Misinterpreting Fate (Book 2)

33. He's Back

Chapter 33: He's Back

Sam

After they had left, I figured out what Ryan had meant when he said Poppa was mad. He was sitting at the kitchen table, practically fuming over an empty mug of tea. Poppa only ever drank tea when something was bothering him. Dad had been in his office all night doing some work, and I assumed he was still there. I didn't want to bother either of them right now, especially not Poppa.

Unfortunately, I really needed a glass of water. I also needed to bring the empty popcorn bowl back into the kitchen, meaning I'd have to walk right by Poppa. Dad had allowed me to have my friends over, so I wasn't sure if I was in trouble or not. I didn't know what I had done wrong if I was in trouble.

I tried my luck, slowly walking into the kitchen. He didn't look up when I entered.

"Hi Poppa," I said, attempting to ignore his bad mood. Maybe just talking to him will help.

"Sam. Your friends leave?"

I nodded, placing the bowl in the sink. "Yeah. We watched a couple movies."

"That's good." He stood up from the table. "Where's your father?"

I grabbed a glass from the cabinet. "His office, I think." I felt awkward just talking to Poppa, which doesn't happen very often. He doesn't usually get this upset. I wanted to know what was bothering him, but at the same time, asking might just make it worse.

He left the room then, as I was filling up my glass with water. I knew he was probably going to tell Dad what had him so upset. Of course, I was curious. I wanted to know too. I wasn't a kid anymore. I would even try to help him if I could, but only if I knew what the problem was.

So I slowly made my way down the hallway. Dad's office door was slightly ajar, and I could hear both of them in there. I stopped just outside the door, leaning up against the wall to listen.

"That fucking bastard just had to come back, didn't he?" Poppa was saying.

"Mika, who are you talking about?" Dad asked. "What happened?"

Poppa sighed. "Owen came crawling back to me, asking for his job back."

The glass slipped right out of my hand when I heard that name. It shattered on the floor, covering everything with water and bits of glass.

The door was yanked open and both my parents stood there, looking panicked. When they saw me and the mess on the floor, they just stared, probably trying to figure out if I had heard.

I spoke first. "I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to overhear. It's just I heard that name and the glass slipped from my hand. I'll clean it up."

Poppa sighed again and shook his head before stepping over the puddle of water that was now in the middle of the hallway and walked away.

I looked up at Dad. "Is he mad at me?" I asked.

"No, Sammy. Of course not." He let out his own sigh. "Have you seen Owen since this summer?"

I shook my head quickly. "Not since I broke my hand trying to hurt him."

"Good."

Just then, Poppa walked back over, a towel in his hand. He tossed it to me. "Careful of the glass. You're not wearing shoes. Don't cut yourself." With that, he left again. A moment later, I heard his heavy footsteps going up the stairs.

"Come on," Dad said. "Let's get this cleaned up."

After we cleaned up, I found myself back in my bedroom. Poppa was in the shower when I came upstairs. Dad had assured me that Poppa wasn't mad at me, but I couldn't help but feel that some of that anger had to do with me anyway.

If it weren't for me, Poppa wouldn't have been upset at Owen. Owen never would have quit. And none of this would be happening right now. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to get with Owen in the first place? He's brought nothing but trouble into our lives, once that secret came out.

An idea suddenly popped into my head. Maybe there was something I could do after all.

I grabbed my phone and quickly started a new text to Owen. I heard you went back to my poppa for a job, I typed. I had to think for a minute before coming up with how to word the rest of my text. I finally settled on: Why would you do that? Haven't you caused my family enough hardship already?

I hit send before I could change my mind. In all likelihood, he wasn't even going to answer. Why would he? He was the one that dropped me, not the other way around.

To my surprise, I got a reply almost instantly. I quickly opened the text only to see that it was an automatic reply telling me Owen's number was no longer in service.

I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise. He probably either changed his number to distance himself even further from me or, since he was apparently desperate for a job, had to get rid of his phone. Maybe it was a good thing he didn't get my text. I shouldn't be trying to reach out to him, especially not after how badly he had hurt me.

I put my phone down next to me. Owen didn't mean anything to me anymore, yet a part of me still wanted to make sure he was okay. If he went back to Poppa, he probably wasn't doing so great. I had loved him for so many years, was it normal to still want to know how he's doing?

I doubted Poppa would hire him again, but maybe, if I go by the restaurant tomorrow, I'd see Owen - if he decided to try again. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't living in the streets. After everything that happened, I didn't want to feel guilty for causing his life to fall apart.

My phone chimed, letting me know I had a text. For a second, I thought maybe it was Owen after all. But I smiled even wider when I saw that it was Ryan.

I didn't need to see Owen. I didn't care about him anymore. I had Ryan, who loved me more than Owen ever did. And I loved Ryan too, more than I had loved Owen.

I curled up under my blankets, that smile still on my face as Ryan and I started up a conversation. I didn't need Owen in my life anymore, and if his life had fallen apart after he quit, than that was his fault, not mine. I was happier than I've ever been, no thanks to him.