Stay

Chapter 19: Breakaway

My eyes bursted open and adrenaline rushed through my veins, freeing me of paralysis. I pushed Mr. Adler off of me with unseemly strength. He remained on the bed and I hovered over him. Angry tears fought their way down my cheeks, and I said through clenched teeth,

"What?" 

"I said... you're just like your mother." said Mr. Adler glancing up at me. 

My body moved on its own as my anger possessed me to grab Mr. Adler by the collar and shake him. 

"How do you know my mother?!" I screeched.

"I...I.." began Mr. Adler, hesitating. His eyes were wide and he looked frightened.

"ANSWER ME!!!" I screamed, slamming him against the headboard.

"Fine!" he pleaded, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "Just let me go!"

I let go of him and stood, pacing back and forth in front of the bed. I gave Mr. Adler an angry glare. I had been living with a man for five years and I didn't even know who he was. 

Mr. Adler's face grew morose as he began to speak. 

"I met your mother in Clarchens Ballhaus, a bar just north of here. It wasn't too busy since it was a Tuesday afternoon and most people were still at work. I remember I sat on the bar stool and began to think about how I was going to get a grant for my research. She came and asked me if she could get me anything. I laid eyes upon her and in that split second, I decided that she was the most beautiful woman in the whole world." 

Mr. Adler paused, and shifted a little bit. I felt my nails dig deep into the flesh of my palm as I clenched my fists. 

"She had red lipstick and her eyes were green with specks of gold. Her hair was chocolate brown--"  

"I know how my own mother looks. Get to the point." I said interrupting him. 

 "We struck a conversation.. and the more I listened to her, the more I liked her. So I went to the bar quite frequently, and I got to know her better. I'd talk about my profession and the baffoons I had to deal with at work. She'd talk about her distaste for bartending, and the pain of being a single mother." 

"She spoke of me..?" I asked under my breath. Mr. Adler continued. 

"We began meeting outside of the bar and she opened up to me about your father. She told me that she still loved him and that she wished she could move on, but couldn't. I began to develop feelings  for her, and we eventually became romantically involved. I fell deeper and deeper in love with her." 

Mr. Adler's eyes glazed over. 

"We dated for a couple of years and then one day...she stopped answering my phonecalls. I checked at your apartment and the tenant said that you had vacated. I went to the bars and nightclubs, but everywhere I went and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find her." 

Mr. Adler burst into tears. 

"I was devastated. I had every intention of spending the rest of my life with her. I thought she loved me too..." 

I clenched my teeth, my anger escalating. 

"Why did you adopt me then?" I asked. 

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied gazing up at me with red rimmed eyes. 

"At first, I hoped that it would lure your mother back to me. When she seemed to have no interest in looking for you, I got you involved with pornography because I knew she was heavily involved in that industry. I was hoping that we would run into each other."