The fact that Robert still hadn't gotten a call from his father after the article was put up startled and scared him more than the article itself did.
At first when he saw the article, he thought about his father's reaction. He pictured his father's unsmiling face and the stern voice in which he would employ when scolding him. He also considered his employees facial expression when they would see him at work. He couldn't care less about them because he had the power to make the anyone jobless within seconds but of course he didn't have the heart to relive any of their duties if they haven't committed a serious offense.He could easily shrug off the reaction regardless of how it may affect him but he wasn't sure Aria could do that, hence his advice to her but she still hasn't responded to his text. He wondered if she was alright, it was unusual for her. Usually they texted every morning, it was getting close to 2pm and she still hasn't responded to his message.Robert arrived at the hospital and the first thing he did was to hug Aria tightly, enveloping her in the warmth he had to offer. If through this process he could transfer her pain to himself, he could have done it. He listened to Aria keenly talking about different scenarios that could have played out. He wanted to tell that she couldn't have done anything to save her but first, he let her indulge in her fantasies."I'm sorry about this," Robert muttered, rubbing her hair.Without moving her body, she glanced up at him. "Don't leave me.""I won't baby, I'll never." Robert made the promise with everything in him and he had the confidence that no matter how stormy the weather may be, he'd always be there for Aria."But what if I had just stayed with her?" Aria asked, searching his eyes for answers that would serve as a consolation."I don't know about that sincerely, but baby -""I know you want to say there's nothing I'd have done
Harry blew a puff of smoke as he exhaled. Deep down inside of him, he had no peace of mind and he couldn't just get rid of the deep seating guilt he felt no matter how hard he tried. He kept on thinking about the pain and disharmony he must have plunged Robert into. He kept on asking himself why it was now he cared so much about Robert after he had done what her did. No answers was forthcoming to these questions.He just knew he was restless. He couldn't even check his phone and monitor how far the article had blown because each time he attempted to do so, his hands became shaky with anxiety. He hated everything happening around him, he thought this was going to give him some sort of fulfilment but instead he felt guilty rather which was unusual, very unusual and he hated the fact that he didn't have control over it. This evening, he got so choked up by the air in his father's house and he knew he had to go out for a walk. He didn't have plans on rolling a blunt because he had been c
Harry dragged himself home after the unexpected information had struck him like thunder. He wasn't expecting to see his father by the dining table at this time. He knew it was past 11 pm but he still glanced at his wristwatch anyways. It turned out he wasn't wrong. He guessed this was going to be a night of unexpected happenings, he may as well embrace it.He brought out his phone, pretending to be immersed in it, so he could walk past his father without acknowledging him. He thought the plan was going smoothly, but after a few inches away from his father, he heard his name."Harry," his father called out to him."Dad." Harry turned around, shoving his phone quickly into his pocket. He scratched his neck. "I was just coming from the store-""I'm not about to ask you where you were coming from," his father held up a finger, interrupting his speech. His father's face held barely concealed frown and harry wondered the cause of that.With pursed lips, Harry nodded.His father held up his
"What's up lil bro?" Harry greeted, ruffling Bryan's hair. Bryan paused the game he was playing and then stared at him, briefly."I'm fine, I guess." Bryan shrugged."Uhm, you guess. What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, settling on his bed.Bryan flung his phone on the bed and sighed. "I'm wondering how the news about Robert got fished out, it's literally everywhere now."Harry loved how Bryan really cared about his family and didn't fail to show it at the slightest occasion. As much as he was a little bit angry at his mother, he couldn't help but admit his mother really did a great job at raising him to be this empathetic boy that he was.Back to the matter at hand, Harry couldn't for the life of him figure out what to tell Bryan because he was the cause of the problem and he didn't want Bryan to figure out that something was wrong from the way he spoke. His heart started hammering against the ribcage and he could feel his hands shaky but he quickly scratched his neck in order
Harry couldn't help the cold energy Bryan gave him mom. He wanted to ask him about him, but he put the thought away. Bryan was probably just a little bit angry at his mom and with time, he would come around. His behaviour manifested during dinner; he wasn't chatty as he used to be and he declined his mother's offer each time she tried to help to dish or pass him the sauce or whatever. If the help wasn't coming from Harry or their father, best believe he was going to decline it. Lauren tried to hide her pain beneath smiles and tried to act like it was nothing but deep down Harry could see through her and he knew she felt dejected. He decided not to talk about it because they both had a long overdue conversation and whatever attitudes Bryan was giving her was her fault for not being present and being away for so long without a plausible explanation. And the fact that she was rarely taking his calls made everything worse. For some reasons he believed that she stopped taking Bryan's cal
Every other person, including Harry himself through Brian's anger wasn't going to last long and soon he would crawl back to his mother's bosom. Little did they know that his behaviour towards her will worsen over time. Now during dinner time, he always ate as quickly as he could, whilst declining every offer of his mother to serve him and immediately he was done he'd run off to his room. He completely avoided contact with his mom and even after she apologized to him, he still didn't budge. He kept up with the cold as ice energy and each time her face would flatten. Harry was begining to wonder if the young man knew something he didn't know so he decided to ask one evening while he was mobile games in his room.Harry tapped on his laps, drawing his attention because his headphones were active.He glanced up at him, arching his brows. "Yes?""I just wanted to ask why you were being cold towards Mom?" Harry asked him."I don't want to talk about it." He replied."You should, you know.""
