Chapter 5

Eric had just finished cleaning the kitchen after his daughter had left for school with a neighbour when the doorbell rang. His instant thoughts turned to Miranda. Even now, since the moment she left them, whenever the doorbell rang, he anticipated her to be there, but he was always greeted with disappointment.

So much has changed since then. 

When Miranda was with them, he merely provided minor assistance by assisting her with domestic chores, but in her absence, he was not left with any choice but to take complete control of it. Not that he is complaining. It only made him wish that he would have helped her more around the house, and he felt that maybe then she would not have left him. 

In these seven years, he tried to find numerous reasons for her leaving them, and it only made him feel worse with each passing day, which has now turned into anger and frustration.

When he opened the door, though, he found his parents standing there.

“What a pleasant surprise, Mom and Dad! What are you two doing here this early?” He asked them as he let them into his house.

“We came to speak with you.” His father informed him.

“So early? I hope nothing important.” Eric stated this as he sat on the couch with them. 

“It is, in fact. How come you didn’t tell us you and Lizzy met Miranda?” Rachel asked.

“How did you find out? Anyway, it’s not important.” He tried to ignore them.

“We saw her last night at Midnight Snackers,” Lander explained.

“Wonderful.” He said it sarcastically.

“Is that it, Eric? All you have to do is say, ‘wonderful,’ and you are done.” His mother exclaimed.

“What else do you want me to say, mom? Miranda left Lizzy and me. There is nothing anyone can ever do. She can’t just expect us to take her back. And for the record, she never once apologized or explained why she left us to begin with.” Eric expressed his displeasure.

“Knowing you, you wouldn’t have given her the opportunity. Eric, I am telling you something isn’t right with her. Something must have happened to her in order for her to leave the both of you.” Rachel tried to reason with him.

Eric was about to say something when his dad interrupted him.

“Just hear us out, Eric. When we met Miranda last night, we both sensed that something was bothering her. She seemed distant and disturbed even before she left you, but she brushed it off when we confronted her. But the last time we saw it, it was something else. She was simply not herself. Miranda, we know, would never abandon her husband and daughter unless there was a valid reason, so I am telling you that you need to find out what that reason is before you lose her again. Before she loses herself again.”

“Dad, you and I both need to accept the fact that we will never be together. You just have to believe that she left us for her own selfish reasons, and I am not going to waste my time trying to figure that out.”

“What selfish reason could there be, Eric?” That woman still has feelings for you.” Rachel threw up her hands in frustration.

“Who fed you this lie?” Eric cocked his brow.

“Well, in the middle of our chat, her crazy neighbour Benji showed up, and during the conversation—” Eric interrupted her once more.

“That psycho. Oh my goodness, Mom! That guy needs to see a doctor. He spews nothing but nonsense.” He attempted to dismiss them.

“How about the fact that she spends her nights in the Midnight Snackers?” Lander questioned his son.

“What about it? It's just a regular eatery. Don't make a big deal of it.” He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“The majority of the people who visit at night are insomniacs. We asked one of the servers after Miranda had quickly left, and she confirmed that Miranda is a regular customer there. She usually goes there after midnight, and Benji has mentioned that he sees Miranda early in the morning going to her apartment with the cup of coffee, which has the 'Midnight Snacker' written on it. Nobody wants to pull all-nighters every day unless something bothers them, Eric. And she'd been going there for five and a half years. She may not go there seven days a week, but she spends at least four nights there every week. Do you still believe she left you for selfish reasons? No, I don't think so.” His father informed him of the information he and his wife had uncovered.

Eric was deafeningly quiet for a while. He became concerned somewhere along the way, but the hurt he felt when she left them was still raw. So he didn't want to believe what his parents had told him. “I still think that you are both taking things out of proportion. Even without Miranda, my daughter and I are doing fine.”

His parents were disappointed with the reaction that they received from their son. He could be stubborn, but they prayed that he would come around before it got too late.

Eric, however, had been nervous all week and had wanted to confront Miranda, but he was afraid. If his parents are correct, he made the biggest mistake of his life, and if his parents are incorrect, he will never be able to handle himself or forgive his wife.