text: Neha Dua Life Goes On... 
   
   
   Chapter 1 
   My name is Elena and I am in my second year of college. I am five feet and seven inches tall with grey eyes and a thin physique. I am a very talkative person by nature and I make friends very easily. I live in Canada with my mom, dad, and my ten years old little sister named Susan. I come from a rich background because of my dad. I own my car, which my dad had gifted me on my eighteenth birthday last year. My mom takes care of our home all by herself, as I have never liked cooking so I didn’t ever go to kitchen to make food. 
   My dad owns one of the top IT companies in Canada; hence we are very known to everyone almost everywhere in the province. My father keeps himself busier with his professional life than balancing his personal life. We have been a part of so many big events and parties due to my dad’s public relations. My dad has always been into the limelight of majorly all parties, as he travels a lot due to his job and his pictures are posted every quarter on page 3 of every newspaper. 
   My dad had a secretary named Lisa, who could be found everywhere near him. She looked to me like a leech who is just here to screw up my family time more. She is always near my dad being extra friendly and caring, more than required as per her job profile. She always dresses up like she is doing modeling assignments or always wearing something like to show-off her cleavage a bit more than required. 
   Me and Susan never liked her being around our dad, because we could always sense that she was trying to get near to my dad and to make him avoid us as much as possible, by keeping him busy with meetings and outdoor trips for official purposes. She used to go with him everywhere for official work. We have informed mom also about it, but my mom is so calm and compost that she never questions my dad about his secretary and his work profile and the kind of life he always wanted to have. 
   My mom is a novelist and hence, she roams around to different places for her inspirations. She keeps herself busy with the random stuff and her parties. She became a smoker when she found out that she was expecting their second child, my sister Susan. She refrained from letting out a sound of her cry, knowing that if she drew attention to herself it would only create more trouble. My dad never loved Susan since the day she was born. 
   Our family stays together in front of everyone else, but if we go deep into the relationships that we all shared, it’s kind of a messy life that we all live. We all are bound by blood only but have no real attachments. The bitterness that we have now in our family started long back, when my mom and dad were in their college. I was the result of a one-night stand in their college times, my dad was twenty-one years old and my mom was only eighteen years old when they got married as my mom was expecting me and broke this news of her pregnancy to my dad. 
   My dad and his friends decided to play a prank on my mom. My dad had a bet with his friends that my mom would fall for him in just one month and would be ready to offer herself completely to him. This is what exactly happened between them. My mom always loved my dad, even if that was a prank that dad and his friends played on my mom. 
   One day at her college, my mom decided to tell my dad that she was going to have his baby and she is already three months pregnant and aborting the child would be risky for her. After hearing the news of my mom’s pregnancy, my dad growled and yanked her out after him,  “What do we need to talk about? I don’t want to have a baby now. I am not ready to get married or have a baby”.  He trailed off, shoving the exit of the college door open with his back and left. 
   My mom was left behind with her trembling voice continuously say my dad’s name  “Richard please, don’t leave me. I am carrying your child. My parents won’t accept me. Please don’t go like this. Don’t leave us alone and stranded like this”.  Suddenly she couldn’t breathe, her words were caught in her throat as she sobbed very much in her tears and she pushed herself up so that her hands supported her.  
   My mom’s parents insisted on my dad to get married and settle down with my mom. Since then, they stay connected because of me and now because of my sister. They behave in a very good manner infront of me and my sister but are not attached by heart. Only me and my little sister stay together every time apart from our studies. I have always stayed strong because of Susan and even my friends had never seen my emotional side. I always plan parties with my friends at my home, so that Susan doesn’t feel alone. My friends also are very fond of my sister and they love to play with her. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 2 
   I have my three best friends staying near my home since my childhood. My friends don’t know about my family and me. I have never shown them this side of my personal life. Me and my three best friends named Denise who is five feet and four inches tall & of average build with spectacles and medium length curly hair, Mary who is five feet and five inches tall and has black eyes, short hair, and finally Maria, who is short with thin built and has long hair and brown eyes. We have been together since childhood and had attended same school and now same college. 
   I know driving, so I always pick Maria, Denise & Mary every morning to go to our college. We are a group of eight members from our college. Denise has a boyfriend named Alex, who is five feet and eight inches tall with a muscled body, black eyes with a beard, and black hair always set with a gel with no strand seen on his forehead. Alex is a shy and focused guy with a serious look always on his face. I have always admired Alex and Denise as a very sweet couple with no worries and tensions to take away their time of togetherness. Alex is a studious guy but Denise is just an average scoring girl. Alex and Denise found each other when they started to study together through a project, which was given by our professor, last year. Alex had moved in with Denise last week only. 
   Whereas, Mary likes to bro-zone every guy who approaches her and who tries to flirt with her. Some of our batchmates are even scared of her personality due to her bold nature of refusing guys. Mary is always seen with her earphones on, carrying a small handbag. She doesn’t like to be friends with everyone and doesn’t believe in relationships, as she thinks, it spoils the friendship also.  
   Maria, on the other hand, likes to be friends with everyone, the same as me and she has a boyfriend named Prince. They are in a relationship from the last three years, but they see each other very less as Prince is our senior and is in his final year of university studies, so he is often found busy in his projects and internships. Prince is always busy with his work and projects and by the end of this year he has to find a job for himself. He wants to be a photographer. He is currently handling freelancing projects whenever he finds time from college and studies. 
   The rest four of us; me, Shane, Alan, and Jenny are among the ones, who like to stay as friends forever and always believing in friendship and staying together. We share our lunch hours & studies at college. Shane and I liked each other, but we never expressed these mutual feelings, as I was afraid of any kind of relationship or love because of my family history and Shane didn’t express because he never wanted to lose me as a friend, because of these silly lovey-dovey things. He was always aware of the fact that I liked him more than in a friendly manner, but I could never move forward in this. 
   It was Friday night when I and Susan were at Maria’s place for her birthday and my mom was out of town for her next novel. My dad called me at around 7 o’clock in the evening  “Hey dad! What’s up?”. “Hey, sweetie! I am going out of town tonight due to some urgent work and won’t be able to come back before ten days. It’s kind of an unavoidable situation so I have to be there. I will be staying at our farmhouse there” , he informed me. 
   “But dad, you have to attend Susan’s school function on coming Monday afternoon”  I questioned him with a little surprise.  “I know Elena, but I am sorry, I can’t attend it. Your mom is also not available so on our behalf, you attend that function. Bring any of your friends at home for a night or two. I got to go now. Bye!” , he suggested and then hung up on me. 
   Susan heard the conversation between me and dad and got upset, I bent down on my knees to be equal to her height and happily said,  “Hey, Susan! Daddy got some urgent work to attend and mom is also not around, so it will be just you and me. We will have a lot of fun together playing all night & watching movies”. 
   She dropped her head down with disappointment and just went away from me to sat on the seat at the corner of the room. Maria and all my friends came back to the room after arranging a cake, snacks, and drinks for our party. The life and the relaxation that Susan and I have with my friends around can’t be expresses in words as these people make us forget our messed-up reality and they bring a big smile on our faces by their funny jokes, games, gestures and dance moves. The party started at around 7 o’clock in the evening and continued till 11 o’clock at night. Meanwhile, Susan was already asleep and I had to take her back home.  
   
