A & A

[03]: the departure

________________________

03

the departure

"Worries and distress

are the things you have,

from me to you,

this apology I extend."

________________________

The next few days passed by in a blur. The next thing Aurora knew, it's already Friday morning, six hours before she has to leave her home and meet her father, her beloved little brother, and her wretched stepmother.

A tired sigh escaped her lips as she turned off her alarm and sluggishly rolled off her very comfortable bed, not minding that the time it will take her to fix her bed would be longer than usual. She has always been very meticulous when it comes to her things, always making sure that everything is neat and tidy before she leaves—the exact same thing she did to her side of the dorm.

She took a fleeting look at her luggage, smiling when everything seemed to be in place. When she packed her stuff yesterday afternoon, she was done in record time. She has already prepared and separated the things and clothes she would be bringing to her father's house, so all that was left for her to do was to fold it up and put it inside the luggage—not that it took much time since she's pretty much a neat freak.

After her talk with Frank last night before she went to bed, all she could think about was how she's going to feel when she sees them all together again after two years—and see if her personal feelings have changed. Despite being overly fond of her little brother and loving her father with every fiber of her being, she still feels rather contempt when she sees her brother, her father and her stepmother being together—the complete and happy family.

However, she quickly shook those ideas out of her head. She knew it would do nothing but torment her more if she keeps on thinking about things that would not help her case at all. It would be smart to just stay quiet and not dwell on thoughts that are meant to make her self-destruct—that's what she kept in mind.

"I'm going crazy." She mumbled as she went inside her bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror right after. "I've gotten over it, haven't I? I've accepted the fact that my father already has a different family."

Despite reassuring herself that all of those things don't affect her anymore, she knows better than to fully believe it. No matter how hard she tries, she just can't seem to fool herself of that certain fact. The hurt she buried deep within herself still threatens to resurface most of the time, that it takes a great deal to swallow it back down. It also doesn't help that her father tends to rub it in her face that he's completely content with his new family, paying no heed to the misery and pain her neutral expression is trying so hard to hide.

She didn't know when she turned on the faucet or how her hands seemed to have moved, but the sound of the running water was enough to snap her out of the reverie she was in. Blinking her eyes in surprise a couple of times, it took her a moment to gather her wits and lift her hand to turn the faucet off. As she forced her feet to stand under the shower, she kept her mood up by thinking about her brother, who was anxiously waiting for her arrival. With that thought alone, it was enough to rid herself of the negative emotions she's feeling and in an instant, a smile was plastered on her face.

Carol, who sat at the dining room together with her husband, glanced anxiously at the open door frame, waiting patiently for her daughter's arrival. Late last night, all she could think about was what Aurora would be feeling the moment she would arrive at Frank's doorstep. She knows that being with Sally still makes Aurora uncomfortable so she's worried about what her reaction would be now, especially since she's going to be there to take care of the bakery of the woman her daughter detests the most. Even when the light of the rising sun slithered its way through her and Graham's bedroom, she still lay there immobile, her head trying to find a way to make her daughter feel better about the whole thing.

Even hours later, when she's standing in the kitchen cooking their breakfast, her mind would still continuously betray her and distract her from her chore by the thoughts that kept her up all night. She just couldn't help herself but worry about Aurora—she's her only daughter anyway.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to put a forkful of pancake, Graham noticed the way his wife kept glancing at the door frame, making him sigh and put his fork back down his plate. He reached out from across him and held her hand as he said, "You worry too much. Aurora's going to be fine."

"How sure are you?" Carol asked, giving in to the comfort her husband is giving her.

Graham chuckled. "I'm absolutely sure. Besides, it's not like she's going into unknown territory. I'm pretty sure Sally is jumping for joy that Aurora agreed to watch over her bakery."

Carol pressed her lips in a thin line, letting go of Graham's hand right after while the latter just stared at her with a look full of humor. "I guess so. Sally does seem to be quite fond of Aurora." She looked back at her husband with a determined look. "But what if she's just faking it? What if she's just trying to get Aurora's affection to make her look good in Frank's eyes?"

"Well, that's a possibility, but I've seen with my own eyes how she is when Aurora's around. Even when she thinks no one is watching, she has this look of longing and adoration in her face when she looks at your daughter." He said. "And I'm a psychologist, remember? I would know that look anywhere."

