After 4 | ✓

Chapter 6

Tessa's POV:
One week later...

"Tessa, I should just come there, just for two hours, no three or five maybe, please" Hardin says trying to negotiate through the phone. "Baby please." He adds. My heart leaps by his given nickname for me.

"Hardin, I'm not going through about this with you all over again." He did this all week, calling, convincing me to come here." You've to understand, please." I pled.

"I understand, but I'm just missing you so much." He groan.
"Don't you miss me?"

"I do" I say, merely a whisper. More than he ever knows. I cried and cried every night about this whole week, staring up at the ceiling, or sometime bury my face in the pillow to low my voice, so that my mother can't hear me. Or goes to the greenhouse during the day, remembering our times, moments, we spend there.

"So what are we waiting for? I'm coming there, right now."

"Hardin please" I say sternly.

"Okay, okay. I've to go now, it's my time for going to the gym. I love you, Tess." He says, defeat clearly in his voice.

"I love you Hardin" I say and he hung up. And then I lie down on the bed, staring up at the fan.

After few minutes passes, my mother screams my name from down the hall "Tessa." I wait for a moment. She scream again "Theresa can you come into the kitchen?"

"Coming" I groan, getting up from the bed and goes into the kitchen, where she stands. I sit down on the bar stool and she puts her plams on the counter and stare at me. For the first she looks stress, nervous even. I've never seen her in this way in my entire life.

"Are you okay?" I ask, even though I know that, mostly, I'm not getting any answers from her.

"Yes, but there is something I've to tell you." I nod at her for her to continue. "So there is someone I'm dating, he is a nice guy and lives here in this town with her ten years old daughter. And her mother dies three years ago." She adds.

I'm surprised, shocked even, by this. My mother, Carol young is dating someone, after all this years. "What work he do?" I ask, probably a lawyer or a doctor, for sure.

"He owns a bakery in the town" she says. Double shock, he's only owns a bakery. I stare at her with my wide eyes open, not to subtle my expression.

"What? What are you thinking? I know that face, tell me" she demands.

"I'm just surprised, that you're dating, and he only happens to be own a bakery. I thought he'd be a, you know, doctor or a lawyer or have county club membership." I try not to offend her.

"I know, I get it. After your father left it's very difficult for me to even look at somebody, I thought he'd come back for me, for us. But he didn't. So I've to taken care of us by myself and become stable and strong, so I can provide you, and to us. And sometime it's not always about stability and security, I get it now, it can be, likely ness and love too" She says and smile at me.

I smile back her and put my hand on her. "I'm happy for you mom" I tell her. I'm really am. After my father left, she became someone else, she won't even smile. Only waiting for him to come around, but he didn't, not to care, not even a little bit. And now, as he is died, thats give her a little push to care for herself. It's good, she also deserve a happy ending after all.

"Thanks you" she says.

So that is why, she comes home late at night. And not giving me lecture about talking to phone with Hardin for hours.

"And also, Noah is going to come here any minutes by now, for saying goodbye to you. So be ready" she say gesturing to my pajama with her hand.

And here she is again, typical Carol, I was having good time with understanding one. "He's going to college, in California, so be ready." She adds.

What's even with Noah and her?
I know they've some special relation, before even I used to date him. And he happens to have some magical power towards her behavior, that only he knows. But sometime it's get on my nerves, that she listens to him, understood him more than me.

"I'll" I said and put my head on the counter and she goes to her room. After a few minutes, I am in my room too. And get dressed in somewhat presentable clothes, nothing to special. After brushing my hair, I goes to the living room and switch on the television to watch something while wait for Noah to come.

Twenty minutes later, there is a knock on the door, opening it revealing Noah, in his usual cardigan and khaki. With a warm smile, he hug me. "Hey, how are you?" he ask in my hair.

"Good" I say, hugging him back. "Why don't you come in." We break our embrace, and I lead him in the living room, and we sit down on the couch.

"So, now what happened this time, for you to come here?" He ask with a small smile.

"Nothing, just wants to spend my time here, with my mom." I shake my head. "What about you? You're going to college. Sorry that I didn't visit you, I thought you were busy, planning and packing for the move." Since I got here, I didn't go anywhere, only roaming around in this small house.

'It's, okay really. I got spot on the soccer team at my college in California, so I think I just move one month ahead and get perfectly settle there, and get to know the place." He says.

"Congratulations Noah, that's great" at least something is good happened to him, because of our breakup.

"Thanks. So what about you? You're going to finish your college, right?"

"Yes, of course, I'll. But I think, I just want to take this semester off, and make solid plan to move to New York and finish my college there." I say.

"Woah, New York? I hope you do" he says with a wide smile. We kept talking about for another half hour and then he headed in to his house, and me, into my room.

When I sit down on the edge of the bed, my phone rings on the nightstand. I quickly retrieve it, and Kimberly name flashes on the screen."Hey" I say to her.

"Hi, so ready for your move to New York girl?" She ask. I didn't told her that I'm not moving now.

"Uhh, I'm not going."

"What? You're not going. What's change your mind?" She asks. "You can tell me anything, you know that right? Now tell me" she commands.

"It's just everything was falling apart in my life, with everyone, and with between me and Hardin. So I just take a time apart between us and take my time so that I can repair my relation with everyone surround me." My voice breaks at the end, and I cover my mouth with my hand.

I really miss him so much.

"Hey, it's good. Don't break. And suck up, stop crying, and do something about the direction your life is heading. You're still young, you can achieve anything if you want." She encourage me.

"Yeah" I say.

"Yes, that my girl. Keep it up and won't break again. You can do it, okay?" She is really a good friend.

"Yes" I say.

And we keep talking about another hour, mostly of her office gossips, bitchy woman who breaks her heel and pours her coffee on her friend's shoe. And find Trevor pinning her girlfriend inside the elevator. She promises me that his hand were under the girls skirt.

Horny-ass Trevor, Hardin would've called.

After that, she hung up and I goes to kitchen to drink some water.