Self-love (Jjba Fanfic)

2

As I ran down the road, I felt embarrassment crawling up my body. D-damnit, they saw me, I scowled out as I approached my destination, a beautiful gray and white manor with flowers around the property's borders. I knock on the dark gray door gently as I try to control my breathing and emotions, only to find a young boy about 3 to 4 years younger than me opening the door shyly.

"Who are you?" he asked as he looked at me, trying to see past the shadow of my hood. I bow my head down and softly reply "I'm here to see Mr. Theodore; he sent me a letter asking to meet with him as soon as possible". He gave a nod and opened the door all the way to allow me to enter. "All of the staff is attending to my father at the moment, so I will escort you to him," he says as he begins to walk towards the stairs. All I can do is nod and follow behind silently; the house is littered with photos and décor. The photos range from a young man, to him and his new wife, to various photos of two children, one younger boy and one older girl. I kept looking until I saw a small photo hidden amongst the others, a baby girl with a full head of brown hair looking towards the camera with a huge smile on her face. I paused for a moment as I looked at the photo in shock, causing the young man in front of me to stop as well. "Is something wrong?" he asked with suspicion in his eyes as he tried to follow the line of my sight. I snapped my head back forward and shook my head no as I walked towards him once again. "It's nothing, please continue," I said as I urged him to continue onward. Although he looks skeptical, he continues to lead me to a room with people running in and out of it—maids, butlers, even the girl and her wife from the pictures I saw were running around to make sure he was comfortable. I enter the room, and one by one people start to stop and notice my presence here. "Darling, who is this?" I heard a voice speak as I turned to look at my father. He is lying in bed with his skin a sickly yellow color, his eyes pink, and next to some bloody tissues. His blue-green eyes widen as they meet my hooded form.

"Ah, you came to see me after all," he chuckles out as he goes to sit up. "Everyone but my wife and our guest must leave; do not disturb us until I say so," he commands out to his staff and children. The staff leave with a bow or curtsy, while the kids, who seem hesitant, leave without a word.

As the door closes, he looks at me with eyes discolored with a mix of emotions. "Have a seat," he says as he gestures to a chair on the opposite side of the bed. I take my seat and adjust my hood to keep myself hidden, which makes John frown. "You don't have to keep it on, Aliya; what I want is to introduce you to my wife," he says as he grabs his wife's hand. the woman who had blonde hair and hazel eyes look at me with a hesitant stare, i can tell she wasn't to happy to be kept in the dark about he situation. i huff and slowly take off my hood to show the two my face which gains two different reactions, for the woman she looked at me with a mixture of shock and disgust while john looked at me with guilt and shame. 

"My lovely Sarah, this is my daughter, Aliya," he says as the woman snaps her head to look at him in anger "Your  what?!!" She screeches out as she yanks her hand away from him. "My daughter," he replies shamefully like a child who got caught breaking a vase, "had an affair 13 years ago when I took a trip to that Spanish island on the Caribbean. To a woman named Sandra Mangual, after our nightly encounter, I ran away to return to England with my trades.". His wife sarah at this point is looking at him, eyes glossy from tears of frustration and hurt.

he turns to me to avoid his wife, "i wanted you two to meet seeing how im dying.." he trailed off as he coughed up some blood into his hand. "I want you to live here when I die, seeing how I can't keep paying for the house I gave you when you were young," he says as he reaches for my hand. I snatch it away in disgust, causing him to sigh in disappointment.

"How is she even here? How do you even know about her?" Sarah asks as she wipes away her tears, causing the two of us to stiffen up, "Darling, if I tell you, you can't tell a soul; otherwise, Aliya might get deported and killed," he begged as he grabbed her arm. She looks at me hesitantly and nods as she listens to the story.

"It started 6 years ago, when I went back to Puerto Rico to check on some things for business." As I was walking around the town, I noticed Sandra standing there with an older woman and a child. I tried to hide, but fate is something no one can run away from. Sandra turned around to help Aliya, who had fallen on the floor, and saw me. She instantly grabbed Aliya and ran to me with happy tears running down her face. She hugged me, and in English, she ranted about how she had waited for me all these years. After she calmed down, her mother, Elvira, came over and explained in much more broken English how Sandra fell pregnant after our affair and had Aliya. she apparently fell in love with me so much she refused to love anyone else, she believed one day I would come back for her and our daughter." he said as he gave a faint smile, it quickly disappeared for the next part of the story. 

"I stayed there for an extra two weeks to try and explain to her how it was a mistake, but she refused to listen, so on my last two days I told her I was leaving and I'm not coming back. The next morning, she was found dead in her home. Elvira came to me and begged me to take Aliya far away to England. She didn't want Aliya to grow up without a mother or a father, so to honor Sandra, I accepted her request and took Aliya to England." he explained softly as his wife turned to look at me ,I showed nothing but a straight face during his story which I think made her uncomfortable. 

"Aliya," my father called to me as he gestured for me to come forward. I got up and walked to his bedside. I looked down at him with a cold and hardened gaze. "Yes, sir?" I asked. "There is a box under this bed; it's black with gold hardware on it. Please get it for me." he asked as he pointed to the ground. I nod and kneel down to peer under the bed; sure enough, there is a large black box hidden in the darkness of the bed. I pulled it out and put it on the nightstand next to the bed.

"In this box is stuff your grandmother gave me to give to you; I never looked inside, but a letter that came recently from her I put inside the box," he explained as I ran my hand along the box's edge. "I see." I trail off as my eyes soften at the memories of my grandmother. "Can I speak with you alone, Mr. Theodore?" There is something personal I wish to discuss with you," I ask calmly as my gaze hardens once again. He nods and motions for his wife to leave for a moment, and as she gets up, she gives me a glare on her way out.

"You're such a bad actor, John," I say immediately as I look down at him "What is it that you truly want?". He chuckles as he looks at me amusedly and says, "I see you inherited your grandmother's sharp intuition". I roll my eyes and kick his bed harshly to make it shake and rattle around. "Spit it out, you miserable old man," I hiss out as I go back to my seat with the box. "I just want you to meet your stepmother. Is that so bad? I also just so happened to remember the box when your grandmother sent that letter" he said in fake innocence. "I also wanted to let you know that after I die, the house I gave you will no longer be paid for on a monthly basis when you turn 18, and the nanny I had for you will return back to my manor," he says as he makes himself comfortable in his bed. "I figured as much from you," I respond as I start to put my hood back on. "I'm assuming you also left hush money in this box to keep me from telling your 'lovely Sarah' the truth about you and Puerto Rico?" i asked. He only nodded in response "I suppose this is the last time I'll see you, child," he hummed out. "I hope you burn in hell, John," I spat out as I went out the door.

I stopped a maid and let her know that I was finished with my visit so that he could go back to getting treated. As I walk back to the entrance of the manor, I'm stopped by Sarah, who grabs me by the arm.

"Don't come back here...ever" she said desperately "I'll even pay you to keep all this a secret from the public. Just please don't come back". I snatched my arm back as I looked at her from under my hood "If you want to silence me, I expect payment every month until I say otherwise" I said in almost a hushed whisper "or else I'll make you and your children's lives hell".

With that, I take my leave from Theodore Manor for the very last time with my black and gold box.