Mad and Back

Coming Closer

"It's not connecting," Cassy said. Her teeming eyes would soon pour out rain of tears.

She kept calling Cain's phone when Chloe was turning six. Now it was not connecting. He had been gone for five months already. She wondered how he could leave without looking back or leaving a trace.

Debby told Cassy to obliterate every slight memory of her husband from her brain and keep focusing, but it seemed difficult for her.

Cassy wanted a father figure in Chloe's life, most especially during her sixth birthday. She wouldn't stop asking about her father's whereabout.

"Mum, is dad not coming back?"

"He'll be back daughter, but when's what I don't know."

She occasionally shed secret tears. Living life as a single mother hadn't been anything near what she bargained for.

She had often envied and envisioned a long-lasting relationship. While she was growing up, they had neighbors, Mr and Mrs Ross. They had been together for a whopping fifty-two years. The man had no complaint or regret about his woman at all.

They still smooched, even when their teeth were out of the picture.

"Teeth or no teeth, Charlene remains my other half," Mr. Ross would silence his critics in smiles.

Mr. Ross and his wife would play love together in the garden. They would run after one another like two young couple.

Drawing her inspiration from the Ross' family, she had assured herself of stopping at nothing to achieve a long-lasting connubiality. That was why she worked diligently to keep her castle standing. Now in a twist of fate, her castle was gone.

Now Alexis had made his visit incessant.

"We can make it work Cassy. Just give me that chance to prove my love for you."

"Love indeed," Cassy said. She wasn't buying it. "You men will sweet talk, only to butt out when it matters most."

"Stop generalising," he said. "That Cain did that to you doesn't mean every man will do same. Have you thought of it, why's Alexis never committed to any woman till date?"

He gazed into Cassy's eyes. She stood recalcitrantly and tried to avoid his eye contacts.

"It was all because of you, Cassy. I've never fallen in love until I met you."

Silence fell into the room. Reminiscing, she saw vividly that scenario where Alexis was stuttering before her before Cain barged in to 'steal' her away.

Now it's making sense to her what he was trying to tell her that day. But he should have said it then. Why was he a coward six years ago only to start finding his voice now?

She was already buying into Alexis' uneding talks of love, but was forcing herself not to reveal it.

The putrifying wound from Cain's rejection's still fresh in her heart. She wouldn't let another man add to those pains.

One thing remains for her to clarify. She needs to be sure Alexis doesn't have a hand in how her ex-husband left her.

Until she finds out the truth, she wouldn't let him come too close.

"He surely has a hand," Debby reassured her. "It's either directly or indirectly dearie. He's a womaniser and you know what that means."

"Bad influence you mean," Cassy deduced.

"Exactly. He's his closest friend and his lifestyle would have surely rubbed off on him."

"I agree with you to some extent," Cassy said as she swallowed her pills. She's developed HBP over the course of trying to persuade him to stay in the marriage.

That was one of the talking points that got Debby to convince her into signing the divorce paper back then.

"Life first Cassy. If you die today, you're the loser," she'd said.

All eyes were fixed at the date for Chloe's birthday. She'd be turning super-duper SIX--that digit that has a Roman figure nine(IX) embedded in it and also turned upside down to give the figure 9.

On the eve of Chloe's sixth birthday, she went out of control, crying all day.

"My daddy, where is my daddy?"

"I've told you to stop crying, lad. Dad will surely find his way here. I'm sure he won't forget your birthday."

If only she could reach him, it could have made a difference. She'd called him betimes, but it was like a dead end.

She retired to the inner room to pick up something.

Alexis walked in and began to console her. Chloe was alone in the lounge when he entered. The door was not locked from the inside. Cassy had gone to her room to make a call to Debby concerning the matter.

"Should I send Andy over? You know Chloe was getting used to him before he stopped coming," Debby said.

"Please send him over," Cassy said. She would do anything to see her daughter happy again.

When she dropped the call, she noticed that Chloe had stopped crying. She wondered what she saw. Stepping into the lounge, she found Chloe in the hands of Alexis. She was smiling now.

Cassy did not know what to say. She did not want to ruin her daughter's momentary joy. At the same time, she did not want Alexis getting close to the family.

When Chloe was facing the other way, Cassy looked straight into Alexis' face and made a whisper without letting a sound out. Alexis lip-read her and understood what she meant. He also spoke inaudibly in return, "I'm watching out for my friend's daughter."

Alexis turned to Chloe and said, "I'll be here for your birthday party tomorrow Chloe."

Chloe could not make much meaning out of Alexis' statement. She was too little to figure out what a birthday party looked like, but she would not mind the presence of Alexis again.

She stood up and gallivanted.

Cassy called Alexis to a corner and spoke harshly to him, rumpling his shirt.

"You snitch! Get your filthy hands off my daughter, okay!"

Alexis smiled.

"But she wants me Cassy. Let her choose whom she wants."

"Shut your trap Alexis! Chloe is too young to know what she wants or not and you and I know this," she screamed at him.

Alexis gazed deep into Cassy's face. His lips shook. He just observed the blue tints of her eyes. They just made her beauty more conspicuous. He must have her, no matter what it takes.

"Okay...fine, I'll be back for the birthday party tomorrow. But don't forget, you mean so much to me," he said slowly. "I love you."

Having the feeling that he had watered the ground and sown a seed in her mind, he turned around to leave, but then Andy sauntered in.

"Hey Andy, you're welcome," she said sonorously with a wide smile. She wanted to get Alexis jealous, perhaps he would freak out of asking him out. But hey, it could be dangerous. Andy might see it as a green light if he already has the motive of asking her out too.

She hugged and pecked him amorously, but he was looking above her shoulders to peek at Alexis who stood still like a robot.

"You didn't mention to me that you have a guest Cassy," he asked in whispers.

"Well..he is an unwanted guest," Cassy said as she turned her neck to give Alexis a scornful look.

Alexis left without speaking a word. He was boiling in anger, seeing Cassy in that manner around Andy.

Excitedly, Chloe ran to Andy and jumped into his arms.

"Andy, why did you stop coming?" she said childishly.

"So sorry dear, but I'm here now," Andy replied as he threw her up playfully.

Andy has begun to be attracted to her. At the onset, it wasn't so. He has a girlfriend of his own. Debby only wanted him to help Cassy get out of bad mood, but the thing's turning around now.

As if it was planned, his boyfriend came to announce to him that she was done. She had seen a billionaire and would rather go be with him.

"Betty, you can't do this to me. Stay with me and let's grow together," he had begged her to stay.

"I'm done here Andy," she said. "He's waiting to pick me up."

After the heartbreak, he thought he would keep to himself for a while. He even stopped visiting Cassy, until now that he came again.

"Why are you giving me those stares?" Cassy asked, grinning.

"Oh, nothing really," Andy said, but she knew it was a lie. Well, she will wait for him to speak whenever he's ready to.

"Come Andy, come see my kitchen."

Andy was a good cook. He had helped Cassy in the kitchen in the past.

"You are a better cook than mum," Chloe said.

"Wow, really!"

"Yes, Andy. You have my support."

Cassy looked at her and shook her head.

"You should get married," Chloe had announced unexpectedly.

"How about your dad? He'll be back soon."

"But how soon mummy? He hates us."

She went close to her and pulled her to her chest, rubbing her hair.

"No Chloe, he doesn't hate us, believe me."

"He does. If he doesn't, then why did he leave us?"

Her question made words to hang in her mother's throat. She didn't know what reply to give.

"Just...eat your food Chloe. You can't understand. Don't let the food go the wrong way, okay."