Awake, My Sleeping Beauty

Chapter 19

"Sebastian, I need to be alone," Heaven said to him as she turned away from him.

"You're upset," Sebastian told her softly, stepping close behind her enough to whisper it in her ear, "Deep down you're upset because the old Heaven, the one who's still in love with me, is burning with jealousy. I know what I did was horrible, forgive me Heaven, please."

Heaven whirled around so quick it surprised Sebastian. Her hazel eyes burned with anger. "I'm not burning with jealousy, Sebastian, I'm burning with shock, with fury, with anything but jealousy! I'm sorry but ... I just don't remember loving you. I'm upset because of Esther. How could she do that to me if I was supposedly so into you?"

Heaven walked past Sebastian and left him there standing by himself. He slumped down on the sand and looked out towards the ocean. Oh, the things he would give up just to have Heaven's love for him wake from the deep slumber that boating accident had put it under.

"If you can't remember loving me," Sebastian murmured, "then I only have one thing left to do."

* * *

As Heaven crossed the private street to go towards her home, she saw a car pull up close and honk at her. She turned around to see an older woman.

"Heaven," the woman said with surprise, "Hi."

"Hi," Heaven replied, "Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Ma'am?" the woman asked with a puzzled look, "Heaven you've been gone two years and you don't recognize me anymore?"

Shoot, Heaven thought, this lady obviously hadn't heard about her amnesia. Feeling a little embarrassed and awkward of having to announce her medical condition, Heaven told the lady.

"Oh my," she gasped and stepped out of her car. "Heaven, it's me, Frances; Sebastian's mother."

"Oh," Heaven said a little surprised.

Frances looked at Heaven from head to toe and shook her head with a smile. "Oh my god, it suddenly makes sense. No wonder you haven't gone back to Sebastian ... you don't remember."

Heaven didn't know what to answer to that.

"Look," Frances sighed and what she said next came out like flying bullets, "Sebastian isn't talking to me or his father because your parents kept the fact that you were alive from everyone in town and he thinks we knew you weren't dead. During these last two years, your mother and I became friends again but she never told me that you were alive because she was afraid I would tell Sebastian and he would come back from Paris to look for you."

Heaven gasped and brought a hand up to her mouth. She stared at Frances in shock. This had been what she'd needed to hear. Sebastian had been telling her the truth the entire time; her parents had lied to her.

"I don't know what exactly is going on between you and my son," Frances continued, "like I said, he really hasn't been speaking to me or his father, but I think you should know that even though my son knows you're alive, that he's suffering a great deal."

"He is?"

"Yes," Frances took a deep breath, she knew this was hard for her to say but she just had to, for her son's happiness. She didn't care if Stewart didn't feel the same way she did. Her son came first. "My husband and your parents have never been keen with the idea of you and Sebastian being together, but I decided that I don't want to stand between the both of you anymore."