   
   
   Chapter 3 
   Shane offered to drop us both at home in my car as it was very late in the night. Shane stays alone in an apartment a few blocks away from my home. Looking at him while sitting in the car on our way back to home, a thought passed my mind,  “He has been a gentleman since the day we all met him in college. We never saw him flirting or approaching any girl of the college, even being the most eligible bachelor of the college. He has always been there as a big support to all of us, whether being financial or emotional support, he never back-off. His family stays way too far from him and yet, he never seems to be weak”. 
   We reached home and we both got out of the car. I was about to open the back door of the car to pick Susan up when he came forward and asked me to just open the doors of the house and he will bring Susan in his arms from the back seat, making sure not to wake her up. He came inside the house to put Susan in her bed carefully. 
   He was leaving, putting both of mu hands in my jeans pockets I asked him,  “Umm! Shane, could you spend the night at my place, since my parents are not at home and it’s just me and Susan alone in this big house? I… I actually don’t feel secured alone”.  Shane with some hesitation shown on his face agreed to stay with us for the night. I gave him my dad’s night suit to wear for the comfortable sleep and he stayed in the living room. 
   After having dinner, ordered from a delivery service, I went into my room checking on Susan. I was in my room when I heard the television being turned on. I went outside of my room and reached the living room door. I was kind of spying on Shane, from the entrance of the living room. 
   He saw me sneaking upon him and without even turning his face towards me, he said from the couch with a naughty smile on his face, that I could surely guess,  “Hi Elena! I know you aren’t asleep. You can join me if you want to. Make yourself comfortable, as you know, it’s your place only”.  Like a stupid, I started to smile back and went near the couch. He made some space for me to sit on the couch beside him and watch television. 
   My heart was pounding, and it was from the experience of being so close to someone like him. He was going to watch the movie  “P.S. I Love You!”.  I tried to look him into his eyes and  asked him  “I am feeling hungry, would you like to have some popcorn?”.  Without even thinking twice, he said  “I will come with you and help you out since the movie will be starting in some time and till then, we can prepare some popcorns, and arrange chips and drinks”.  We ran towards the kitchen to arrange all this stuff before the movie starts. 
   After ten minutes, when we heard that the movie was about to start, we came back running into the living room and took our places to continue watching the movie. We were watching the movie till twelve in the midnight, feeling relaxed by putting our heads on each other’s shoulder for some time to relax. There came a point while watching a movie when I got emotional and a tear started to dribble down my cheek and then onto his shoulder. He looked surprised by seeing me being emotional for the first time and having tears in my eyes just because of a movie scene and asked me  “Hey! Are you okay Elena?” . 
   I just wiped that tear from my cheek and with a weak smile replied  “Yeah! It’s just that, I got a little emotional with the scene. It felt a little stupid, I tried to find word to explain him, but couldn’t understand what had happened to me. I was the strong girl that my friends used to know, and, here I am crying just because of a movie”. 
   He pulled his shoulder away and welcomed me in his arm,  “Come and relax here. It is just a movie. Everything is fine”.  The moment I laid my eyes on him, I lost my breath, I couldn’t believe I was only a few inches away from him. I was utterly drawn to him because of the vibes he set off. I was feeling comfortable near him, so I accepted that gesture and stayed closed to his body where I could hear his heartbeat. 
   A thought dawned on me and I examined him closer-he was slightly looking at me. I drew back, shamefully embarrassed, and felt that my cheeks were flushed. I kept my eyes on the TV, trying my best to not look at him. We were completely involved in the scene when I could feel my eyes being too heavy to stay open for any longer and I fell asleep into his arms. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 4 
   The next thing I remembered was that I was in my bedroom and Shane had picked me up into his arms in bridal style and I was almost half-awake till then when he finally put me on my bed gently, set the pillow under my head and put the bed cover on my body so that I could rest comfortably. He tried to straighten up his posture and tried to turn around to walk back into the living room. There was only a thin line that separated our bodies from each other and we both could feel each other’s breath against our faces. 
   I hadn’t even realized that my hands had grabbed a hold of his shirt in instinct. I called his name and with my one hand still having a grip on his shirt, I pulled him near me. His face was just a few inches away from mine. I was enchanted by his looks even during the night, with his fascinating emerald eyes that were shadowed by shaggy black hair and his little smile that took my breath away. He entirely took on the definition of beautiful. 
   I was half asleep again and murmured very slowly that he was able to hear my voice by staying close to my face only,  “Shane please don’t leave me. I need you to be there for me always. I want you to accept me and never leave my side. Susan and me both liked you a lot”. 
   Shane gave me the response,  “I am here only Elena, just try to sleep. I am near you… see! And I am not going anywhere ever. I am lying on your bed near you”.  I was taken aback by his dreamy voice and his words caused me to blush a deep red, while still trying to scramble up something to say, I fell completely into the arms of good night sleep with Shane by my side and my head now on his chest and my arm resting on his waist. 
   By the next morning, I woke up at 8 o’clock in the morning with Shane still sleeping beside me. He was looking so innocent with the look that he had even while sleeping. I couldn’t control myself and I suddenly pecked my lips onto his for a second. He moved a little with this movement of mine but was still sleeping, but his sudden movement I pulled back myself a little, realizing that I had just kissed Shane in my senses and now I am smiling from the inside, just seeing him around me. I got up from the bed and walked into Susan’s room to check on her. She was awake and was playing with her toys. 
   I entered into her room with a smile,  “Hey Suzi! Good Morning! How was the sleep of my baby doll?” . She gave a big naughty smile and hugged me tight and asked,  “Elena, I know Shane was in your room last night, did you two get together? 
     I just smiled back at her and replied,  “Sshhh… Suzi baby! Shane will wake up and no we aren’t together, you naughty girl. I think you are mistaken. We are just friends”. 
   She promptly said,  “If you are just friends, then why is Shane looking at you like he loves you”. 
   At first, I couldn’t judge what she was saying when I saw her looking at the door of her room. Shane was standing there, leaning on the door wall for support and smiling without even taking his eyes off me. I felt a rush of nerves in my body and turned around putting both my hands into my shorts pocket.  
   “Hey, Shane! How are you? Did you get a good night's sleep? What would you like to have in breakfast?”,  just to avoid his continuous gaze at me, I kept on talking and asking him random questions. He laughed and shook his head, the hair on his head half fallen on his forehead.  “Yes, I would love to have breakfast with you” , his smirk grew and he raised his eyebrow more as he leaned slightly closer to me. With a little hesitation to face him, I started towards the exit door saying,  “Both of you come downstairs in next 20 minutes, I will try to cook something special today”. 
   Inside, I knew, he has always liked me, but from the outside, I couldn’t accept those feelings because of my fear of a failed relationship of my parents. I always avoided eye contact with Shane anywhere possible, because I knew, he is a gentleman who won’t ever force anything on me and he knows how I might react to all these things. He always stayed silent in this matter, and from far away only, thought of taking care of me and loving me silently. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 5 
   With these thoughts in my mind, I went to take bath first and then into the kitchen to make us all some breakfast. I had never been into the kitchen to learn proper cooking from mom. He is a brilliant cook but I had always been able to make only one breakfast whenever I had to prepare the dish for us in absence of our parents. 
   I made scrambled eggs with bacon and some veg sandwiches for me, Shane and Susan. I called both of them downstairs for breakfast. Shane was carrying Susan from one arm sideways. She was continuously laughing loudly, as she was very much happy with Shane being around her. 
   I served them breakfast and then sat on the chair next to Shane at the dining table. Susan with a pout and cross arms complaint,  “Elena! You always make sandwiches and scrambled eggs for me, why don’t you learn cooking and make me some good breakfast”.  
   Shane was a little surprised but was smiling a little with his head ducked into his breakfast. I heard him laughing at what Susan said to me. I playfully hit him on his chest with my elbow. We all started to laugh very loudly and had our breakfasts. Susan ran outside of the house to play with her friends in the park. 
   I was putting all the dishes in the dishwasher, when Shane came from behind and asked with a smirk on his face,  “Hey! Do you need any help with the dishes…? or… with cooking?” . 
   By the time I could turn around and punch him, he ran from the kitchen and towards Susan’s bedroom. I followed him to catch him and hit him hard but in a playful manner and not to hurt him. I came running into the room and while running I didn’t see a toy lying on the floor. 