After Harry left Bryan's room, he went to his and slumped on the bed. The fear mixed with guilt that raged in his chest had still not let him check his phone to see if the buzz from the article had died down. He heaved a sigh and rested his head against the headboard when he heard a knock on his door. First, he paused. His eyes widened, he wasn't sure it was Bryan because they had just finished talking. His mother rarely knocked at his door to have a conversation with him. His father would rather call him and order him to meet him at his preferred location, be it the dinning table, his room or whatever.Yet, his possible guess was his mother. For some reasons, he just knew his mother was the one knocking and the thought of that filled him with apprehension as she shifted uncomfortably in his bed, altering his position from the slumped one to an upright posture.Harry cleared his throat. "Come in."The door pushed open, and his mother walked into the room with a dull expression."I was
"Nope.""Then how did you?""That isn't important at this point. Tell me what's happening?""I'm wondering because if you knew I saw him no matter how hard I tried to hide then you might as well have found out the reason why I was seeing him.""If I was aware already, I wouldn't have asked you about it.""Well, i guess it's a good thing you haven't found out about it just yet." She chuckled, then wiped the lome tear with the back of palm.Harry handed her the tissue from the bedside table. She grabbed it without staring at him, then wiped her tears."Mom, you're not going to tell me about this?""You don't have to be involved in all of this. I wouldn't want to do that to you. You don't deserve to be involved all of this.""Why?" Harry asked, not understanding the sense behind her decision. "You're practically alone with whatever that's going on with you. Why are you refusing to share with me what's going on?""Some of these things happened before you were born, it will be unfair to pu
Aria tried to memorize all she had learnt for her final exams while she texted Robert who was keen on distracting her. She had herself to blame though, she was the one who kept on texting him like she wouldn't see him later when he came home.A: Can you let me study?R: Can you let yourself study? You keep responding to my text when you know you shouldn't.A: that's because I can't help it and I always want to talk to you.R: That sounds cute but I'm going to have to stop responding to you. Meaning I'm not going to reply to your texts if you send another one after this.Robert kept his word. The next messages she said afterwards to him were left unanswered as she brought her mind back to her books so she could study. When she finished studying, she texted him back that she was done and she was heading to the shelter where she now volunteered. The shelter was a safe place for people who suffered abusive relationships and grief who needed other people who could understand them. It also
Aria had been looking forward to this dinner just like her husband. She noticed how happier her husband seemed after his meeting with Harry. Robert didn't give her the details, he just told her they got to discuss at length and they were now on good terms. Aria asked Anna if she wanted to come alone with them but she refused, saying she wanted to watch cartoons at home. Aria sighed and nodded.Now she and Robert were prepared for the dinner. Robert was dressed casually but since hadn't gone out in a while, she took this as an opportunity to scan through her outfits and combine them aesthetically. She finally settled for a short chiffon, a piece of jewelry and silver heels."Now look at how I look like your bodyguard standing beside you," Robert joked while he held her waist from the side and kissed her hair. "You look beautiful my queen." He complimented."So do you so, my love." She blushed. His muscular arm was evident under the shirt he wore and his biceps rippled. Aria imagined ta
Harry couldn't bear the guilt of what he did and he kept thinking about whether to tell Robert about it or not. They've been getting along just fine and they've recently been texting online and it's been amazing. They mostly spoke about their father's health, work and just random stuff. It felt like they were in a talking stage, they were starting to know each other very well, something they would have done years ago, but it took this long to achieve which wasn't really bad. Lauren and her husband loved this new change and they supported it more by inviting Aria and Robert for dinner. They conveyed the information through Harry and Robert loved the idea and agreed to show up with his wife.Harry's mind kept bugging him, he couldn't act all friendly with Robert when in the past he had previously tried to sabotage his career. Now they were getting along, he didn't want anything to come between this new found friendship. He was going to tell Robert about all of it, he'd soon go back to s
Anna was getting better and she no longer cried about the death. She was starting to carry on without her life. She now ate, watched cartoons and giggled about funny things like she used to do before she heard about the news. Aria loved the change, it brought a smile to her lips that her sister had successfully escaped the confinement of grief.Aria felt like her life was worth more and she hadn't explored as she should have. She was too carried away with external factors and had forgotten to be the main character of her life. This was what her mother would have wanted for her, now that she was gone, she had the strong urge to pick up her life. Not that she hadn't been living before but he was ready to live as her capacity would allow. She wanted to go to therapy and then go back to school. Therapy first, because she wanted to unpack all that happened to her in the past month, heal and understand better in what direction her life should take. Aria realized she wasn't really okay and s
