Tales Of The Heart (undergoing editing)

SHADOWS OF THE PAST

I'm glad I made it home alive. Today was a real shitshow. I didn't get much sleep last night, my back is killing me, and now I'm just so exhausted from all the work today. Great!
This internship can't end soon enough. Once it's done after four months, I'll be transferred to a residency program and then who knows when I'll have time for myself again.
Damn, I'm really sick and tired of all these mundane tasks.
Anyway, I chose this line of work because it was my dad's wish for me. He always wanted me to become a neurosurgeon, so I could save lives. Well, it's not a problem. I'll have to keep doing hard work and also give Amber my time. Since she's Sasha's friend, she could stay at our house from time to time, and we'll find ways to spend more time together.

I exclaimed, "I'm back home!" but nobody replied.
I noticed an extra pair of shoes. It was unusual to have a guest this late at night. No one was in the living room, and when I reached the dining room, I saw two heads resting over the dining table; Sasha and Jake.

I Slapped both their heads, waking them up.
"What was that for?" Jake shouted, sitting up quickly and rubbing his head.

"Yeah, why did you do that?" Sasha echoed his sentiments, also sitting up and looking at me in shock.

I asked Jake, "Do you know what time it is?" with an incredulous tone. "What are you doing here this late?"
To Sasha, I followed up with the same question, "Didn't mom tell him anything?"

"Well we were waiting for you to give you good news", she replied with a sarcastic smile. "but you didn't come early nor did you reply to my text so mom invited him to do dinner with us tonight."

"Invited him for dinner? I echoed her words mockingly, Ridiculous! Where's mom anyways?"

"I'm here," she said in an authoritative tone while walking in the room from the kitchen. "Kevin, where are your manners? You shouldn't talk to Jake like that."

I tried defending myself by stuttering some excuses, "But b-but-?"

She didn't let me finish and replied sharply, "No buts and besides I have something important to ask you. First, sit down. The food is getting cold."

I sat down and began eating immediately my hunger from the past 10 hours taking over.

"So, mom, what did you want to ask me?"

"Let Sasha and Jake talk first. They have something important to tell you and they've been wanting to speak to you for so long."

I looked at Sasha, who asked, "Why didn't you reply to my text? And what took you so long today?"

"My extra surgery training has me busy this whole week," I defended. "I'm sorry, I didn't even get time to turn on my phone. But why? Is this about Amber?"

"Oh, Amber? Who's she?" Mom asked curiously.

Jake responded in a teasing tone, "She's Kevin's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me this before?" She seemed very happy and curious.

"Actually, mom, she's my classmate. He first met her two months ago at our cultural event."

"And since then, Kevin has been head over heels for her," Jake teased in a playful tone.

"Well, that's obvious," Mom said, making fun of me also.

"Stop it, I don't have the time or energy to deal with you both right now. Just tell me what happened already."

Jake pointed to Sasha, who was silent for a moment, and said, "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

"So, Amber told me you blamed her for everything..." Sasha began.

I shook in my chair, "No, I didn't mean like that! She completely misunderstood what I said."