   I was about to catch Shane when I tripped myself because of that toy and was about to fall on the floor. But, the strong arms of Shane, caught me from falling and we both suddenly, while balancing each other tripped from another toy and fell on Susan’s bed. I was on top of him, looking into his eyes without even blinking.  
   Our lips were like at the distance of a finger from each other. He was lost in me and I was also feeling the same when our lips started to come even closer and we gave in, kissing each other. It was our first kiss and it was a sweet and simple kiss. We were getting close some more with heat rushing out of his body and his hands still on my waist to hold me near him. I could feel my heart pounding fast with the way, he was moving his hands on my waist. 
   I started to feel the helm of my shirt being pulled up a little, his hands trying to make their way inside my shirt. I was about to kiss him again, but this all was interrupted with a loud voice from downstairs. Susan was looking for us in the living room and kitchen, and when we were nowhere to be found, she called our names. We suddenly came back into our senses and moved away from each other to get up and go downstairs. 
   We both stood up from her bed and tucked in our shirts properly.  “I am sorry for… umm… for this unintentional fall. I think we should go downstairs and for your information, I don’t like cooking and you came running to her room, I slipped because of that stupid toy” , with a pout and with a playful smile I started to follow the door way. I didn’t understand, why I have said these sentences to him, but It felt like, I was happy teasing him and more than that I didn’t want him to notice my desire in the eyes of being too close to him. He was just looking at me with so much amusement and refreshment in his eyes. 
   I ran through the stairs to check on Susan, and Shane went to take bath. He had to leave for his apartment by 11 AM as he had his tuition classes starting from noon. Shane has always been a studious and focused student. He was an expert in Physics and many students used to take tuition classes from him. He came downstairs after half an hour; all being set to go back to his apartment. He had no spare clothes to wear as this whole plan of staying for a night at my place was just coincidental.  
   As he stays only a few blocks away, I could accompany him only till my driveway, as Susan was still at home so I couldn’t leave her alone. I had to help Susan finish her homework also and to make sure that she doesn’t run too fast anywhere, because she had a hole in her heart. She couldn’t play all the games, like the children of her age play, but she never complained about it. She has always been a jolly and happy soul, making everyone near her smiling all the time with her talks and games. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 6 
   On Monday morning, I got Susan ready and dropped her to school and then went to my college early, as I had a project submission today, so we all needed to get that project final papers ready. I was on my way to class when my mom called and said that she would be going to our farmhouse situated outside the city (where my dad has gone for his official meet), as I need some more days to finish my book. 
   I informed her,  “Hey Mom! Dad said that he would also be staying for some time because of his work there. You should talk to him; he will pick you up and then you too can have some time alone there. I and Susan will be fine here at home. You don’t worry about us, we will manage, bye”.  I was excited that my mom might also think of going there and it would be a great opportunity for them to spend some time alone, away from their hectic schedules and maybe they will fall for each other again. 
   After a long pause on call, my mom finally uttered,  “Hey Elena, I am going to the farmhouse and will meet your dad to talk and I will try to make things better between us. We will see you both soon. Take care of yourself and your little sister”. 
   I was finally happy that my mom didn’t give up on this relationship and still she is trying her best to make things work in between them,  “That is so cool mom. I Love You! I will take care of us. You enjoy it with dad”.  The bell rang,  “Hey mom! I got to go to class. I will talk to you later. Bye!”  With this, I hung up the call and went for my next class. 
   I wanted my parents to spend more time together so that there is still a little hope that one everything will be sorted and we all will live like a normal happy family. I have tried to arrange so many random plans for both of them earlier, but every time, any one of them ditches the plan and makes an excuse to not go or talk to each other. I was eagerly waiting for them to come back happily and all sorted. With the happy thoughts of me being into a normal family, I started walking towards my class through the hallway. 
   None of my friends except Shane has Math class with me and we sat near to each other because of our class assignment. We both didn’t talk anything about what happened at my place yesterday between us and rather we continued to focus on our assignment. I was happy that I don’t have to explain my situation to Shane, he doesn’t question me about anything. Shane is a very sweet and nice boy, a boyfriend every girl would dream about. He is understanding, caring, respectful, and most importantly, he doesn’t force his feelings on me. The half-day passed by with three continuous lectures, and then it was time for lunch. We all met in the lunch area on our favorite corner side table, gathering together to gossip about how the day went till now and what are we planning for our fresher’s party this weekend. Denise, Maria, Jenny and I decided to wear sun dress and Mary as usual chose to wear her favorite and the most comfortable jeans and top. The boys decided to wear suits for Fresher’s party. The day came to an end by 4 PM and then I drove home picking Susan from her friend’s house which was on the way to our home. 
   I made us both some noodles to eat and some juice to drink. Susan was playing with her toys in the living room while watching television. I was feeling tired so I went to my room to finish some of my homework quickly and to go to sleep early tonight. By 7:30 PM, Susan and I had ordered dinner from the restaurant and till the time the delivery was about to reach, I helped Susan finish her homework for school. By 8o’ clock at night, we both brushed our teeth and I took Susan to her room to let her sleep. After some time, I came back to my room and dropped myself onto my bed, falling asleep within the next ten minutes. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 7 
   It was Friday morning when I had my project viva scheduled at noon in the college. I gave a ride to Shane, as he was helping me with the Physics subject. I am not at all good in physics and I also find it very hard to understand the logic behind every aspect of that subject. Shane had to put extra effort to teach me that subject, as I never paid attention in my class for this subject and was always dependent on him for my studies. 
   After the viva was over, I came running towards Shane to tell him that whatever he explained to me came into my viva and I had finally answered all the questions asked by the invigilator. I was so happy that finally, I found some sense out of Physics while learning with Shane. I met him in the lunchroom, where he was already sitting with our group and was discussing some project problems with others. 
   I went near him, keeping a big smile on my face,  “Hey Shane! I am so happy that I finally made it through this subject. Thank you so much for helping me study this subject” . I hugged him in front of everyone. They all were like  “Aww… Elena, you finally understood this subject” , and laughed in the chorus. I was being teased by all of them for my Physics subject, but I didn’t mind that, because I was actually very bad in it. 
   We had our lunch and went back to our classes for the second half. After college was over at 4 PM, I was driving back home along with Shane, when I got a call from my mom. I answered my phone with enthusiasm,  “Hi Mom! What’s up? What happened between you too? When are you and dad coming back home?” . I couldn’t hear her properly due to traffic so I put my phone on speaker. I heard her weeping; she couldn’t say anything, she was murmuring  “Elena, your dad never loved me. He cheated on me. I can’t explain to you anything more. Please come here and get me. I can’t deal with all this alone”,  and then she hung up the call. 
   I was shocked, but more than shocked I was embarrassed because Shane was in the car with me and he had heard everything my mom had said on a call to me. I wasn’t able to look him into the eyes, as I had always acted as the strong girl in front of everyone, even my best friends, and now, Shane knows about my family’s secret and my messed-up life. I couldn’t say anything to him for the next five minutes with tears all collected in my eyes and were just waiting to be dropped from my eyes, but I tried to hold back them and myself infront of him. Shane broke the silence by keeping his hand on my right hand and said,  “Elena, I think you should go to your mom, she needs you now. I will go by myself and I promise I won’t tell anyone anything. Your secret is safe with me”.  Tears started to dribble down from my cheeks, and I couldn’t hold my cry in front of him. I stopped the car at the parking area of a neighbouring park, on our way home. I couldn’t believe that my family was breaking and I couldn’t do anything. Now, Shane knows about my family and I don’t know what he will think of me and my family. He was consoling me this whole time and supported me. 
   I dropped him there and started the engine of my car to drive as fast as I could to reach home and pick up Susan. She was playing in the garden area of her friend’s house, when I reached there and quickly picked Susan from her friend’s house saying,  “Come, Susan, we are going to meet daddy and mommy soon” . She immediately ran into the house to pick up her bag and kept that on the back seat of the car. Susan and I left for our farmhouse outside the town, to meet mom and dad and to know the real issue.  
   
