Carry Me Home

Forty-Two

Evelyn

Rowan's parents had invited me to their house over the weekend and that had me acting like a nervous wreck for the rest of the week. I had no hatred towards Rowan's parents but they scared me due to the amount of power they held within their palms. 

"You'll be fine, Angel. Call me when you want me to pick you up," Rowan stated, tightly holding my hand in his. He kissed my cheek swiftly and let me exit the car. I waved as he left the area and me alone. 

I approached the white door covered in intricate details and a silver door handle before knocking tentatively. I made an effort with my appearance today with a dark green pleated skirt and a black shirt tucked into it. 

The door was opened by Rowan's mum herself and the smile that adorned her face put me at ease a bit. She led me into the living room where her husband was sitting cross-legged with a newspaper in hand. 

"Ah, Evelyn, you actually came," Mr Hastings said, placing his newspaper onto the coffee table and sitting up. I took a seat in front of the pair and crossed my legs. 

"Evelyn, would you like anything to eat or drink?" Mrs Hastings asked, leaning forward. I humbly shook my head and just prayed that this meeting would be finished sooner than later. "My husband and I really appreciate everything you're doing for Rowan, Evelyn. It soothes and calms my heart knowing that someone's taking care of my stubborn son during this painful period of time."

"There's no need to thank me for that. Rowan would do the same if I was ill," I said, my hands folded in front of my knee. 

"Evelyn honey, we've already experienced this with one of our children and the end isn't pretty at all. There is only a slim chance of victory, Evelyn, so we have to be prepared for a painful defeat in the end," Mr Hastings spoke up this time with a soft voice as if he was trying to explain something complex to a small child.

"What're you trying to say?" I asked, furrowing my brows. 

"Rowan called us last night saying that the two of you wanted to marry each other. In normal circumstances we wouldn't have objected to your marriage as long as you waited a bit but, Evelyn, we really don't want you to take that step. We're saying this for your benefit." 

"Okay we won't get married right now but we can still carry on dating, right?"

"Evelyn, we would strongly advise you not to. The two of us want you to break up as soon as possible to save yourself from hurting." My ears and my mind couldn't understand what was being said right at this moment. I kept on replaying the last sentence spoken to find some sort of rational phrase but inevitably failed. 

"I can't do that," I strongly objected. 

"Child, we're saying this for your well-being. We know how much you love Rowan but, Evelyn, you're going to be in so much pain when this is over." 

"No, I won't because Rowan is going to live." Mrs Hastings got out of her seat and sat beside me and placed my hand between the both of hers. She let out a deep breath and looked me in the eye. 

"I'm glad that you're optimistic, Evelyn, but we've been in your position before. My husband and I were optimistic that Grace would survive and live through the cancer but it doesn't work like that. The optimism that we kept is what caused us to suffer even more. We don't want you to suffer like we did."

"He has a few years. I'm not abandoning him for that long."

"Just think about it, Evelyn. You don't need to break up straight away but just think about it." Mr Hastings said, trying to be the voice of reason in the conversation.