Despite hearing her husband's argument about the current situation, she still feels skeptical about the whole thing. A part of her knows that Sally just wants to make amends for the mistakes she has made, but there's still another part of her that refuses to believe the intentions she keeps on saying—the part of her that just wants to keep her daughter safe.

Before she could say anything else, the footsteps she heard and the presence she felt was enough to make her swallow down the words she was going to say and look at the door frame to see Aurora walk in with a smile on her face. She released a subtle sigh. At least she looks happy, she thought.

Aurora walked towards her mother to give her a kiss on the cheek before sitting beside her and saying, "Good morning."

"Morning, Aur." greeted the grinning Graham. "Did you sleep well?"

With a chuckle, she lifted her fork and picked up two pieces of pancake before saying, "Surprisingly, I did."

Her mother turned to look at her with a curious look plastered on her face. "Aren't you worried about today?" Carol asked, ignoring the warning look Graham is sending her. Who cares if she voices her thoughts? She just wants to make sure Aurora is going to be fine. She is going to be gone for the whole summer anyway.

"Hmm, not really." With the use of her knife and fork, she sliced a small bit of the pancake on her plate. "I'm not keen on seeing my wretched stepmother for the next three days, but I just thought of how excited Theo seems to be that I'm arriving a few hours from now and I'm excited all of a sudden."

What she's saying isn't exactly all true. Sure, she's excited about the prospect of seeing her adorable little brother again, but she's nervous at the same time. She doesn't exactly know how to act now that she's going to be living in the same house as Sally since it's never really happened before. Is she supposed to be aloof and indifferent or is she supposed to act like the pleasant and kindhearted woman her mother raised her to be? Even she knows that her father isn't expecting her to act like nothing happened because she makes sure to make all of them know that she isn't willing to accept Sally—ever.

Carol chuckled. "Of course you would. Theo is the only reason why you always want to visit there anyway."

As she chewed her food, the corner of Aurora's lips lifted in a smirk. She propped her right arm on the table, her hand still holding her fork as she c****d her head to the side to look at her mother before sending her a wink.

Graham and Carol laughed at her actions.

Both of them know how much Aurora adores her little brother so it's no surprise at all why she didn't even bother to reply to her mother's words—despite Theo being the child of the woman she likes the least. She knows anyway that the child has no fault in whatever her mother did. He was just the result of her mother's faults—not that she, or any of them has made him feel like he was a mistake that was not supposed to happen. And if anyone were ever to make him feel that way, both parents know—Frank and Sally included—that Aurora would put up a fight and defend him all the way. What right do they have in making him feel that way when even his own family has never made him feel like he was a mistake?

“I bet you’re just really excited to see him, aren’t you?” Graham asked as he cut a piece of his own pancake perched on top of his plate.

“Honey, I don’t think you really need to ask that question.” Carol chuckled as she looked at her husband, before finally settling her gaze on her still smirking daughter. “You can practically see the answer on her face.”

At that, Aurora couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her lips. With her smirk now replaced by a gentle smile, she cut yet another piece of her pancake with a movement full of grace and finesse--something that she picked up from her mother, who is extremely particular when it comes to those kinds of things. “Well it’s not like you can exactly blame me for it.” Her eyes twinkled as she lifted her fork and hovered it over her lips. “After all, it’s been a while since I’ve last seen him in person.”

Carol looked at her daughter as she finally put the piece inside her mouth before saying, “That’s because you seldom visit there. If you would have done that more often, you would have seen your brother more too.”

“And deal with Sally for a long time?” Aurora let out a scoff. “No, thank you.”

Upon seeing the warning look that her mother sent her, Aurora immediately sent her an innocent smile, one that is working quite less on her now compared to when she does it a few years back. Still, Aurora was not disheartened by that little fact, since she knows that it would have eventually come to that. She’s just surprised that it went on for so long, because she was so sure her mother would have stopped falling for that when she turned fifteen--not that she’s complaining.

Aurora’s little antic didn’t escape Graham’s attention. With eyes twinkling in delight and a chuckle escaping his lips, he said, “And yet here you are, willingly agreeing to deal with her the whole summer vacation.”

“This is for Theo.” Aurora repeated, eyes narrowing at her stepfather. Meanwhile, Carol merely rolled her eyes at the interaction between the two most important people in her life and brought another bite-sized pancake piece inside her mouth. “And besides, she won’t be there for the whole time I’m staying so that definitely makes things easier.”