   
   
   Chapter 8 
   We reached the farmhouse by 9 PM, Susan was asleep due to the long drive. I walked into the house with Susan in my arms. It was a two-floored farmhouse with three rooms on each floor. I went to let her sleep in one of the rooms on the ground floor and called out for mom,  “Mom, where are you?” . Neither dad nor mom replied to my question, I got worried about, what could have happened here that had left this place so much quiet. I started to look for her and went upstairs. The room was in a mess, and things were scattered on the floor with some pieces of glass lying at the corners of the bed and side table. The cushions and the bed sheet along with bed cover were all crumpled as if someone tried to intentionally destroy the beauty of the bedding. 
   She was sitting on the floor; her eyes were swelled up and were full of tears. I ran towards her and picked her up. I asked her,  “Mom, what happened? Where is Dad? Why are you crying? Why aren’t you guys back home till today? Tell me, mom, what happened here?”.  My heart was throbbing with the sensation that I might have to deal with the news that I may never see my father again. 
   My mom couldn’t even speak as she found it difficult to gasp out words out of her mouth due to crying for, I don’t even know how long. She pulled me closer to her and wrapped me in her arms, trying to fight the internal pain that she was going through right now. Finally, she managed to catch her breath and form words,  “Elena, your dad… your dad was cheating on me… he was here not for work… but… but he was here, with her secretary Lisa. They both were in our bedroom when I came back here today morning after completing my novel in the woods. Your dad was with her for the last five years and he didn’t even let us know about her. He just left with her leaving a note. He was with me because I was carrying his child, his first daughter Elena. He felt suffocated in our relationship. He still doesn’t love me and he never loved me”. 
   She begged softly, her gentle voice tired of his anger & aggressiveness, but still finding hope that everything will be okay,  “Elena baby please, bring back your dad. I can’t live without him. I never wanted what he did to me” . She cried out and tears poured out of her eyes. 
   I didn’t want to hear or understand why he did this to us; I didn’t want to face the fact that he had just brought some stranger into the mess that was their life. I tried to console my mom with my words,  “It’s okay mom, I am just glad that I know now about him completely. He hurt you and left, and now he doesn’t matter to me anymore”. 
     
   I stood up and went near the side table to pick up that note and started reading it. 
     
   
    Page, 
   
     
   
   For so long, I was trying to confront you with this reality and today I have got this chance to tell you that I love Lisa and not you. She has been with me for the last five years and has made me happy and satisfied emotionally, mentally, and physically. I tried to make Lisa part of our family but I think this will not be a good idea to replace you and make her my wife in front of our daughters. 
   
   
   I don’t want to force them to love her like a mom as they love you, so I have decided that I am leaving you and I am going to stay with Lisa from now on. I have tried to love you and to stay connected to you for so long, but I don’t find any real attachment or connection or true feelings for you. 
   
   
   Our daughters are big enough to handle themselves now and you are there for them to keep them safe and happy. I am leaving you some money to take care of our daughters’ education. I have already filed a divorce and it will soon be processed. 
   
   
   Tell Elena and Susan that I will always be in touch with both of them if they want my help and support at any point in time as their dad. 
   
   
     
   
   
   Richard 
   
   
   
