Page 45 of Redeeming Heart

“Just catching my breath.”

She then decided to enter the pub leaving me behind with Clarissa.

“You are more in love with her than ever before,” Clarissa noted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“You want to tell me again that she is far out of my league?” I questioned—not feeling in the mood to answer her.

“I was a naïve, jealous teenager back then who was just confused and who wanted to have what she has.”

“What are you saying?”

“I was jealous of Sasha because she is emotionally strong and she’s got talent that was handed to her from the heavens. Every player I ever knew wanted to be her and have her talent.”

“You and I weren’t a thing and it was wrong of me to become jealous of her when you told me about your crush.”

I was a bit confused by her statement as I had no idea what she implied.

“She’s only out of your league if you don’t do something about it.” She patted me on the shoulder before entering the pub.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Standing on the front porch of my father’s house pondering if it was worth forgiving him for all the misery he has caused.

I silently prayed that he was asleep before I unlocked the front door with my house keys and waved at Aunt Maggie before shutting it cautiously.

Delighted that all the lights were off. I kicked off my shoes and tiptoed through the house and up the stairs to my room. I let out a sigh of relief when I finally reached my room without waking anyone up.

I softly shut my door and lay down on my bed. The glow-in-the-dark stars from years ago were still there and shining—not as bright as when mom and I stick them on the ceiling but just bright enough to notice them.

I pushed myself to change my clothes and switched on my bedside light. Going over to the wardrobe and looking through my heaps of clothing for my pj’s when my door suddenly opened.

“Sasha?”

I yelped softly at my father’s questioning voice.

“Holy-crackers, dad. Do you want to give me a heartache?” He smiled sheepishly at me and welcomed himself in.

“Sorry, I just wanted to check if you came home.” He said and he truly sounded relieved that I was home.

“I didn’t know if you wanted me home.”

“This is also your home, Sasha.”

“Is it? Because it doesn’t feel like it anymore.” I confessed, aware that the truth can hurt.

“It feels like a jail, dad. The cold, empty walls used to be covered in portraits of mom. It feels…”

“Depressing.” He noted.

I nodded.

“You know that mom was my first love and she meant the world to me. I wished every night for a miracle that she would be healed from her problems. From the moment I met her, I prayed because she truly deserved to live.”

“Losing her was hard, Sasha. I felt like an empty shell because the person who meant everything to me was gone and I didn’t how to move forward without her.”

“I was also hurting, dad. She was my best friend.” He nodded and embraced me with a hug when my tears came willingly.

“I forgot for a very long time that I wasn’t the only one suffering.” He admitted.

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