IV. The Impact of Her

~ Two ~

'The moment has come, Robert,' I thought to myself. 'Grandpa Ben must know what happened to her.'

I knew that this was the perfect time for me to explain Laura's absence. However, for some unknown reason, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

My mind, my lips, my body knew what I should do, what I should say. But, I lost the courage to tell Grandpa Ben the truth.

The brave, the honest, the man that I knew that I was - a man of honour - faded away with the wind. It was as if I was helplessly blown into the air. And I could only wait for where the wind would take me.

Perhaps, what I felt as of the moment was fear.

The fear of disappointing Grandpa Ben. The guilt for knowing that he trusted me with Laura. I also made a promise that nothing bad would happen to his beloved Laura.

Now that she was in danger, I couldn't blame anyone but myself.

I knew I made a few enemies but I didn't do anything to secure Laura.

"Robert?" Grandpa Ben brought me back to reality as he called out to me.

I shook my head and blinked thrice before I looked back at him.

"You haven't answered my questions yet," Grandpa Ben continued as he put his cane between his legs. His hands rested on top of it. "Where is Laura? Why didn't you return with her?" he repeated his questions.

"Oh," I cleared my throat as I shifted my body towards him, "Of course."

In my mind, my other self slapped me hard at the back of my head. He was absolutely frustrated that I prolonged the agony by short replies. I was about to answer when Grandpa Ben interrupted my thoughts.

"Did you have another argument?" Grandpa Ben asked.

Stunned, I stared at Grandpa Ben.

"I knew it," Grandpa Ben smirked.

"I don't understand, Grandpa Ben," I was finally able to form a coherent sentence.

Grandpa Ben threw his head back as he chuckled. "You don't have to hide it from me, Robert. I know, fully well, what happens when the two of you come to a misunderstanding," he continued as he gave his cane a bit of a twist.

Now, I was even more baffled. I couldn't fathom what he meant by that question.

"Isn't that what happened?" Grandpa Ben asked another.

"Pardon?"

"You argued and Laura went somewhere that you are unable to find her in order for her to think. Am I correct?" Grandpa Ben added as he returned to me. "Or did something else happen?"

My eyes widened even more. He thought Laura was not with me because we had a disagreement.

'But, should I pretend that it did happen?' I asked myself. 'Or should I still tell the horrifying truth about her absence?'

I was about to admit the truth when my lips uttered a word that I regretted heavily, "Yes."

"What do you mean by 'yes'?" Grandpa Ben asked.

"We had a little bit of a misunderstanding on our way back home. I, uh, I tried to persuade her to forget the conversation and for us to simply proceed with our journey back. But, she ran off," my mouth spouted lie after lie. I just added more layers to the problem and buried myself into a much deeper hole.

If I continued this charade, that hole would be big enough to be my official resting place.

Grandpa Ben chuckled as another smirk appeared on his face. "If I were you, I would get used to it. Since Laura was a child, she always resorted to that attitude."