   
   Chapter 9 
   My mom was right in front of me, she broke into tears, her trembling sobs ringing a painful and heart-breaking melody into my ears, locking that place of despair inside me forever. My mom kept on whispering,  “You have done it, Richard, you almost got what you desired, a life for yourself without me and our kids. You never thought about me, our daughters”. 
   “It’s okay mom, I am here now. Nothing is going to separate us. We are here for each other and will always be together. He didn’t deserve us” , I replied bitterly thinking about dad. I supported mom to stand her up from the floor to get her into the car. She had no strength to even stand on her own without any support. She was completely lost in her own thoughts about her life without dad. It was killing me from the inside to see her like this, and I couldn’t even do anything about it. I went inside the farmhouse again, to bring Susan. She was wide awake till then, but mom and I didn’t show her our broken dreams of a happy family.  
   The drive back home took longer than the expected hours of the journey. We all were completely silent in the car during the whole journey. My mom was looking outside the window with tears freeze in her swollen eyes. We reached home by the morning and I parked the car in our driveway. My mom opened the door to the house and rushed inside her room and locked it. Susan looked confused with mom’s reaction and she asked,  “Elena, what happened to mommy, why is she so upset since we are back and where is daddy?”  I wasn’t sure of how to answer her questions, I couldn’t be weak now when I know I have to handle mom and Susan both. 
   I gathered my courage to answer her by keeping her hands into my grip,  “Susan, there is something I want to tell you, but you have to promise, you will not question mommy about this ever. You will behave like her good daughter. Suzi, daddy is not coming back to us. He is happy with some other Aunt. It will just be you, me, and mommy now. We will always be with you and we will never leave you, no matter what”.  
   A tear started to fall from my eye and she noticed that, she tried to wipe those tears from my eyes with her little hands and replied,  “Elena, I will never make mommy cry because of me. I will become a good daughter, I promise, I will never tease you also. I love you and mommy”.  I held her into a tight hug, feeling a burden in my heart about how we are going to manage mom in this situation. 
   I knocked on mom’s bedroom door, and when she didn’t answer, Susan and me barged inside her room. She was sitting on her bed and looking at our family picture, kept on the side table. She was lost in her thoughts & was completely broken from inside. 
   I wasn’t sure how to deal with the situation currently, but I had to somehow manage and had to decide for us,  “Get up mom, we got to go from here. We have to pack our bags and leave this place. We can’t stay in this house. This is that man’s house. We will not keep anything that belongs to that man. We will find our own place to live. Suzi! Pack your bags and toys and meet me downstairs in the next forty-five minutes. I will come and check up on you in between, if you need any help”,  with this firm decision, I started packing her stuff into a suitcase. 
   After twenty minutes of packing her stuff, I went into my room and picked up my necessary items like clothes, accessories, photos, and study material and packed my luggage to leave the house. I went into Susan’s room to check on her packing, she was struggling to pack her toys into her backpack, she tried to take all her toys and games with her, more than her clothes. 
   I helped her pack her bags and holding her little hand, I brought her downstairs carrying her luggage. I had to take three rounds of my floor to bring down our luggage in one place. While we were waiting for mom to come outside of her room, I started to dial few calls to brokers for a place to live, so that we can leave this house as soon as possible and start our lives again. 
   In between the call, that I was having with one of the brokers who agreed to rent his apartment to us on this very short notice, I asked Susan to knock again on mom’s bedroom and look for, what is holding her there for so long. She ran to mom’s room to see what was taking her so long, even after I had already packed her stuff, she only needed to carry her basic items, hand bag and had to come out of the house. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 10 
   I was putting the luggage into my car being on call with the broker and was waiting for Susan and mom to come outside. While I was busy managing the space for the luggage, Susan came out of the house, running and repeatedly saying my name being completely terrified,  “Elena! Elena! Look! Something happened to mom. She is not waking up and is not responding to me. She is lying on the floor and some kind of foam is continuously coming out of her mouth. Please just come in and check her Elena”.   
   I was shaken by what Susan had said, I immediately ran inside her room, she was unconscious and was lying on the floor. She had some bottle gripped in her hands. I opened the grip of her hand and found a sleeping pills name written on that. I was completely shocked and I couldn’t understand what to do.  “Mom! Mom, please wake up. Mom! What happened to you. Why did you do this to us” , I tried to wake her up, but no response came from her side. 
   I immediately hung up on that broker and called for an ambulance. It was feeling like the ambulance was taking too long to reach out to us, with panic in my mind I was moving back and forth continuously and in speed waiting for the ambulance to arrive at our door step. It came to our house after fifteen minutes. 
   We went to the nearby hospital and the doctor started examining her. I was feeling alone so I called Maria, Mary, Denise & Shane. In the next half an hour, they all were beside me at the hospital. I was crying badly when they came. I hugged them all, when they asked,  “Elena! What happened? Where is your dad?”  I told them the complete story, as what had happened and how my life was from the start till today,  “Dad is not coming back. He left us with a note only that he is leaving us all and would never want to come back to his family” . I told them that whole life I was lying to them about being a happy family, but that secretary of my dad broke our dream. 
   We were standing near the doctor’s cabin when we overheard their conversation about my mom and one of the doctors was saying that  “The patient has taken an extra dosage of sleeping pills and it is really hard to save her life. I think we should tell her daughter that it’s not in our hands now. It’s been too late” . I ran outside the hospital to some alone place, crying even harder and murmuring,  “God please, I had lost one of my parents today, I can’t lose the other one. Please save my mom’s life. Please!”  I was feeling devastated with what the doctors have said and what might happen in next few minutes to my mom. 
   I tried calling my dad, and when he didn’t receive my calls, I ran to his new place (about which only I knew apart from my dad) to inform him about mom, with the hope that he will realize what mistake he did and will come back to us. I ran as fast as I could, wiping my tears to look clearly on the road to catch a taxi. 
   I reached his place, giving a glance inside his house, I noticed that my dad was on the couch with Lisa and they were kissing. I didn’t want him to do more, so I snapped him out of the kissing, with a loud knock on their door. He came rushing to the door and opened it,  “Elena! What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?”  blocking the doorway so that I couldn’t see Lisa with him. 
