My Life After the Disaster

Chapter Twenty Nine

After I got back from my modeling job I took off my makeup and called Alexia to see what she was up to. Since it’s not quite the end of her school day she couldn’t really talk but told me she loves me and that she’d see me after class.

I lay down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Now I’m bored. I really need to find something to do. I don’t have any other jobs lined up for today and Alexia won’t be done school for another three hours. With that thought I peel myself out of bed and leave my room. Maybe Guinevere can think of something for me to do.

“Hey Rose, what’s going on? Are you going out again?” she asks me as she notices me walk into the living room.

“I’m just bored. I don’t have any other work for today. I’m not really needed at the shelter and Alexia won’t be done school for three hours. I thought maybe you had an idea of something we could do together,” I tell her, sitting down beside her on the couch.

She sets her book face down, still opened up onto the coffee table and turns to look at me. “Why don’t you read a book? Books are a great way to pass the time,” she tells me, sounding sincere.

“I’m not much of a book reader. I don’t find it all that entertaining. How about we watch a movie together. A really long one,” I tell her, looking towards the tv mounted to the wall.

She sighs, picking up her book and says, “I’m quite enjoying this book that I’m reading but you’re free to watch whatever movie you so choose to watch. I’ll just move to my library room.” She then gets up and walks off with her book in her hand.

I grab the remote and turn the tv on, going into one of the many streaming services my aunt has and find a movie that looks interesting to me. Before playing it I walk off to the kitchen in search of some popcorn. I find the popcorn in the cupboard and put it into the microwave, set the timer and watch as it pops in the bag. Once it’s done I take it out and walk back over to the couch, sit down, start the movie and open up my bag of popcorn, eating it as I enjoy the movie I picked out.

By the time the movie is over my aunt had made and served me my lunch but there was still an hour till Alexia was done classes for the day.

“How was the movie?” Guinevere asks me as she sits down beside me on the couch.

“It was nice but it was also a little sad. I ended up crying a few times. How was your book?” I ask her, noticing it wasn’t anywhere in her hand.

“It was good. I still have more reading to do but I decided to put it down for now. I can only do so much reading in a day. What are you planning now?” she asks me.

“I’m not really sure. I just finished the movie and that was it. I don’t want to start another one as she’ll be done before it’s over,” I tell her as I turn the tv off.

“We could always talk about stuff,” she suggests to me, putting it out there.

“What would we talk about, exactly?” I ask her, looking over at her to study her face. She looks a lot like my mom. Sometimes it’s like she’s right here with me still. But I know she’s gone.

“You could tell me about Alexia, I could talk about Joseph. We could talk about the past. Anything that you want. Just pick a topic,” she tells me, smiling.

“How about we talk about mom. You look a lot like her and it makes me miss her that much more. Tell me stories from before,” I tell her.

She clears her throat, takes a breath and says, “Okay… a story about your mom. Well, I’ll tell you. Your dad was not the first man to catch your mom’s eye. He was just the one to seal the deal. She dated this guy before him and I thought it would be a forever kind of love but it wasn’t. His name was Jeff and he was a good looking fellow. Quite charming too.”

“Is Jeff short for something? I thought mom and dad were high school sweethearts,” I ask, interrupting her.

“They were, but not till her last year of school. She dated Jeffrey for three years before that. He doted on her, and her him. They were basically inseparable,” she tells me, smiling at the memories.

“Then why did they break up?” I asked, curious to know what happened. I move a little closer to my aunt as I listen to her story.

“Your dad came into the picture. The moment they locked eyes it was an instant love connection. Jeffery who? It was like he didn’t exist anymore. Jeff was so heartbroken. He couldn’t understand at all. I’m sorry Jeff I don’t understand it completely but I love him. I love Stanley. It’s this intense kind of love that I’ve never felt before in my life. Not ever. But what about me? He asked her. What about our love and the love I feel for you? Does that not matter? Of course it matters Jeff. It always has. But I now know that this was just a stepping stone. My forever is with Stan and I know that there’s some girl out there that’s your forever. But that girl just isn’t me. I’m really sorry Jeffrey. Please understand. I never meant to hurt you. She told him. You never meant to hurt me? Stella! I feel like you ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped all over it. I hope you have a great life with Stanley Wood. Because I don’t want anything more to do with you ever again. Jeffrey, that was it. They broke up and I never saw him again. Not till my sister died. He came to her funeral. I saw him there at the back. He was crying,” Guinevere tells me, finishing her story.

“Wow, that’s quite the story. I never knew. I just knew that my parents had that love at first sight kind of connection. She never told me about Jeff. But I guess she wouldn’t want to talk about the boy she broke the heart off. I take it you were present for this breakup conversation,” I say, getting up from the couch.

“I was. Yes. They came home together after school that day. Jeffrey had noticed something was off about my sister and wanted to talk to her about it then she broke up with him and he ran out of the house. Even our parents were surprised. After they met your dad though, they understood,” she tells me, standing up.

