The Hassle

“I…I.. I, my darling, why do you ask?” Sara stuttered. She looked away from my strong gaze,

“I want to know, I want closure… besides Fred and I haven’t spoken to each other since the divorce, and I don’t even know the reason why I hate him. So I want to know,” I told her.

“Well, your dad suggested it first. That was the only reason I agreed to it, out of pride, I couldn’t beg him to stay with me. He wanted a divorce because work wasn’t going well with him, and he didn’t want you and I to suffer with him. I didn’t fight for your custody, he gave it willingly, and he has been sending money ever since. Though I have been keeping it in a private account for you, as a wedding present when you finally get married,” She confessed.

“So how about him cheating on you? You told me that was why you left,” I was so confused.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, your dad never cheated on you. You were just too young to understand, and I didn’t want you to keep asking about him. I couldn’t explain it well to you, for you to under…” I cut what she was about to say off.

“So you made me live my whole life hating a man, who did absolutely nothing wrong mother!” I yelled. “You are so ridiculous right now, it makes no sense. I lived 10 years of my life away from a man I thought was a devil, who in turn was an angel in disguise! You’re so unbelievable right now,” I was so distraught, I walked out of the kitchen, and into my room.

There was a rerun of the situation that happened when I got back from work, only difference was that I was crying for a different reason this time. My cell phone ringtone goes off, it pauses my tears. I picked up the phone, unknown caller pops up on the screen, I ignored the call at first. The ringtone goes off again, which indicated that the call was actually important. I answered the call, and was met with a soft feminine voice from the other line.

“Good afternoon, Miss Farrow,” the voice from the end of the line said.

“Good evening,” I was confused. I wondered why someone would say good afternoon to me, by 7:30pm. “Who am I on to?”

“This is Charlotte Gales from Tisch hospital, I was asked to call you to inform you, that your father, Fredrick Farrow is badly ill, and would like to see you,” she replied.

“Wait, what? My father is sick?” I didn’t wait to listen to a reply, before throwing my cell phone on the bed and pulling out a suitcase. I knew why my parents got divorced, I also knew I had to make up with my father, even if it meant I would take an impromptu flight to New York. I pause my packing, picked up my phone and booked a ticket to New York. The flight was a 10pm flight, it was enough time for me to prepare and get to the airport in time for the flight.

I was done with her preparations by 8:25pm, I was dressed in a cream coloured sweater, black denim pants with little slits at their tips, then I had complimented the whole outfit with a pair of white adidas superstar shoes. I pulled my little suitcase behind me, and out of the room.

“Are you leaving me?” Sara asked. She looked like she had been crying,

“Not everything is about you Sara, I’m going to New York to meet my sick father,” I snapped back at her. I avoided her gaze and confusion, then walked out of the house, and down the stairs.

“Take me to Shannon airport, I have a plane to catch,” I threw at the taxi driver, as soon as I was settled in the cab.

I got to the airport about 30 minutes later, by this time it was 9pm. I went straight to check in the flight, and get settled. My whole demeanour was crashing down as soon as I got on board the flight, a part of me was praying that nothing wrong would happen to my dad.

“Are you okay?” A brown haired guy with amber eyes asked me, he looked worried. I hadn’t noticed when he sat beside me, I also didn’t know I was already crying,

“Yes, I’m totally fine. Something got into my eyes, that’s all,” I told him. He raised a brow at me, like the lie wasn’t convincing, even I knew that the lie was that bad.

“Really? Wow!” he scoffed. “Fine, I won’t intrude.” I had the feeling that I had met him somewhere before, but I couldn’t figure out where that could be.

The voice of the pilot announcing take off brought me out of my thoughts, and back into reality. I listened as different instructions were being passed across, and watched the handsome stranger from beside me.

It was 2am New York time, when the airplane touched down in John F. Kennedy International airport. I couldn’t wait to meet up with my dad, but yet again, it was too early to visit a patient by this time. I got down from the plane and went straight to pick up my suitcase, the handsome stranger stood behind me this time, and weirdly, I could feel his gaze on my body. Yes, I knew how sexy I looked, I was five feet six inches, I had a slender body with defined curves, I also had red hair, that seemed to call everyone’s attention to me.

I was now out of the airport, and inside a cab taking me to Tisch hospital. I planned on crashing at their reception for the night. I got their about 30 minutes later, paid off the cab driver, then pulled my suitcase into the light filled reception. A brown haired nurse was sitting at the reception, dozing off slightly,

“Good morning,” I said to her, as I watched her pull herself awake.

“Good morning miss, how can I help you?” she asked.

“I’m Anastasia Farrow, I’m Fredrick Farrow’s daughter. I just travelled in to see him, please can I have any information on his ailment?” I told her.

“Can I see any form of identification?” I pulled out my driver’s license and showed it to her. She nodded then pulled out, what I figured was my dad’s file. “Your dad has been treating stage IV prostate cancer for months now…”