   I found enough of my voice to give him an answer,  “I came here to tell you that your wife is in the hospital because of you and that bitch, and here you are with no remorse of what you did to us and how it would impact us all. What I saw today at this place few minutes back, I will never forgive you, Mr. Richard” . I left from there, weak, slowing fading, but still managed to get back to the hospital. 
   Shane hurriedly came outside to look for me, he was upset and was breathing fast when he found me,  “Elena! Your mom! Your mom, she needs you to be there with her. Hurry up!”  I ran faster, pushing people away and making my way to mom’s room at the hospital, I ran near to her bed and held her hands,  “Mom! Mom, please don’t do this to me and Susan. Please mom!”  I could see, she was finding it difficult to breathe, it looked like she had lost the hope to live her life. She was trying hard to gasp out some words, but due to her condition, she wasn’t able to form sentences. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 11 
    I looked up at the ECG monitor, it was showing her heartbeats dipping at a very fast pace and within the next few seconds, the lines went straight. I was shattered when her hands dropped from the grip of my hands, and she closed her eyes in front of me and Susan. Susan couldn’t hold her tears, she ran into the arms of Maria & Denise. Shane & Mary, came near to me to hold me and to console me,  “Elena! I am so sorry about your mom” . 
   They hugged me tightly, but I couldn’t even move an inch. I was numb at that time, it felt like time has stopped there and everything that I had as a family, just got away from me. My friends took me and Susan to Denise’s home in the afternoon. Everything was silent at her place, but still, there was an inner disturbance that I could feel, an emptiness in my heart that will always remain now and forever. 
   I informed dad about mom, and he came to the venue for her final rituals. There also he came with Lisa and left immediately after the ceremony. I ran behind him and called him by his name,  “Richard! As you are here today, I want to get things short and clear from now onwards. You and I don’t belong to a family now. I and Susan would never want to see your face again and don’t even try to contact us. Here are your keys to the house, which used to our home once”. 
   I looked at Lisa with complete rage in my eyes and slipped out the words,  “Lisa! You are the reason my family got spoiled and I will never in my whole life forgive you for what you did to me and my mom. Don’t you ever show us your face again”.  By the evening, I and Susan along with my friends performed all the rituals for my mom’s soul peace. May she rest in peace. Susan and I were at Denise’s place only for that night. 
   Every one of them, Denise, Alex, Maria, Alan, Jenny, Prince, Shane, they all stayed for that night with us to show their support and concern towards me and Susan. Susan fell asleep in the arms of Shane after having dinner. It was very difficult to make her eat something to have her pills for the night. With the help of Shane, she was convinced to have something as her appetite for the day and took her pills.  
   All my friends sat near me on the floor in the living room, trying to discuss what I will be doing now, after returning the keys of the home to my dad and after my mom, who left me and Susan all alone for the rest of our lives. Shane came to me and sat beside me with his one hand on my shoulder to provide me the support, which at that time I needed the most,  “You have to be strong for Susan and yourself. Look at Susan, she is just ten, and she just has you to call her family. You can’t lose hope and we all are with you by all means”. 
   I was so disheartened by the loss of my mom, that I was continuously crying keeping in hands my family photo frame tightly. I couldn’t believe that within twenty-four hours, I lost both of my parents. I had no one to call mom and dad now. It was just me and Susan now. I was just a college student with dreams of studying in London for my higher education, and now, I have to take care of Susan and my education, for which I don’t even have money. 
   I had the car and house and money, just because of my dad and mom. My mom is gone and my dad being selfish, I can’t even ask for his help, because he is the reason why mom took such a big step of her life and killed herself. I was completely lost in my thoughts when Denise came near to me and offered me a place in her room to sleep. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 12 
   The next morning, I was in her bed with eyes swelled up because of all night crying and my head was paining like someone was hitting nails in it. I asked Denise if she had medicine. As she gave me the medicine, I gulped it and let myself relax on the sofa for a while. I had no other place to go, like yesterday, when we had to leave for our new apartment, my mom died and that broker had called to cancel my appointment yesterday itself because we couldn’t reach on time. 
   I asked Denise for another help with a bit of an embarrassment in my eyes,  “Umm!! Denise, Could I ask you another favor, please. Now you know that I don’t have any place to live, may we just stay with you for some days. I promise you; we will leave as soon as possible. By today evening for sure, I will talk to some brokers for an apartment near this locality only. It’s just that, I can’t take Susan with me for searching for an apartment, it will impact her studies, so if you don’t mind us staying with you”. 
   Denise came near me and put her hand on my shoulder and turned me towards her. She replied in her best possible sweet and calming voice,  “Elena! You can stay here as long as you want. You don’t have to ask me. I will tell Alex to move in with Prince for the time being. You and Susan could take another room”. 
   I was a little satisfied with what she said, but I didn’t want to burden her with our presence for too long, as she was working very hard to pay for the rent & household necessities own her own by working after college hours. She used to work in a night call center so that she could earn some bucks for her livelihood. Alex was helping her in that along with his part-time job of working in a hotel as housekeeping staff. 
   Earlier I used to think that they were lucky that they got to live alone and enjoy their lives as they want to, with no restrictions from parents and nobody to keep a watch on their move. They could do anything they want to, parties, night outs, and clubbing and staying with all of their friend circle, boys, and girls towards under one roof. 
   But now, it all came to me like a big responsibility. I had my little sister to take care off. I couldn’t leave her alone. I don’t have that much money source also now to feed us for our lives. It was like a nightmare to me now, to think of myself working as a part-time or full-time worker to earn money for our education and food. I never thought that I would have to manage all these so soon. 
   I started college after a week. I had missed so many classes, which means I had to work harder to maintain my pace with the class. It was becoming hectic day by day to wake up early in the morning, make breakfast for me and Susan and then drop her to the school bus, go to college, come back home after picking Susan and then help Denise make dinner and at night do homework. I started to feel pissed off sometimes. It was all becoming too much to handle all alone. 
   One fine day, after thinking for almost a week I decided that I would opt for full-time employment for myself. I discussed this with Shane in the college lunch area,  “Hi Shane! I wanted to discuss something with you in private”.  Shane was having lunch with his group when I interrupted him and he gladly stood up from his chair and sat beside me,  “Sure Elena! What is it? You look so dull. Is everything okay”? 
   
