The Trials of Love

Sad Goodbyes

Sheva quickly washed herself and her hair then got out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around herself and her hair and quickly brushed her teeth then headed to her room. As she was about to step into her room, she remembered that she let Nia play on her phone. She debated if she wanted to get her phone from Nia now or change first. She decided to get her phone before her parents got curious and went through it. Sheva walked down the stairs, wrapped up in her towel and peeked her head out to where she could see the living room but kept her body behind the wall. Her eyes went wide when she saw who was there. At some point when she was in the shower her dad and Chris showed up. She wanted to get her phone but she didn't want to be in her towel in front of everyone. As Sheva was turning to go back up the stairs her mother called out her name and told her to come say hi.

"Um... hi." Sheva greeted from behind the wall. "I just came to get my phone... can you bring it to me mom?"

"You can come get it yourself." Nadia told her.

"Mom I just got out of the shower though..."

"Well go get dressed then!"

"Can you hand me my phone first?" Sheva asked her mom.

"Sheva just go get dressed and make sure you don't look a mess. You can get your phone when you come back down." Nadia told her. Sheva quickly went up the stairs and put on some grey yoga pants, a tank top and a simple pink jacket. She quickly dried her hair with the towel and decided to let the rest of it air dry. Sheva made her way downstairs and greeted everyone.

"Are you feeling better honey?" Jared asked as he got up from the couch and gave Sheva a hug.

"I am." Sheva told him politely with and returned the hug. She went to grab her phone from Nia who was on the floor, playing on the camera with Chris.

"And what are you two doing?" She asked them as she sat in between them.

"Taking up all your phone storage." Chris chuckled. Sheva smacked him in the back of the head and took her phone from him. She scrolled through her pictures to see a bunch of Nia and Chris doing the duck face and some when she guessed Nia had the phone, that were blurry. She saw one picture that she found really cute and put it as her wallpaper and lock screen.

"I'm gonna show everyone at school you know." Sheva giggled. Chris pulled her into a quick kiss and told her "I already sent some to myself and I was gonna do it anyway."

"I actually believe you." Sheva told him.

"You better because it's true. Oh and by the way you take some pretty cute pictures, I sent some of those to myself also."

"So you went through my pictures?" Sheva asked as she looked at Chris with a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"You have pretty eyebrows, you know that?" Chris told her dreamily as he traced an eyebrow with his finger.

"You are such a weirdo, you know that?" Sheva mocked him.

"Yes yes I do." Chris told her proudly. Sheva pulled him into another kiss, forgetting that her parents were watching them. Jared cleared his throat and watched as both of the teenagers quickly pulled away from each other and looked at him.

"Yes, father?" Sheva asked as she innocently smiled at him.

"You already know what I'm gonna say don't you?" Jared asked seriously.

"I hope not..." Sheva said looking down.

"You two are way too comfortable with kissing and need to-," Jared was quickly cut off by Nadia.

"I thought we agreed not to talk about this the rest of the time you are here." Nadia reminded him.

"Whatever but expect me to call you about this when I get back to Africa." Jared warned his daughter.

"Ok dad." Sheva told him with a playful roll of her eyes.

The rest of the day everybody just sat down in the living room laughing and talking. Chris had to leave and so did Jared so he could get some rest before his flight, so they all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Nadia cooked but Sheva declined the meal, saying that she was tired and wanted to go to bed. She told her mother goodnight and went upstairs to her room and laid down in the dark.

Sheva pulled out her phone and went through her photos that she took with her dad. She was happy she saw him but she was sad he had to go. As Sheva was scrolling through the pictures tears fell down her cheeks. She was going to miss him and was probably going to be sad at school tomorrow. Sheva turned off her phone and sat it on her night stand the laid back on her pillow and let the tears fall from her face. She tried to keep from crying out loud so she wouldn't bother Nia but she couldn't help it and began sobbing out loud.

Through her blurry eyes from the tears, she saw a light coming from the doorway and looked over to see Clyde. Sheva sat up quickly and began to wipe her eyes. Clyde turned on her light and walked to sit on the bed next to Sheva.

"Everything alright, Shev?" He asked as he helped her wipe some tears off her face.

"I miss my dad..." She cried out to him. Clyde pulled her close and gave her a hug.

"I know sweetie, I know. Just let it out, me and your mom are here for you to talk to about this and we can set up something so you can video chat with him whenever you want, Alright?" Clyde said softly to his crying step-daughter. Sheva sadly nodded and wiped her eyes. They sat there like that for 30 minutes and Sheva eventually cried herself to sleep. Clyde kissed her forehead and whispered a goodnight to her as he laid her back down and covered her with her blankets the turned off the lights and left her room.

0000

The next morning Sheva said goodbye to her father which made for another 30 minutes of crying but she had to go to school. She begged her mom to go to the airport with her and promised to make up for the time she would be missing in school but her mom refused.

Now Sheva found herself in Chris' car with her head propped up on her hand looking out the window sadly. She finally looked away from the window when the car came to a red light and she felt Chris' hand resting on hers. He gave her an apologetic look and asked her how she was doing.

"I'm fine I just miss my dad so much. It's not fair that I didn't get to be with him longer." Sheva answered him and looked back out the window.

"At least you got to spend time with your dad..." Chris mumbled as he took his hand off of hers and began driving again. Sheva's eyes widened and she quickly apologized to Chris.

"Chris I am so sorry, I forgot about your situation. I didn't mean to seem ungrateful or anything. Please forgive me."

"It's fine Shev, don't worry about it." Chris told her with a smile, trying to hide his sadness about the subject. But Sheva saw right through it.

"Baby you know you can talk to me about your father, right?" Sheva told him as she caressed the side of his face.

"I know babe, thanks." Chris responded with a real smile this time and placed his hand back on top of hers. They stayed like this until they got to school. Chris parked the car and they walked into the school, hand in hand.