“I think when you finally run the bakery without Sally’s help or supervision, you would end up wishing that you just have to deal with her instead.” Graham told her. “Trust me Aur, you’re going to wish you had her with you.”

“The day that happens is when hell freezes over.” Aurora replied with a dignified look on her face, totally unwilling to admit the truth that laced in her stepfather’s words. After all, what experience does she have in running a bakery? She has no idea how to do things, let alone actually making the products. Although the managerial side of things seems to be something completely doable to her, she still isn’t confident she can make the whole thing work the way she wants. There would definitely be discrepancies along the way, and how to deal with those would just have to require immense compromisation on her part.

“Darling, I think we all know here that you need Sally more than you think you do.” Carol chorused, feeling completely amused by the way her daughter is reacting to things. It might have vexed her once upon a time, but now she knows that despite all those mean words that come sprouting out of her daughter’s lips doesn’t hold the amount of dislike that she was expecting it to have. “Running a bakery isn’t exactly an easy feat.”

Aurora moved her gaze back and forth from her mother and her stepfather, before she let out a sigh while rolling her eyes in the process. “I’m sure I’ll do just fine.”

“Now you’re just being very prideful and stubborn about everything.” Carol replied.

“That’s because I can, mother.”

“No need to get all cheeky with me.” Carol’s lips tugged in a slight smirk as she sliced another piece of her pancake. “I know very well that you can.”

“Well since that’s now an established fact, I think we’ve all said what needs to be addressed.” Aurora gave her parents an all too innocent smile before dropping her gaze back to the pancake that was left untouched for a couple of moments. As she sliced another piece, her mind wandered back to the plans for the summer that she originally made with her friends.

Honestly, if it weren’t for this sudden obligation that she has to do, she would have already been on a trip with her friends, enjoying the feeling of finally being free from school work. They would have already gone rift-rafting and bungee jumping, or mountain climbing and cliff jumping--the plans that are already way overdue.

Still, with her being unable to do anything with the current situation at hand, she just has to suck it up and hope that the next summer vacation she has, her and her friends would finally be able to tick those things off their to-do lists.

Why does Sally and her stepfather have to do a damned second honeymoon anyway? Surely, with them being gone for almost three weeks during their first honeymoon, it was already more than enough time to spend time with each other. They have a child now, for Pete’s sake. Although she really has no problem taking care of her brother, couldn’t they just wait a few more years until Theo is old enough for them to have that second honeymoon that they want so damn much?

“No, you’ve said all the things that you wanted to address.” Her mother sent her a grin. “I’m still not quite done yet.”

Aurora groaned slightly in her place upon hearing those words escape her mother’s mouth. “Here we go again.” She mumbled.

Graham laughed, before his eyes fixed on his wife. “Dear, I think Aur’s already had quite enough with your repetitive reprimands. Frankly, me too.”

“And this is exactly why I demand to say my piece.” Carol replied. “You take Aurora’s side and you spoil her way too much.”

“Of course he would.” Aurora chorused, the smugness that laced in her tone of voice not overlooked by neither her mother nor her stepfather. “Parents stick to their child.”

“She’s right.” Graham grinned at his wife. “Aur does seem to have it harder, after all.”

Carol rolled her eyes. “The both of you are enjoying this way too much.”

"Why wouldn't we?" Aurora grinned at her mother, earning yet another chuckle from her stepfather and narrowed eyes from the former. "This is a rare occurence after all."

"None of what's happening is rare at all. This happens almost every time, and you know it." Carol replied.

"I don't think I quite understand where you're going with that, mom." Aurora blinked her eyes at her mother in an attempt to look all innocent in her eyes. Although she knows that her attempt is basically a futile one, that still didn't stop her from doing just that. Why would she? Doing that kind of thing is way too fun. "Could you please repeat that?"

Graham laughed, his eyes shining in mirth as he returned his gaze back to his wife. "That's a superb idea, honey."

Carol let out a sigh before she continued slicing a piece of her pancake. "What did I do to deserve having to deal with this almost everyday?"

As both Aurora and Graham laughed at Carol's words, the phone that Aurora put on top of the table suddenly pinged, instantly catching her attention. A smile immediately made its way onto her lips when she saw that the notification came from Kent, who sent a message to their group chat.

BROKE(N) HEARTS

Kent:

Aur

Are you on your way to your father's house yet?

