Chương 38: Chapter 36: OCD

"Oh hi Jeremy, fancy seeing you here. Do come in." Gesturing in, he moved away from the door.

"Ouuu, spotless. I always knew you were a clean freak." I commented, staring at the polished floors. It's so easy to see your reflection on the surfaces. Not even a speck of dirt. Perhaps I and Natasha should consider getting him as a housekeeper since we're looking towards hiring one. Even though, I don't think we can have a house this clean.

"A little bit of OCD here and there, haha" Flopping onto the couch, he let out a sigh.

"But things weren't this clean when we were younger."Scrunching my nose at the thought of how messy things used to be, I joined him on the couch.

" Yes, it was impossible to get you and Hannah to stay put. Especially with your destructive ways. It wasn't a problem for Andy but I secretly freaked out on the inside."

Why does that sound like Lucy? Destructive in all ways possible.

Secretly? More like openly. Mike was the good parent. Andy was the wild one, do as you like and Carpe diem today. Mike... Well.... Think about tomorrow. There are consequences for all actions!

"We weren't that destructive ya know" I scratched the back of my neck, with a deadpan face.

"Oh yes, you were. Remember that one time when neither I nor Mike showed up at Hannah's PTA meeting? She scribbled on the walls drawing with pencils and crayons. Her classroom was all sparkly and glittery the next day."

Hannah ran the school, even as a kid. She was sweet but a little bit over the top.

"We were children and she was what.. eight? Plus, I wasn't a part of that fiesta."

"Ok, the time when the school team lost the baseball match. The game wasn't fair and was in the opponent team's favor. Hannah led the cheerleaders to the middle of the pitch and did a pyramid with the others right in the middle. They had to start the match all over again. Or the one time when Principal Brantford suspended Jackson. You vandalized his house with toilet paper and egged his car. Don't say you were kids, I remember you were in your final year of high school. We had to beg him so you both wouldn't get expelled." He grinned brightly, as he tugged me along with him going down memory lane.

"Maybe we were sorta rebels. But in a good way, Jackson shouldn't have been suspended, the game ought to be fair in the first place and one of you should have attended the PTA meeting." He just has to agree with me on that one. Somethings ought to be fair from the first instance.

"Yes, we paid to have the classroom repainted and the money was removed from her birthday party." We both scrunched our noses remembering how horrible that year was for everyone around Lucy. Incredibly terrifying!

"And she sulked all year"

"And we got tired of her sulking and threw another crazy expensive party the year after."

"Those were the good times" I supported my jaw with my hand as nostalgia washed over me. Even though as a child I still had worries, it would so much easier to be one again. Away from the front of magazines and cameras. Rather, tucked in bed carefree without having to bother about meeting up with Sam's appointments and shoots. Indeed, those were good times.

"Nowadays if she calls trying to act all mature I have to remind her that there was a time when she was anything but mature"

It shouldn't have been, but those words were all it took to flip my mood like a switch.

"Yeah"

"Are you okay Jeremy?" Mike noticed how uneasy I became immediately. His voice laced with worry, that's the Mike I was used to speaking with.

"Of course, I am"

"Hannah does the same thing you know. Whenever I try to bring up conversations about her speaking with you."

"You shouldn't do that. Don't bother telling her to call or text me. There's no need for that." I stated firmly. She has made it clear where I stood. It's even a miracle I haven't been blocked from her social media handles yet.

"I never really knew what happened" He reminded me. Just as I thought, she didn't tell him exactly what happened. Great!

"Neither do I, she has work to do in S.A. It should have taken about two months, but she didn't come back. I got a very lovely phone call. She informed me that she wouldn't be coming back and we're done. Even if our relationship couldn't work out, there was no need to ignore me all together. After all, she was my friend first. That should mean something, but I think that's only to me. Courtesy doesn't apply both ways here."

"Maybe you both were better off as friends?" He spewed unbelievably. All of the things to say, I least expected that.

"Why didn't she say that? I didn't put a knife to her throat and force her to date me" Over time, it became more and more obvious that the only person fighting for me is actually me.

"But along the line, feelings and circumstances make people change" He shrugged, talking shamelessly.

"What feelings and circumstances couldn't she talk about? I'll like to know what could have happened. Everything was perfectly fine until she went there. Here I was thinking I had gotten a friend forever. Did you really think I would be this upset if she has just broken up with me traditionally? No, of course not. If Hannah walked up to me and said we couldn't date each other anymore I'll have respected that."

"It's technically the same thing, except she broke up with you over the phone and that is less traditional. The intentions remain the same, shouldn't you respect that?" His words literally slapped me in the face. He had taken a stand strongly beside his precious daughter.

"Why would I? Manners don't cost a penny, you should know better"

"She might have been under stress or something"

"Hold up, are you defending her right now? I can't believe you, Mike. You aren't even trying to see what's right." That was the peak of crap I was willing to hear for a day. My patience had worn out already. The only reason I hadn't walked out on him yet was because of the respect I had for him in the past. So, before he tells me to shut the door from outside I'll lead myself out with the amount of dignity I had remaining.

"She's my daughter, even if what she did was wrong you should move past it"

"Oh nice, I would just move on like the closest person to me didn't just abandon me like I never meant anything to start with. And yes, I know she's your daughter and the only relative you have left. There was no need to remind me." Swiftly, I strode to the front door and turned its knob. I might just be tempted to break the door in anger if care wasn't taken.

"Wait, Jeremy....."

"It's fine, I need to go help Lucy with something" Avoiding meeting his eye, I flung the door open. Even if Lucy wouldn't be pleased that I used her as an excuse.

"Hannah.. Umm... The reason she didn't return was, she found her mother."

His voice called out, causing me to stop in my tracks.

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