   
   
   Chapter 13 
   I couldn’t hide anything from him so I explained to him my thoughts,  “Shane! I was thinking of getting a job. It’s been more than three months that I and Susan are staying with Denise and because of us Alex had to move out of that place to stay with Prince. I don’t know… but I am not comfortable with this idea anymore, so I had made my mindset that I want to get a full-time job. We are running short of money as well, as whatever savings my mom had, that will go in Susan’s semester fees and her doctor’s visits and I can’t compromise on her studies and health. For this, I would have to drop out of college and pursue my career now. It’s time that I should realize what’s best for us right now”. 
   Shane looked surprised by what I shared with him, but he seemed to finally understand my situation and without arguing with me, he just held my hands and encouraged me with his words,  “Elena! I know it’s a tough time for you and Susan and whatever decision you have made, I will always stand by you. If at any point in time you need anything from me, I will always be there to stand by you in every situation and in every way possible”. 
   For the first time, I felt like, I truly liked Shane because of his supporting nature and his positive attitude towards every situation. I couldn’t feel prouder than today, as I had Shane by my side after my parents to make me feel that I am not alone in this struggle.  
   In the evening, when I and Denise reached home after college, I informed her about my plans to get a job and move out of her place to give them space. She is the starting, clearly didn’t approve of my plans of getting a job as she knew me very well that it is hard out there in the world to survive and to earn money. But then she understood my situation and agreed to my decision. She is such a caring and sweetheart friend. 
   I dropped out of my college to start a new job as an assistant in the XYZ company. They were paying me a handsome amount of money for this profile, as I was under-qualified for this but they liked my personality and persona and finally offered me this position. With the first salary from this job, I paid the deposit money for the 1BHK apartment to the broker and I shifted with Susan to our new home. 
   The office was only half an hour away from where I live now, so it was a little easy to manage my professional and personal life, also, now I don’t have any homework to finish every day. I just had my 9 to 5 duty and to take care of Susan’s homework, diet, and appointments with the doctors. I got used to my new life and it’s been one and a half years that I have engaged myself in these activities and daily routine but I still missed my college days, my friends, our chit chat sessions, lunch breaks.   
   We all used to meet every day after college for studies, play, and drama classes. Now, all of these have become just a memory. I meet my friends on weekends and spent time with them, but still, something has changed, the way we used to be around each other. I had become more matured and responsible, to which each one of them, still couldn’t believe. My friends have started their jobs also as full-time employment after college. 
   I have forgotten about my dream of going to London to pursue my further studies and to live my life with my friends. These all have become a part of my past life, my current life revolved around my little sister and her health. One thing that remained unchanged in the last two years is Shane. Shane never misses meeting Susan and me on every alternate day. He has been the only constant in my life after my family. Although I meet him regularly, every weekend, what I loved about him the most is, he never leaves Susan alone whenever he meets her.  
   
