Chương 30: Chapter 28: BOX OF MISCHIEF

Natasha arrived at noon, looking more exhausted than I had ever seen her. The bright side was, she was too tired to be upset at this moment. Thankfully, Lucy had gone to the park a few minutes before with Katie.

" Oh my, you're Natasha, Lucy's mum. I can see the resemblance. You raised such a good girl." Mum attached her with flattery.

" Thank you, I try my best." Natasha's cheeks reddened with a blush. I see flattery works really well on her.

" You're welcome. She reminds me of Jeremy when he was younger. Innocent and smart with a glint of mischief. They have much more in common than they know." My mother chuckled, ignoring my confused look.

" That would explain why they never got along." I rarely ever got along with her too. Does that mean I have a lot in common with both mother and child?

" That's not true. I wasn't half as mischievous as Lucy is now. And it's not a glint, more like a box full of mischief." I dissuaded both of their opinions. Mom left to answer a call.

" Box of mischief really?..." Natasha questioned.

" What? That's what popped into my head first."

" When is Lucy going to be back? We need to leave early if we are going to get back home before nightfall."

" Are you still planning on going back today?"

" Yes, why not?" She pressed her lips together, squaring her shoulders in defense.

" Because you look like you've barely had any sleep. Worse still, you just stopped driving a few minutes ago. Do you want to get back behind the wheels for another journey again?"

" This is all your fault you know?"

" How is my fault?" I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow.

" You played on my vulnerability"

" You must be kidding me"

" I'm not. If you didn't go ahead with taking Lucy when you knew I was sorta loopy. You should not have taken that as consent."

" Forgive me for not knowing you weren't acting normal. It's not my fault if that's how you behave every day."

" Wait, are you saying I don't behave normally every day." Clenching her fists, she asked. Pfft, like she can punch me even if she tried.

" The poor girl just wanted a change of scenery. Nothing happened to her and my mum adores her. While I understand how you feel about your daughter. You need to calm down sometimes and think properly before jumping into hasty decisions. If not, you have more to lose than you stand to gain. Must you always be so stubborn?"

" It's not my fault that I do not trust you. Trust is earned not given." She shot at me, complimented with a knowing look. That pierced right through my man ego.

" You know what, I don't even want your trust. I am tired of always getting into one sort of argument with you or another. I'm sorry for taking your precious child away. I will call Katie to come back, do as you please Natasha I don't care."

I called Katie, asking her where she was. Anything to get Natasha out of my hair. She can do whatever it is that pleases her. They took a brief detour to the grocery store and promised to return soon. Satisfied, I stepped out.

There is that one place I've been dying to go to. It might be a waste of time but I wanted to satisfy my inquisitiveness regardless.

Knocking on the door, I crossed my fingers waiting for what came next.

" Wait, Mike. Is that you?"

" Yes, who were you expecting to see there?" He asked looking confused as ever.

"No, something is wrong. You can't be Mike. Nobody knows where you went to. It's been years since I saw you" I pulled him into a bear hug he couldn't wiggle his way out of.

" What the hell dude?" Realizing he didn't recognize me, I introduced myself properly.

" I'm Jeremy. Jeremy Heath. How can you not recognize me? Everybody says I've changed but I don't look so different than I did 10 years ago, do I?" Pouting my lips, I sighed in annoyance.

" You still do that thing with your lips like a child. Some things never change. Of course, I know who you are, who doesn't? I just wanted to pull your legs a little."

" Typical. Where have you been anyway? It's been forever since I last saw you."

" Forever is a long time...." He trailed off with a knowing look.

" Why don't you come in first?" Gesturing inside, I walked behind. We had been having the entire conversation in the doorway.

Indeed, some things never change. The apartment looked the same way it did when I was a child. The only thing missing was Andy and Hannah.

" Want anything?"

" No thanks, I'm fine," I replied courteously, turning down the offer.

" To answer your question. After Andy's death, I couldn't help but feel as though an important part of my life was buried with him. He was my first love you know. When I realized that I wanted to bend the other way we just clicked. And eventually, we got married and had a beautiful daughter. Raised her together. Faced the challenges and hurdles as a team. Even if it meant holding up our fingers to anyone who slandered our beliefs." I saw him discreetly wiped away the tear that threatened to roll down his face. Yes, they were a team. A perfect family. It must have been hard to let go of everything just like that.

" I needed to rejuvenate. To feel happy and young again so I left. Too many things remained me of what I lost to death. I didn't have anyone. You and Hannah rarely visited. It took more years than I had expected it to originally be. But when I came back, I told Hannah so she wouldn't be so worried." Mike finished, dropping the bombshell I hadn't expected.

" Hold up. Did you tell Hannah? Then how come I didn't know?"

" Beats me." Shrugging indifferently, he responded. Clearly, Mike has been around for a while now. Why wouldn't she tell me, knowing how important he was to me.

" Anyway, I'm glad you're back. And even happier that I'm aware of it now." I still couldn't get over knowing that Hannah didn't inform me.

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