LuciaMy eyes went to the clock and I released a relieved sigh when I saw it was lunchtime. Because I had to take care of my demanding daughter, I was unable to eat or rest well for two days. To top it all off, I had to listen to my ex-husband tell me I was doing a poor job of raising his daughter like she wasn't my daughter too. The audacity of the fool to tell me such things while he was away playing sugar daddy to the young woman he left us for, got me mad. I had to behave myself in front of the kids, especially Flavia, but now that I was at work, I didn't have to hide how I truly felt. My friend and coworker, Helen, who unlike me was happily married to the love of her life, placed her hands on my shoulders. “When are you going to tell me what is bothering you? You've been pushing yourself hard all morning. Aren't you tired?” I released another sigh, glancing up before I spoke, “You won't believe what Richard told me.” She knew who Richard was so I didn't have to explain.“You
DianaI knew something was wrong with Jane, her behaviour after gym class confirmed what I already knew. Martin hadn't been around because he and some members of his club had gone for the first phase of their competition. If not, he would have been there to witness what happened to Jane. I dropped a message for him on WhatsApp, telling him a bit about what happened. Immediately after the class finished, she rushed out of the hall like she was being chased. I was not the only one who noticed her weird behaviour as the rest got busy talking about her. Penelope responded like the good friend she was by glaring at the offending gossips. “I need to check what is wrong with her.” She said as she began to walk towards the direction Jane went. I wrapped a hand around her arm, pulling her along with me. She looked down at my hand around her arm because that was the first time I have touched her. “I don't think now is the time to chase after her. Jane closes up when you demand answers she isn
DianaI waited for my aunt outside the house, praying and begging God for her to understand. I tried calling her on my way home but she must have been busy because she didn't answer, nor did she return my calls. My fear of the approaching dinner eased somewhat when I realised Flavia would not be home early enough for dinner, since it was her first time out of the house after her accident. The only person left was my aunt. Luckily, since I now had my car back, I didn't have to wait for Jane to take me home. I couldn't have gotten it at a better time because I hadn't seen her or her car around at the end of school. Penelope was so worried, wondering if we did the right thing by letting her go on her own. I was busy thinking about the disaster ahead so I didn't worry as I ought to.My body perked up when I saw her car driving down the road towards our house. I gently rubbed my sweaty palm on my faded jeans, stifling the urge to run and pick up my phone to cancel the dinner plans with M
DianaI stammered as my aunt bore down on me, her liquid brown eyes throwing daggers into my soul as she waited with her hands on her waist. Luckily, I had ended the call since it was already too late to do anything about it. Quickly, without pausing to take a breath, I continued to speak the longest speech in the history of speeches.“So I was trying to tell you before the call that I invited Mr Yukino over for dinner. I was on my own, going to class when he suddenly walked by with a sour face. I felt sorry for him and went to find out what was wrong with him. He told me a little about what happened at the hospital and I felt bad for him, before I knew what I was doing, I was inviting him over. I know you feel betrayed by me right now and you probably wouldn't want to talk to me because I am putting you in an awkward position, but he is so lonely, aunt. He has no friends in town as everybody thinks he is weird. I just wanted him to feel seen for once.” Her glare didn't lessen, her li
NancyI could only thank God for closing early because my back hurt more than ever. It was my fault for taking on more than I could chew, but I needed to keep myself busy especially now that Adam was not talking to me. So, maybe I had shared information that he considered private, but I still didn't understand why he was this angry. Lord, knew I was trying to figure out what went on in his head most times. If my daughter had been alive, surely he wouldn't have turned out this way, all angry and short-tempered. I could tell something was eating him, taking his peace away. I was glad he came to me instead of going to God knows where. Everything was Alexander's fault. He had taken everything good away from me and poisoned it with the evil that was his soul. I hoped it was not too late to save my boy because he was all I had left in this world. If only he would be friends with Diana, it would change a lot. I didn't know why I was so sure, but I knew he would be better, at peace if he allo
DianaSo, last night would go down in history as one of the worst nights ever. In my heart was a mixture of emotions that had me feeling lethargic, without any strength to face the day. If I could be feeling this way, I wonder how my aunt felt after all that happened. I imagined she must be blaming herself for what happened the same way I was blaming myself for starting the whole freak show by inviting Mr Yukino over for dinner. If I hadn't tried to sort out someone's feelings of loneliness, this wouldn't have happened to us. The irony wasn't lost on me that I had been trying to help someone who felt alone and unappreciated when I also felt the same way....most times. The reason why we were slightly different was that I had my aunt, my dog, my friends and my brother. He had no one except his family who had relocated back to Japan, leaving him all alone here. I didn't need to solve anyone's problems when I still had mine to face. The thought of how I'd handle Vance and his soldiers t
DianaVance luckily didn't cause a scene, but he got Adam's name out of me. I released the name not because I was scared but because I knew he would get it from someone else; Adam's identity was no secret. Vance had to be the only one who didn't know anything about Adam, which was an indication that he was so removed from whatever went on around him that doesn't affect him.Immediately I told him what he wanted to know, he freed me, but not without telling me I had three days left to do what he told me to. I opened my mouth to argue that it was eight days not three, but I kept quiet when I realized it would only make him stay longer than he already had, and I didn't want that.After handling Vance, I met with Penelope and Martin in the hall as they chatted about Martin's outing yesterday for their club. Penelope's hair was packed in her usual loose pigtails. She twirled a tail absentmindedly around her forefinger as she gawked at my oblivious friend. It was ironic how Martin couldn't
DianaLater that night as I laid down on my bed trying to finish up my literature assignment which I was having trouble finishing because I couldn't concentrate, I got a text message from Jane. I quickly sat up, dislodging Walter who was lying on the bed with me. Jane: Hey, you up? I read the cryptic message like three times before I typed out my response.Me: Yes, I am. Where are you? 😟I waited for a minute, till a minute turned to five, then five turned to ten, and ten turned to twenty. When it seemed like I would not be getting a response any time soon, I decided to go take a shower and wash my hair, maybe then I would be able to remove the unrelenting thoughts about Adam and my best friend long enough to focus on my assignment.After twenty minutes of self-pampering, I came out of my bathroom with my eyes closed while I towel-dried my hair. A scream left my mouth when I saw Jane sitting on my bed beside Walter. My eyes went wide as I took in her appearance, wondering what the