doing. She had invited them to come visit the C-Herring Genetics headquarters in Nevada. Flights would be arranged, hotels would be booked and everything would be prepped for their arrival. Apparently, the good doctor wanted to meet Sasha personally and show her where they would take the tests and perform the corrections.
It felt like a fairy tale and Sasha knew that, in this moment, filled with so much hope. She needed to paint. She needed to paint something that gave her hope and would give anyone else who saw it hope.
She rushed to the attic and set the canvas before her. Immediately, she knew what she wanted. A field. A field of golden yellow sunflowers. A field of golden yellow sunflowers at sunrise. It would look real, almost a picture.
She pulled on her smock and began to paint.
She felt like crying tears of joy. Her guardian angels must really be looking out for her.
She worked on that painting for the rest of the day. When Solomon came to call her down for dinner, she was just putting the finishing touches.
"Wow, Sasha... this is beautiful." Solomon said, stepping closer to look at it. And it was. The sunflowers faced away from the viewer, all looking in the direction of the golden sun. Distant hills could be seen and the clouds were gradually clearing, letting the glorious sun peek through. This was hope embodied.
She smiled at him, before spraying setting spray on it. These days, she set everything she did. Though she knew she should post her work to be sold online, she hadn't had the energy to think about making money. The paintings felt private and were a gateway to what she felt inside. How could she just sell it to anonymous people online? People who wouldn't know her or understand her pain?
After dinner, she settled on the porch outside the house to think. This was where Jeremy had kissed her cheek and for once, she embraced the memories rather than pushed them away. He had given her that look and for a few seconds, she'd been scared he'd kiss her. She could still remember the scent of his expensive aftershave and the heat that blossomed where his lips had touched.
"Uhhh Sasha...?" Solomon's voice brought her back to earth.
She opened her eyes, cheeks hot and tried to compose herself. How embarrassing that he'd caught her day dreaming.
"Yeah?"
"You might want to see this." He held out his phone to her.
She told it from him. It was a Wikipedia profiling of Dr Michelle Herring. Her picture was large so Sasha's eyes went there first. Dr Michelle was a beautiful woman with dark eyebrows and stunning blue eyes. Her face was perfectly open and friendly, she wore classy lensless glasses and she was completely and utterly bald.
"You wanted to show me she's bald?" Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Read her bio."
Sasha skimmed through it. Her jaw dropped in shock.
Dr Michelle Herring's maiden name was Michelle Taylor Cox.
She tried to calm down. There were many Coxs on the planet.
She continued reading.
Her brother was the multi billionaire Harley Jason Cox, CEO of H-Cox industries.
The Genetics facility was built by her and her husband in association with her brother many years ago. Cox-Herring Genetics. C-Herring Genetics.
"Oh!" Sasha said, handing the phone to Solomon. He was watching her closely. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head. He felt outrage that Jeremy was pulling such strings. And he worried that maybe he was just trying to be mean to Sasha again. But how could getting a world class doctor to fix her be anything but nice? He didn't understand his motives at all. What did he hope to gain from this?
Sasha sat in the porch step, thoughts mirroring Solomon. Jeremy's aunt... Jeremy had spoken to his aunt about her. To help her. She didn't know how to feel. She knew he was doing this for her forgiveness. But she couldn't understand why he needed it so badly. He had graduated so he didn't need to complete the dare. There was no feasible reason for him to do something like this.
Unless... unless he actually liked her.
She immediately shoved the thought back down the hole it came from. That was impossible. Impossible. She didn't know how to feel anymore. She was still so angry at him. And now he was the reason for her hope. Did he expect her to just forgive him like that? Just because he flashed his money and influence a bit ?
She raised her eyes to the heavens and ran both hands through her hair in frustration. She WAS grateful. But still angry. How could she deal with this? How could she ease this stress?
Sighing, she got her phone out of her pocket and unblocked Jeremy.
She typed a quick text to him, apprehension clear in her movements. She was aware of Solomon watching her quizzically but her attention was fixed solely on the phone in her hand.
With a deep breath, she pressed send.
Jeremy, we need to talk.