Harry had already resigned to his fate as soon as his mother told him about everything. He knew that one day, this would happen, now in the moment, he felt nothing at all. He just keenly watched the scene unfold. The only thing that troubled him was that the internal turmoil his mother felt was visible and he felt sorry for her."I said go on," his father said, growing impatient.Matteo stared at Lauren, hoping she would change her mind but he just looked scared without saying a word."Say whatever you have to say, you heard my dad." Harry added, looking at Matteo with disdain. The reaction Matteo got was different from what he expected. He smiled nervously, staring at all of them. Harry knew he was finding it difficult to comprehend with the way no one seemed to be grovelling at his feet not to spill like he expected. His face hardened again, "So your wife here lied to you.""About what?" His father instinctively touched Lauren and his eyes darted between her and Matteo."About a lo
As Robert drove them home, he felt a sense of relief that his father didn't have to stay at the hospital for more than a day. Robert hated the hospital, not in the strong sense of aversion kind of way, but he felt like the hospital wasn't really a place a sick person needed to be. He couldn't place a finger on why he thought that but he didn't think a sick person deserved to hear about more people dying and inhaling the weird antiseptic that dominated the air. And most people he knew who stayed in the hospital for months due to one illness or the other didn't make it alive, for example his mom and Aria's mom. So for that reason he was happy that his father didn't have to stay there longer than the day he was brought in.His father coughed and he briefly glanced back. Lauren was sitting next to him, holding his hands which moved to rub his arm.Harry who was near Robert stretched the water he held to his father. "I hope you're okay." He asked.His father nodded and for the rest of thei
"Dad!" Robert kept screaming as his father held his neck almost like he was getting constricted.He continued coughing as Robert tried to offer him the water. His hands become shaky as he contemplated running out to tell Lauren about what was happening to her husband. He blinked his eyes as he watched his father fight for air and then he sprang out of the room to inform Lauren."Lauren, the ambulance! Dad is dying," he said breathlessly. Her eyes widened in horror as she placed a call to the ambulance with shaky hands. "My husband -"Robert zone out, his mind conjuring the worst scenarios. Soon the ambulance arrived and lauren and Bryan accompanied his father while he was wheeled away. He grabbed his carkeys as he made his way to enter his when he saw Harry scratching his hair as walked closer to him."Can i go come along?" Robert watched him stutter before he nodded."Thank you," he said shyly before they both entered the car. They drove in silence before Robert's curiosity got the
Robert told him he couldn't continue thinking about his father without making the necessary move therefore he had to go to his house and have the conversation. He didn't even know he loved his father this much. The past months without hearing his voice made him feel like something was missing and he was tired of feeling that way. It was kind of feeling he had to end because it ruined him. Yeah, he didn't care nor think about the consequences or aftermath of the action he was going to take as he drove down there. He had told Bryan to inform him if Dad was at home and the little boy did it as soon as he could because he wanted his big family back. When Bryan told him he was now on talking terms with his mother, Lauren, a big smile spread across his face and he remembered how he wasn't talking to his own father and he knew he had to fix that as well.Robert got to the house bracing himself for the conversation they were going to have.He saw Lauren sitting in the sitting room like the pre
Anna has been moody since Aria told her about her mother's death. She had to tell her though, she couldn't stall it any longer. She wasn't crying anymore but she barely spoke nor showed excitement about anything as she would have before. Anna took that as a sign, she was grieving silently, which was okay. She had to express herself in whichever way she deem fit. As much as she wished Anna didn't have to feel this way, it was necessary and had to happen. Aria glanced across where Anna was lying on the sofa, covering herself with a duvet as her eyes darted between the TV where her favourite cartoon was flickering and her phone in her hands."You sure you're not hungry?" Aria asked again for the third time.She raised her gaze and shook her head."Why? Food is important." Aria asked, worried. "At this point, I'll have to force you to eat something even if you claim not to be hungry."Anna adjusted her lying posture to a sitting one, putting her foot on the floor. "Trust me, I'll eat when