NEW BEGINNINGS

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

"It was my choice to make! I should have been the one to decide if I wanted to wait or not, not you! You had no right to make that choice for me. You shouldn't have. You were in no place to!" Wanda yelled back at him
"And you were? I had to do what was best for you! Do you think it was easy leaving you and all that we had behind? Do you think it was easy to hurt you? None of it was easy! I almost didn't go anymore because I hurt you! One of us had to put the other person first regardless of how painful the process was and I did it. So maybe I decided to make that decision for the both of us"
"No, it wasn't. It was mine to decide, not you Dylan. You left and it hurt as hell and that's on you! I am not going to feel sorry for a mistake that wasn't mine. You left because you wanted to!"
"What the hell are you saying? Why on earth would I willingly want to leave you? You were everything to me. You still are. You are the reason I came back here to the States. I have had a series of girlfriends and none can replace you. I haven't felt for another woman what I feel for you and I probably never will but you have to understand that it wasn't easy to leave you. It never was and it never will be. So I beg of you, please just forgive me. You can't possibly stay mad at me forever"
"As long as I still feel this hurt, I would stay mad at you. That kind of pain does not go away just like that! It stays"

Her phone rang and she wiped the tears on her face. It was her brother again. She picked it up

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped angrily
"Dad is gone. He died some hours ago. You should come over"

He hung up and she walked out of the room. Dylan followed her

"What's wrong?"
"Go home, please. Just go home"
"I am not leaving you again. I am not making the same mistake twice. Whatever it is, I am going to be there every step of the way so drop the God-damned attitude and talk to me!"
"It is my Dad, he's gone"

She said as she broke down and cried. Dylan was shocked. He didn't know that something was wrong with her dad. Mr. Phillips Arnold never for one day liked him and that was probably because he was dating his youngest daughter. He remembered one time when Mr. Arnold threatened to shoot him if he showed up at their house again but that didn't stop him from going to see Wanda. Gradually, the man started to ease up on him. He was more welcoming than before and he stopped his outrageous threats. The last time he saw Mr. Arnold was when Wanda turned eighteen, which was just weeks before her dad pushed her out on the streets. Her dad pushed her out on the streets and even, Dylan wasn't there for her. He was busy with someone or something else. He walked up to her and hugged her. He kissed her forehead and held her tight

"You would be fine, I promise"
"I have to go there now. I need to go there"
"I would drive. C'mon"

He said as he extended her hand and she took it. They went to his car and he drove down to the hospital. She met everybody there, even her sister's kids.

"Where is he?" Wanda asked
"I am so sorry baby," her mom said and hugged her

She broke down. She wanted her dad, no matter what he had done to her. She just wanted him. She would rather have him here and not speak to him for the rest of her life than speak to him once and have him die. She might have made it and achieved her dreams but she was always going to be daddy's little girl. Her mom held her as she cried. Dylan eventually had to leave. He decided to text her and he left her in the care of her family. He was glad that she was on her work leave now. For the next three months, she was going to be working from home. She would have more than enough time to grieve, heal and maybe rest. He drove back home and headed straight to bed.

***

It was now a month since she lost her dad. She was still as broken as when she heard it. After the burial, her mom went with her elder sister to California to stay with her permanently. Wanda was against the idea but Helen said it was best for her to go there. Wanda preferred that her mom stayed in her own house but her mom was adamant about going to California. Wanda had fully sponsored the burial but it didn't change anything. She was still as hurt, broken, and empty as she was in the beginning. She had refused to see anybody, not even her work colleagues. She was indoors all through, working, sleeping, eating, and crying. She was just twenty-three. To her, that was way too young not to have a dad. She wished she had studied Whatever he wanted her to study in the beginning. They would never have fought and she might have still made enough money to keep her father alive. To a very large extent, she blamed herself. She stopped picking up calls, not even her siblings' or Dylan's. She was just on her own and she wanted it to remain that way for now. She looked at the keys on her bedside table. It belonged to the house she had gotten for her brother and his wife as a wedding gift. She had not been able to give it to them yet.