   
   
   Chapter 14 
    Shane makes sure that Susan enjoys every moment of her life and doesn’t miss mom and dad. Although I had never really expressed to Shane how I feel about him, after what happened to my family, I couldn’t even hide my feelings from him also. I invited him for dinner with us, to which he happily accepted and stayed for that evening at my place.  
   I went inside the kitchen to prepare dinner for us. Meanwhile, Susan and Shane were playing around in her room. After half an hour, Shane came downstairs to look for the dinner meal, as he knew that I have learned cooking because of my responsibilities now. The look on his face was satisfying as if he has seen the most peaceful thing in the world and was smiling continuously, looking at me, making all the arrangements alone, from making the dinner to set up the dinner table with all the crockery and table clothes.  
   After dinner, we were washing dishes and when we were done, we went outside of the apartment to take a walk at night. There was no one around to disturb us. The place near my society was silent and the view of the sky at night was mesmerizing. We kept on walking for around twenty steps without saying a word, but then I decided to break this silence and turned towards him, facing him straight in his eyes,  “Shane! I am happy that you accepted my offer of having dinner with us. There is something I wanted to tell you from the last so many months. I don’t know how to say this, but I think I like you. I like you more than a friend, I don’t know how you feel about me or what you think of me as now, but I am sorry that I couldn’t reverse the feelings in the past that you had for me because of what I have seen in my family. I know it might be too late to express my feelings to you, but I didn’t want to have this regret that I didn’t even try and lost this opportunity”. 
   Shane kept quiet for some time, but it felt like it was my heartbeat had stopped at that moment, I couldn’t guess what was running in his mind. He looked surprised and amazed both to me, but I wanted him to share his part with me.  “Shane please say something. Your silence is killing me. I am sorry, I know I am too late to have feelings for you like this, but please, at least share your thoughts with me. I am in dilemma now, whether you still feel the same for me like you used to do two years back or have I lost that chance forever”. 
   The wind outside was sending chills to my body, but I was still focused on Shane’s face to have my answers. After a long pause, he came near to my face and looked me into the eyes, with his soft and innocent look. He enchanted me though, with his fascinating emerald eyes that were shadowed by his shaggy black-hair and his smile that took my breath away. He entirely took the definition of beautiful. He cupped my cheeks into his hands, and suddenly closed the distance between our faces with a gentle and sober kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes at that moment as I wanted to capture that moment for the rest of my life, in my memories. It was our first official and romantic kiss. I was blushing, couldn’t look at him and give in to his charming smile and bright eyes. 
   He didn’t say anything but his eyes and the emotions they conveyed said it all. I let myself fall under his temptation and looked at him, his charming grin turning into a smirk, as if he was reading my thoughts. 
   I didn’t need any words of commitment from him, because he was the only one who stood by me and Susan every time and never let us down. With this kiss, we said our goodnights and walked towards our homes. 
   
   
   
   Chapter 15 
    It was my birthday week and unlike every year, this year was just a normal passing year, as I lost my family and my friends also got busy because of their work schedules. Everything changed since the day I left college and took the responsibility of managing the household work & Susan’s life. I was not even excited to have my birthday week like I used to. It was going to be just a small get-together which unexpectedly Prince and Alex arranged at their apartment. It was going to be a very small celebration between us friends.  
   On my birthday today, I woke up early in the morning. I took an off today from work to be with Susan for the whole day. I wanted to spend the day with my only family left with no disturbances at all. I went downstairs in the kitchen to make us breakfast when I saw that Susan was making me a cupcake all by herself by reading the recipe in the cooking book. I heard some noise from the living room and when I peeked through the door, I found Shane all covered with balloons around him and was filling air into one of the balloons. 
   He was wearing a small-cap, on which it was written “Birthday Girl”. He was looking too cute with that cap and all surrounded by balloons and ribbons. I felt happy from the inside after so long. All three of us enjoyed together at my home till our lunch hours after which Shane went to his apartment as he had to meet Alex and Prince before the party starts. 
   It was 5 o'clock in the evening, I got dressed up in my favorite red and white sundress. I wore small studs to match my dress and a bracelet. I kept my hair straight with half of them tight up with bobby pins. I wore my favorite white heels matching my attire for the day. Susan and I walked out of my place and there Shane was already standing in the driveway wearing a black shirt and jeans, looking handsome as always. 
   We reached the venue at 6 o’clock and every one of them was there waiting for me to enter. They had made arrangements with balloons, ribbons, drinks & a big 2 layered cake. After the cake was cut, they handed me my birthday gift, which was a big white envelope. I sat down on the sofa to properly open the seal of the envelope. I was in shock to see what they had arranged as my birthday present. 
   The envelope had three letters in it. One was of the doctor’s appointment for Susan’s operation with which she could be healed. The second one had my college rejoining letter, I was going to complete my studies again. The final one had my scholarship to a London school for my internship program. I couldn’t hold back my tears at that time. It was like a dream for me to get back to college and to go to London for my internship. My friends made it possible, all this, without even letting me know this. 
   I was feeling blessed to have such wonderful and supporting friends in my life. It has been a month after my birthday, and I had to join college next month. I was going to go for my internship for the next 6 months in London. It was all possible because of my friends. They took care of Susan after her operation. They made us a part of their family and gave us all they had earned and saved just to bring my life back to normal after I lost my real family. 
   It is truly said that  “a friend in need is a friend indeed” . They all are my heroes and I am so glad that I had found them and got an opportunity to share my happiness & togetherness with them. 
   
   
   
   Post Script 
     To Shane, Denise, Maria, Mary, Alex & Prince 
     
   
   Thank you so much for standing with me in my ups and downs and for being a support system to me every time I found myself getting weak and ready to give up on y responsibilities. You people made me strong internally and I am for sure lucky that you guys chose me as your special friend, for whom you people invested your time, money, and efforts. 
   
     
   
   P.S. I love you all more than I could express. 
   
   
   Love, 
   
   
   Elena. 
   
   
   
   Publication Date: October 10th 2020 https://www.bookrix.com/-mxeddf27bda3ee5