His brother

11. Chapter

New York, United States
May

The young bartender handed me my order and I took it from him with a small smile, "Thank you, have a nice evening." The brown-haired waiter nodded in greeting with tiredness not only in his face but also in his voice. I felt sorry for the young waiter.

I walked past the big skyscrapers and enjoyed the evening breeze. I held hot tea in both hands, which warmed my cold hands pleasantly. I was walking through the lights of New York when my phone rang in my back pocket. I took it out and clicked on the green icon, I put the phone to my ear.

"Dad, did something happen?" was the first thing that came to my mind. We didn't call each other much, rather we just wrote a few messages about school and the like.

"Hey, Shannon, nothing happened," came the cheerful voice of my father from the other side, "why should it?" I furrowed my brows and drank my tea.

"It's already evening." according to the time shift, it was only seven in Dallas, but he never just calls me. Since I moved away, our relationship has gotten even worse. As if it was ever better before..

"No, don't worry. Everything's fine." I nodded, even though he couldn't see it.

"Then why are you calling?" I raised my eyebrows. I wanted this awkward conversation between father and daughter to be over.

"Because you never call me," he scolded me. The cold wind blew into my loose hair and I pulled my spring coat closer to me. New York used to be pretty cold at night.

"I'm sorry, I-" he interrupted me and I fell silent. It didn't bother me anyway.

"It's okay, Shannon. I understand that you have your own life and school. That's why I'm calling, I just want to know how you are doing and how it's going at school?" he was interested, but it didn't seem sincere to me.

"I am still finishing my bachelor thesis. I recently got an internship at a good company." I turned left.

"That's great, daughter, congratulations. Rebecca and I are going to dinner now." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be disturbed," I heard a murmur on the other side.

"What did you say? I didn't hear you, but Rebecca says hello and can't wait to see you."

"Great," I said, with clear irony in my voice.

"I'm going to finish because Rebecca will be upset if we're late. So bye and take care."

"Hello." and there was a beep. I put the phone in my coat and sat down on the nearest bench. I crossed my arms and looked into the unknown.

I used to love my home in Dallas, but after the arrival of my father's fiancee ten years younger, everything changed rapidly. I didn't like her from the first moment we met.

Four years ago and nine months earlier

How much pain can a person take and how much pain can I handle? My life has completely changed in a few years and turned into complete hell. The death of the sister, the escape of the mother and him.. I don't know what is worse and more painful.

I was lying on my bed and absent-mindedly looking ahead. My thoughts were anything but positive. They flew to one bad memory, to another, and I couldn't stop. My heart broke and my insides screamed in great pain.

I didn't know what to do with so much pain. I can no longer pretend that everything is okay and I am sure that no one will believe me anymore. I looked very bad and I didn't even want to hide it anymore, I didn't have the strength for it. I was about to sink further into my depression when my father's voice came.

"Shannon? Are you sleeping?" I didn't answer and dad walked into the room, "God, Shannon, you stink in here. Open the window. How many days has your room not smelled of fresh air? Long," he stated and opened the curtains. I squinted my eyes as the bright light penetrated my dark room. I covered myself because my eyes weren't used to the light, "Daughter-" he got nervous.

"Father, please, leave me alone. I'm fine." I said.

"I can see," his voice grew sad, "I can't watch and close my eyes anymore that my only daughter is suffering, again. Shannon." exposed me.

"I'm fine, go away." I wasn't, but it didn't really matter.

"Don't push me away, daughter," he lowered his head, "please don't do it again. I can't lose you too," one unruly tear fell from my eye, "I know it all hurts you, but..."

"Shann, if you want to close yourself off from the world, fine, but don't close yourself off from your family and Lacey. We're all here for you but you're not making it easy for any of us, we care about you Shannon" he caressed my face, "what happened between you I'm not going to ask if you want you can tell me but don't forget I'm here for you."

"Sorry, Dad."

"You don't have to apologize to me, I understand. Now go take a shower, we have a visitor." I frowned.

"What visit?" I asked and dad scratched the back of his head, "Dad?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Today, Rebecca will come with her son," I blinked.

"Who is Rebecca?"

"My fiancee," I rolled my eyes and swallowed.

Finally, I just nodded and decided to finally take a shower after a few days. I was overjoyed to meet his girlfriend, whom I didn't even know about until now, and her gifted son.

I could control my body, but I couldn't control my mind and broken heart.

But one thing I knew was that what happened between him and me would forever remain hidden under the surface of the secret.