The Wallflower [ON HOLD INDEFINITELY: WRITERS BLOCK]

[Chapter Twelve] Exoneration

[FOREWORD]

Well I don't know if anyone's still out there reading this, but hey, if you are, THANK YOU! Also thank you to anyone who's read this so far, or added to their libraries, and voted and commented, there aren't a lot of you, but thank you so much anyways!

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Exoneration

I sighed in frustration as I walked towards the front door of the place I called home. The flowers alongside the path seemed to die down a bit, the once healthy green grass was now slightly dead, the place had lost some of its grandeur to when my mother and I had bought it three years ago. 

As I walked slowly up the front stairs, I could see the silhouette of a couple through the window of the lounge. Both connected and seeming to be twirling in circles, judging by the music that I could hear and the sounds of laughter, it seemed my father was completely forgiven and they were enjoying a night of dancing. I could feel my anger rising as bitter thoughts invaded my mind again. With a heavy sigh I shook my head and stomped towards the front door, my right hand holding onto a total of probably around ten paper shopping bags; so much for trying to save trees.

As I shut the front door, the sounds of laughter stopped and an eerie silence fell over the house. The music kept playing; the candles kept flickering on the coffee table and the mantelpiece. My mother and excuse for a father stopped their dancing and both turned their heads to face me. My mother had a sympathetic look on her face as she glanced between my father and I, my glare piercing into him as he looked down at the ground; the coward couldn’t even look me in the eyes. It was my mother that broke the silence as she stepped away from my father’s embrace and stepped into the space between us.

“I’m not going to just stand here and let you two continue this way, Adrianna go take a seat at the dining table, we are going to have a talk as a family, no buts young lady” she said just as I was about to object. I glared childishly at her and dropped my bags on the bottom step of the stairs as I turned around and walked down the hallway towards the dining table.

“You listen to me right now mister, if you aren’t willing to patch things up with your daughter right now, then I suggest you run on back to England without us, you hear me?” my mother seethed quietly as I heard footsteps coming closer to where I was. I took a seat closest to the hallway and sat quietly, my fingers drumming against the white stained wood.

“Adrianna, sweetheart, we’re going to talk this over” a deeper voice said; my father’s voice. Once upon a time, before he left us, I would’ve sat up straighter and paid more respect and attention to whoever had that voice; instead, I rolled my eyes and turned around to look him in the eyes, trying to show as much hate and anger in them.

“I don’t want any words from you until he finishes speaking, I’m just warning you right now, there might be things that he will say that’ll confuse and anger you” my mother said as she took a seat next to me and held onto my hand, a look of fear and concern crossing her face. I nodded to her and lifted my gaze to my father who now stood in the corner, his back to us and his hands braced on the wall in front of him. I watched as his shoulders moved as he took a deep breath and turned around to look at me, a look of pain on his face.

“Adrianna, there’s a lot of reasons why things turned out the way they did, there’s a lot of things that your mother and I haven’t told you, a lot of things we’ve been keeping a secret. But we can’t tell you these things just yet, until then, I want to apologise” he said as he looked down at me with teary eyes. Never before had I seen my father cry, not even close to it in fact. He was always strong, and seeing him with tears in his eyes came as a shock. I felt my mother letting go of my hand and move next to him, ushering him into a seat as she rubbed his shoulders and whispering things into his ear.

“I’m so sorry Adrianna, for all the pain I must’ve caused you and your mother. It was truly the only way I could keep you two safe, to make sure that neither of your blood was spilt. You see, the world’s a harsh place and I’d lost sight of that, but I received a rude awakening five years ago. For two years I thought I keep you and your mother safe, the rest of our extended family safe, but it wasn’t until the incident with Tom that I realised I had to do something about it, and so I left. I left you and your mother, I told her to take you and keep yourselves safe. I never did it to hurt you, it was to keep you safe, and I swear it on my life. These past three years I’ve been trying to find you, and now I’ve found you again, it seems I get another reminder of the fact that second chances are hard to earn” he said, the whole time looking down at his hands as my mother continued to soothe him, almost as if she was spurring him on. I could feel the resentment in my heart disappearing as I watched and listened to my father explaining the reasons for his abrupt departure, and yet I could tell there was something big he was keeping from me.

“I realise now that it was a stupid idea to even leave the two people I love most. Princess, I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. But I’m hoping you’ll give me a second chance, if not, then please let me live with you and your mother, give us your blessing Anna. I truly love you both, for three years you two were the only things that kept me going, I can’t bear to leave you again, please sweetheart, give your mother and I your blessing” he said as he looked me straight in the eyes this time. I looked into his eyes and couldn’t deny the fact that he looked tormented as he stared at me. It was in that one look that I could see all the pain he’d gone through, all the truth in his words, everything he had said was true and there was no way I could find a way to prove him wrong.

Speechless, I nodded in his direction and smiled at my mother as she skipped towards me and pulled me out of my chair and into a hug. I felt drops of water on my shoulder and figured my mother was crying. I pulled away and she smiled at me with tears in her eyes as she looked back at my father and motioned for him to come over. 

“Let him have one hug Adrianna” she whispered as she stepped back and wiped a tear away from her eye. I nodded at her and turned my body so I was looking at my father. He looked incredibly awkward as he stood in front of me, looking at Mum and almost asking with his eyes if this was a joke or not. 

Not able to wait any longer, I let go of all the bitterness and anger I felt towards him for a moment and smiled as I hugged him around the waist, my head resting on his chest as the smell of burning wood hit my nostrils. He smelt like home, and I felt an odd sense of nostalgia as he hugged me back.

I could hear soft sobbing in the background as I hugged him and smiled as he rested his chin on top of my head and uttered the words I didn’t think I’d ever hear again; I love you Princess, to infinity and beyond, you and me, forever. I stepped out of his embrace and crossed my arms over my chest as I offered him a genuine smile.

“I don’t forgive you yet Dad, that’s going to take some time for me to forgive you fully. But you have my blessing, you and Mum and I love you too” I said as I kissed his cheek, feeling a sense of peace overtake my mind. My heartfelt full, and I felt alive as I uttered those words to him.

Sometimes, in life, all you need is a good old family talk to sort things out. Sometimes it just takes one person to explain their wrongdoings and own up to them for forgiveness and second chances to be earned. I smiled to myself as I left the dining room and walked down the hallway. I picked up the bags on the bottom step and walked up to my room, feeling light and happy for the first time in a while. 

I walked towards my room and opened the door, the sight in front of me shocking me and causing me to drop my bags onto the floor. The sounds of breaking glass echoing throughout my silent room.

“What are you doing here?” I said breathlessly as I shut the door behind me.