Our Time Will Come - An After Story

115

Hardin

"Each time we go ice skating, you get worse than the last time!" my wife chuckles at my expense as I struggle to pull these damn skates off. "Oh, let's go on the ice rink, you said. It will be cute, you said. Tell that to my broken back!" I scold her and she continues to giggle away. "You can make it up to me with one of your massages when we get back to the room" I say through gritted teeth. 

The bloke behind the counter hands me back my boots in exchange for these ghastly death shoes. I hurry to put them on to catch up with Tessa, who has been ready leave with her shoes on for the past ten minutes. I stand from the bench, taking Tessa's hand in mine and with that, we set off. "Fuck, why do I still feel like I'm on the ice?!" I smirk as I lose my balance. Tessa gets a kick out of the way I clutch onto her. "Aww, my little Bambi" she pouts, her bottom lip sticking out. "Bambi?! If you're going to refer to me as a Disney character, I'll be damned if I'm Bambi. I'm Mufasa, baby" I wink at her, causing her to breathe through her nose.

"What is so funny?!" I scoff over her pretentious giggling. "Nothing. It's just.. you're more of a Rafiki. Wild, but wise" she points. "I'll take that" I tell her, though I'm not sure why. Why do I have to be the obnoxious, geriatric monkey?

"Babe?" Tessa looks up at me, her smile lighting up my world. "Yes" I say softly, whilst squeezing her small hand. "I'm having the best time with you" she emotes, instantly warming my heart. It's like we're teens again, getting to experience our relationship the way it always should have been. "The feelings reciprocated, baby" I tell her, whilst stopping in my tracks to place a kiss into her hair.

I groan when my phone begins to ring, for I'm wearing gloves and struggle to retrieve it from my pocket. I assume that this is what woman feel like when they wear those fake, claw nails. I realise that it's Emery calling and I'm quick to rip my gloves off to answer to her. It may have only been two days, but I have never been away from the children for this long and I've been desperate to hear their voices.

Emery

I unravel the ball of paper before me, curious as to what it could be. It has so many creases in it, that it is barely legible, but I can just about make out what it says if I squint. It's dated January fifth, which is today. I almost strain my eyes, trying to make out the first line. It reads

"The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there"

Baffled, I continue to read to make sense out of it. Since when does Charlie write? Maybe he has taken some inspiration from my father. I scan through the rest of it and my heart sinks when I come to a certain part.

"But there I was, sixteen years old, sitting at that very desk, in the early hours of the morning, and my story had finally come to an end. I wish it was a happy one, but that wasn't the case. Just like my story, my life had come to an end, because just like those screwed up, battered, ruined pieces of paper, I knew I'd never be the same again.

My heart shattered at the fact that I was no longer writing 'Once upon a time' and instead I was writing that I was sorry. Sorry that I wasn't the son that my parents had always wished for."

Without realising, I cover my mouth to prevent myself from getting sick. "No" I say repeatedly. The paper falls from between my finger tips and floats to the ground. I can't physically bring myself to read any more. Where has he gone and what is he about to do? It doesn't bare thinking about. Before I know it, my feet are taking me down the stairs, though I can't feel them doing so. It's like I'm having some kind of out of body experience.

"Ems, Dinner's ready!" my Nana chimes as I reach the bottom of the stairs. She notices the frantic expression on my face and is quick to panic. "Emery, darling. Whatever is the matter?" She whispers, a hand covering her mouth. "I'm sorry Nana. I have to go" I huff, not giving her much context. She calls my name repeatedly as I rush out of the door. I can't get away from here fast enough. I need to find him. We need to talk. Now.

I'm running faster than my legs can take me and it's almost like air is no longer good for my lungs at the thought of losing him. Before I know it, I am stopping dead in my tracks outside of Blake Priestley's house. My first intervention is to attempt to call Charlie. I do just that, and as I assumed, it's no use. It's goes straight to answerphone and I know that he isn't going to answer to me any time soon.

After the letter that he left, it's highly unlikely that he went to Blake's to Hang out. However .. there is something about the way the two of them looked on the football field earlier, that tells me there's a chance that Blake will know where Charlie is.. or maybe Charlie will pick up his phone to Blake. I don't approve their newfound friendship, but if Blake can help me In a crisis, then I'll take the help. I take a deep breath and try to prepare myself..but before I can bring myself to step foot on his garden path, I dial a number of a man that I know I can always turn to In a crisis. My father. It rings for a few moments and just as I'm close to giving up, he answers.

"Hi, baby" Is the first thing he says, little does he know that I'm a mess and this is no casual conversation.

"Daddy?" My voice is shaky as I grab his attention.

"I need you" I tell him, trying to hold back the sob that is desperate to escape.

"Emery, What is it?! What happened?" Panic is evident in his voice and I instantly feel guilty to put my problems on him when he's trying to enjoy a well deserved break. I can't tell him this, he will freak out and he and my mom will probably cut their trip short.

"I - I ... nothing. There's a" I pause, thinking of what to say next. I take in my surroundings and cringe at the cobwebs that cover Blake's car. I wince when I spot a spider so big that it's footsteps would probably make a thud.

"There's a huge spider in the house and you're not here to remove it!" I lie. My story is fabricated but my cries are real.

"That's it?" My father laughs down the line. "Fucking hell, Emery, you had me panicking for a minute!" He continues to laugh.

"Your mum says she loves you and she hopes you're all behaving!" My Dad adds.

"I love you both, too. And we are" I add, growing anxious as I know that I need to hang up the call and face what is to come.

"Put Auden on the phone, I miss that little man" He requests. The facade eventually becomes too much, and I hastily hang up the phone, for I have no idea what to say and I obviously can't put Auden on the phone. I try not to think to deeply into the what my father must be thinking at this time.

I take a deep breath as I slip my phone into my back pocket and walk the path of Blake Priestley's house. I jump, when I'm startled by my name being called from behind me. I turn to find both Blake and Charlie, leaning against the fence. "What are you doing here, blondie?" Blake chimes. His nickname for me was always a little obnoxious, but now that I'm with Charlie, hearing it makes me physically sick.

"Charlie. Can I talk to you? Alone?" I eyeball him. He shrugs, hesitant to answer me. "Please?!" I glare at Blake and with that, he clears off. He pats Charlie on the shoulder before doing so.

"So. What were your intentions, huh? To propose to me, make me think that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me.. and then just leave?" I yell. I can't control the anger that I feel towards him right now. I can understand that when you're struggling with your own demons, it can be hard to open up, but he's my fiancé. We're supposed to tell each other everything. I try so hard to be here for him and he has done nothing but push me away! "What?" He raises a brow, looking genuinely confused. "Don't 'what' me, Charlie Travers!!" You know 'what!'. I found your letter!" My voice breaks and I attack his chest. "Oh no. No, no, no. Emery, you have the wrong end of the stick. That isn't-"

"That isn't what?" I interrupt. "That isn't what you meant?!" I scoff, my voice as squeaky as ever. "You said that your story had come to an end! I can't bare to think of life without you. You left the house with the intention of never returning and I didn't even get as much as a goodbye!" I am now sobbing. Charlie is frantically tugging at his hair in distress, tears threatening to escape his ducts at any second.

"Emery. You didn't read the whole thing. Did you?" He buries his head into his hands. I didn't, but what does that matter? I shake my head. "That letter... it doesn't belong to me" he reveals and I'm instantly confused. What does he mean it doesn't belong to him... I found the damn thing in his sweatpants. This has taken an unexpected turn. "I tried to prevent this from happening.. but We need to talk" he tells me and I nod vigorously In agreement. We need to talk, alright.