“Alright. That’s definitely interesting. Do you think I could meet Jeffrey? I’m curious about what kind of man he is. I know if mom had stayed with him I wouldn’t be here at all. Some other child would have been born. Even if I look nothing like my dad. I’m still his daughter,” I tell her, looking straight at my aunt.

“I don’t know Rose. I don’t think he’d be thrilled to meet the daughter of his lost love who looks basically identical to her. He might see you and think that my sister is still alive,” she tells me, sitting back down.

“Okay. I get it. I just thought I could hear stories about my mother from him. But I guess that would be hurtful for him to tell, so, I’ll drop it. Looks like we killed about thirty minutes talking about mom’s past. I’m going to go wait outside for Alexia,” I tell her, heading back to my room to grab my cell phone. Just as I get there my phone starts ringing. “Hello?”

“Hey Beautiful, I’m glad you picked up. I got done a bit earlier than expected so I’m heading to pick you up. I want to take you out somewhere instead of staying at your aunt’s place. I want to have you all to myself,” she tells me, sounding happy.

“Okay. That’s fine with me. I was just about to head outside to wait for you. I was talking with my aunt about my mother. Turns out my dad wasn’t my mother’s first love. She dated some guy for three years before meeting my dad and breaking this guy’s heart,” I tell her, leaving my bedroom. I walk passed my aunt, wave to her and head out the front door, closing it behind me.

“Really, wow. I bet that surprised you,” she tells me, sounding a bit surprised herself.

“Yeah. I figured my mom had boyfriends before my dad. But to be head over heels, attached at the hip in love with someone else was not something I was expecting. I half expected my aunt to say he had been killed,” I tell her, still processing everything.

“Okay. We can talk more once I get there. I’m in the car now so it won’t be long till I get to you. I’m going to hang up but I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

“I love you too. Drive safe,” I tell her, ending the call. I lean up against the side of the house and slide down till I’m sitting on the ground.

Just as Alexia had said, it doesn’t take long for her to arrive. She pulls up to the front of the house, parking on the road and waves over to me.

I get up off the ground and run over to her, getting into the passenger’s side of the front. I close the door and buckle up, leaning over to kiss my beautiful lover on the lips.

She takes the chance to frame my face with her hands and deepens the kiss, breathing me in. When she pulls away she smiles at me and says, “I missed you too.”

“Okay. You got me in your car. Where are we going?” I ask her, looking her over.

“Back to my place. That way there’s no one to bother us,” she tells me, turning to look at the road as she pulls away from the curb.

“And what exactly are we going to be doing?” I ask her, curious of her answer but already kind of knowing it. “I’d like to talk about your family.”

“I had a more intimate idea in mind but I guess we could talk about my family. What exactly do you want to know?” she asks me.

“What was it like growing up in your home. You already said that you and your brother were close but we haven’t talked about any of it,” I tell her, looking out the window.

“Well, I was raised mostly by nanny’s because our parents were too busy saving lives. They were both surgical doctors. My mother is a heart specialist and my father was a general surgeon. So he could do general surgery. After his accident though he couldn’t do surgery anymore. It almost broke him. He became a family doctor instead. He sees patients and has assistant’s to help him with things he isn’t able to do because of his chair. But it helps him to cope with the loss of his legs. And it allowed him to spend more time at home with my brother and I. He worked from Monday to Friday, had nights and weekends off. Though he still couldn’t care for us, he kept the nanny’s for that. We also had a personal chef,” she tells me, driving along the room.

“What was your mom like?” I ask her as she didn’t say much about her mother.

Before she could say anything else she pulls into the parking lot of her apartment building and parks the car, turning it off and undoing her seatbelt. “How about we continue this conversation inside,” she tells me, opening the door to get out.

I undo my seatbelt and open the car door, sticking my phone into my pocket once I get up. “Okay, but you better not avoid the question. I expect an answer,” I tell her, closing the car door.

She locks up the car and heads towards the building, taking my hand into hers. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Don’t you worry. I’ll tell you all about my mother,” she says, opening the door to go into the building.

We go into the building and up to her apartment, only stopping to unlock the door then we go inside and Alexia locks it.

“We’re inside now. I’m waiting for an answer,” I tell her, leaning against the door.

“My mother was not your typical mother. She didn’t have kids cause she wanted to fill this void in her life. She had kids to look like she had the perfect family. But she was too busy working all the time to actually be a mom. When she was around she was cold towards us and always expected perfection. We had to be straight A student’s or she wouldn’t be happy with us. Her way to punish us was to not talk to us or acknowledge us for a week at a time. There was one time she wouldn’t acknowledge me for a whole month because I flunked a math test. She told me I should be ashamed of myself and said that math is very important to know in science. I told her I didn’t want to be a scientist. The way she looked at me was with complete and utter disgust. She wasn’t the kind of mother you go running home to with your problems. She was the mother you avoided at all costs,” she tells me, sounding a bit sad at the whole thing.

I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her, saying, “It’s okay. You don’t need her now. You’ve got me. But I won’t be your mom.”

She laughs, wrapping her arms around me then kisses me intensely on the lips, dragging me off to her room as she starts removing my clothes as we go.