Aurora:

Not yet

I'm still eating breakfast with mom and Graham

But I'll be leaving a few minutes from now

Kent:

Well okay

Take care!!!!

Aurora:

Thanks

What's with the sudden interest anyway?

Kent:

Can't a friend just ask?

Alicia:

That's because you're the friend who never just asks

Aurora:

Wow

You're up early

Dexter:

We're all up early

Aurora:

This is new

What's the occasion?

Kent:

Your departure

Aurora:

Are all of you really that excited about me leaving?

Dexter:

Not me

I'm going to miss you

It's going to be so boring without you here

Even just thinking about not seeing your face everyday makes me sad

Alicia:

Dex, seriously

It's early in the morning

Please stop

Kent:

You're making me want to throw up the food I just ate

And that's totally not cool because I actually like my breakfast

Aurora:

Then don't read it

Kent:

Kind of too late for that

Alicia:

But seriously though

Dex

Stop

Alexander:

Don't make him stop just because all of you suddenly remembered I'm here

Aurora:

And the asshole is here once again

Who cares if you're here anyway?

Alexander:

Well

By the looks of it

Apparently you

Aurora:

And you're bullshitting yourself

Alexander:

And you're in denial

Don't worry

I'm here because you're here

Kent:

Before the both of you start another fight, Alex, I just want to make one thing clear

Alexander:

What?

Kent:

Are you seriously flirting with Aur right now?

Alicia:

Oh my God

Okay

Alex, stop

Are you insane?

Alexander:

How am I insane?

Dexter:

Yes

I want to ask too

How does it make him insane?

Aurora:

Dex shut up

And Alex you're such a jerk

Alexander:

Why?

Are you worried you're going to fall in love with me again?

Or are you worried that feeling will never go away?

Aurora:

Fuck you

Alicia:

That's enough!

Alex, this is not the place nor the time to say any of that

In case you haven't noticed, there are actually other people present here in this group chat

Why did you choose this very moment to grace us with your presence once again anyway?

Because you knew that Dex is trying to woo Aur?

Grow the f**k up!

If you want to do that, tell her face to face and not through chat, you f*****g coward

Kent:

I agree

Dexter:

So do I

Alexander:

Don't worry

You'd be surprised by what I can do

Aurora scoffed when she saw Alexander's reply, the rage she felt still not simmering down. "Asshole." She muttered under her breath, glaring at the screen of her phone. The moment she read Alexander's previous comment about her falling in love with him, all she saw was red, red, red. How dare he say those words! Even after a long time of being apart, he's still the asshole she knows; callous and haughty. She can't even remember what made her like him in the first place.

Although he was right about the fact that her feelings for him haven't changed one bit, it's still highly conceited of him to assume that. People's feelings could change over time, can't they?

Carol noticed the look Aurora had on her face, looking fleetingly at her husband, who nodded his head towards her daughter, before returning her gaze back on her glaring daughter. She cleared her throat. "Honey, are you okay?"

Aurora finally lifted her gaze from her phone to look at her mother. She masked her rage with a thin smile, but the fury burning in her eyes can still be clearly seen. "Yeah I'm fine." She looked at her wristwatch. "I better get going. Dad wants me to be there no later than half past two."

As she stood up, her mother had no choice but to let her go. "Wait, honey, we'll walk you out." She said, standing up in the process and looking at her husband. "Let's go, darling."

"No, it's alright." came Aurora's reply. "Just continue eating your breakfast. I'll call you once I arrive at dad's house."

Without waiting for neither her mother's nor her stepfather's reply, she walked out the dining room and into the living room, where her luggage was waiting for her. She closed her eyes for a moment as she released a breath through her nose, still feeling rage in the pit of her stomach. After a moment of composing herself, she walked out the front door, her luggage in tow.

Back at the dining room, Graham and Carol stared after Aurora, even after she was out of their sight. Despite the fact that Aurora didn't say a word about what's wrong, Carol already knows what made her daughter act the way she did. Aside from her stepmother, only one other person could make her react that way.

Carol sighed before looking back at her husband. "Alexander?"

Graham smirked. "Who else?"

"What could have Alexander done now?" Carol wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Graham answered. "But knowing him, it must have been something that could make her mad in an instant. The guy knows her like the back of his hand anyway."

After a moment of contemplating her husband's words, her lips slowly lifted up in a small smile before a full chuckle finally left her lips. "That Alexander."