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He brought it upon himself.
(JARED'S POV)
"I hope I've made myself clear? Because I won't be as nice the next time!" Arielle's mother hissed through gritted teeth. One look at the fire in her eyes and I knew right away that she wasn't joking about her threat.
The spot where her palm has struck my cheek stung like it had been doused with a generous amount of boiling oil. I looked past her and at Arielle. There was a brief look of pity on her face before her expression steeled into hostility. I looked away in embarrassment, holding a hand up to my face.
"Of course, ma'am," I nodded, my eyes fixed on the ground as I slowly backed away from them.
I'd hardly taken three steps backwards before Arielle's mother stormed past me, guiding the boy with one hand. My eyes trailed their movement, briefly making contact with boy's as his grandmother pulled him into a waiting car just outside the school premises. When I turned around to face Arielle, I found she'd somehow slipped past me while I had my back turned to her. My eyes stung with hurt and humiliation. I felt a weight clamp itself around my heart, threatening to crush it with each counting heartbeat. I swept around the corner with my eyes, trying to spot Arielle among the milling bodies of parents and their children.
I tried to move myself from the spot but I felt rooted. I couldn't pull the images of the boy from my mind. One look at him and I could tell the resemblance. I felt it in my gut even! Something about him just struck a chord within me and pulled me to him, just like it would happen between a father and son. I needed answers. I had to find Arielle.
"Daddy? My friend Brian said he was going to build a treehouse with his dad over the weekend. Can we build a treehouse too?"
My head snapped in the direction of the voice. A young boy was talking to his father while the latter led him by the hand towards their car in the parking lot. The man had a proud smile on face as he guided the boy into the vehicle.
"Of course, son. We'll build the biggest treehouse ever," he announced, much to the excitement of the boy who squirmed in delight.
The sight stirred an ache in my heart, a reminder that I too would have had a child that age if Arielle and I hadn't lost ours.
I pushed the thoughts aside, focusing on what brought me here. I had to find Arielle.
With a new found zeal, I resumed my search for her. I took the short flight of steps two at a time, my eyes searching every corner for any sign of her.
One time, I thought I'd found her but it turned out to be a lady with an identical hairdo.
I'd almost given up on finding her in the schoolyard when I spotted her on the far side of the building, deep in conversation with another lady I assumed to be a teacher. Now was my best chance to get an audience with her. I walked as fast as I could, careful to stay out of her line of sight until I got close enough to approach her.
Once she spotted me, she abruptly ended her conversation with the teacher and began walking away, but I doubled my pace and closed the distance between us.
"Arielle, please wait," I said.
She carried on moving as if I'd not spoken, until she ran into a dead end. I stopped, still uncertain how she'd react.
"I just want to talk," I implored.
She turned around slowly to face me. "You're lucky I've not filed for a restraining order, Jared," she hissed firmly. Her eyes raked over me before resting on my cheek. They lit up in amusement as she straightened her stance.
"I don't know what it is you have
going on in your head, but I want you to know this, Jared; you brought this on yourself. I want you to think about that, and I want you to think really she said, folding her arms across her chest as she spoke.
Every bit of resolve I had in me before approaching her seemed to melt away from underneath me at her words. I tried to speak but my tongue felt too heavy in my mouth and I swallowed hard more times than I'd done in a whole year. I finally found my voice and cleared my throat to speak. "I know it's worth nothing to you now, but I swear to you, I'm really sorry. I know I made a couple of bad decisions...," I was saying before she cut me short.
"Excuse you? This is so unbelievable! A couple of bad decisions? That's what you're going to call all you put me through in the past?" Arielle asked, her eyes burning with hurt and resentment. "How dare you?" "I deserve a right to know at least!" I found myself retorting in frustration. "I'm no saint, okay. I just need answers, Arielle."
"Let me make this clear to you,
Jared; it's none of your business who the father of my son is and I sure as hell don't owe you any explanation! All you must know is that he's my son and the next time I find you anywhere near him, I'll get the police involved!"
I watched her chest heave from the effort. Her eyes were teary but she looked more angry now than pained. And it was all my fault. I'd never been more guilty. I wanted to rage and scream at her too, to at least drive home my point of being sorry and worthy of an explanation, especially if the boy was mine.
But who was I kidding? She lost our child, and this son of hers could be adopted.
Shit! Why didn't I think of that? I thought, mentally smacking myself. She probably was lonely after losing the other child, so she decided to adopt another. Now that makes perfect sense. "Fair enough," I finally conceded.
At that moment, I could have sworn her features had softened towards me and her hate was gone, but as soon as the shift had come, it disappeared leaving a hardened mask in its place. "Think about all you did before claiming the rights to waltz back into my life," she said, and marched past me.
I let her go. There was no point trying to stop her. Her words had grown heavy, filling up my insides till I was hurting in all places, my heart bearing the most of the brute.
I'd hurt Arielle and this was the price I had to pay for it.Text © owned by NôvelDrama.Org.