A second chance: Sequel of Against all odds (21 page)

I walked towards the
kitchen. A good smell greeted me as I stepped in. Mum was cooking.

“
Where's
Kylie?” I asked.

“
She
went to get something from her room.” She replied without
looking at me.

“
Mum,
I have to ask you something and I want you to tell me the truth.”

My mum froze, she stopped
from what she was doing and turned to face me.

“
What
is it about?”

“
Mum,
did I know Tyler before?”I asked. That was the only thing that
came to my mind. I must have, that was the reason he knew my address.

“
What?”

“
How
did he know where I live? He sent those flowers here. I didn't tell
him my address.” I continued. Mum couldn't look in my eyes. I
hadn't known her for long but I could already tell that she was
hiding something.

“
Well..maybe
he followed you while you returned here.” She said as she
turned around and started cutting the vegetables again.

“
No.
He didn't. Mum please look at me and be honest. I have to know. No
one would treat me the way Tyler did if he didn't already know me.”
Mum remained silent. “Mum, Tyler kissed me.” I said then.

“
Oh.”
She turned around to face me. “And...”

“
And
what? I escaped. I couldn't stay there.”

“
Why?”
She questioned.

“
Because
I was afraid, Mum I want to find love. And Tyler, well he's very sexy
but I don't think he would be a good husband. I know it's strange
that I'm thinking this about a man I just got to know. But I'm 25, I
mean I would like to get married one day, maybe have kids and
honestly I can't see him in that role...”

“
While
you see David in that role? Is this what you're saying?”She
demanded.

“
I
think so.”

“
Well,
I'm glad. You have my blessing but be careful. Take things easy,
there are still a lot of things you don't know about your past.”

“
Like
what? Mum I have a doubt which keeps tormenting me.”

“
What
is it?”

“
Mum
by any chance, the man I had in my life.. the one you told me about..
was that Tyler?” Finally I manged to venture the question.

My mum looked at me shocked,
her face had gone pale as she trailed into silence.

“
Mum,
please … I need to know.” I pleaded, my voice wobbling
in distress.

“
What
does it change?” She finally said.

“
Nothing
but at least some things become more clear.”

“
OK.”
My mum sucked in a lungful of air.

“
Granny
I'm hungry, is dinner ready?”

We looked at each other and
then at Kylie. My mum seemed relieved. I was just pissed off. She
couldn't stop now.

“
Not
yet honey, but it will soon be. Why don't you go with Cassidy
upstairs until I finish.” She suggested.

“
Mum...”
I said, I was still waiting for that reply.

“
Not
now Cassidy. Later OK?”

I knew she wouldn't tell me
anything in front of Kylie so I didn't insist. Instead, I took Kylie
with me upstairs and began to prepare my bag. I opened my wardrobe
and looked at my dresses...

“
Oh,
you have so many beautiful dresses. I really like this one,”she
said pointing to a blue dress.

“
I
like that as well. Maybe I should take that with me.”

“
Yes,
Daddy will surely like it a lot.” she said with a grin on her
face.

“
You
love your daddy a lot, don't you?”

She nodded.“Yes, he's
my hero. He's the best daddy in the world.” She said proudly. I
smiled at her. “Why don't you marry my Daddy? I know that you
love him.” She asked me a moment later. I gave her a surprised
look. She seemed really keen on me.

“
What?
Marry your Daddy? Well, I don't know. I just got to know him and I
don't know if he..”

“
He
wants to marry you, he always wanted from when I was small.”
She blurted out of the blues.

My eyes widened. From when
she was small? My God, what was she talking about?

“
He
always loved you, but you always preferred the other man.” She
continued leaving me with my mouth open. I looked at her confused.
Every scrap of colour faded from my face. Who were you Cassidy? “I
really like these sandals, you could take them as well.” she
said changing subject. “You know Moira's mum has a pair
identical.” She kept talking, but I wasn't listening anymore. I
had to know what was going on. Someone had to tell me.

During dinner, I was quiet.
My mum continued to glance at me. I wasn't very hungry, I kept
playing with my food. Just then Kylie stood up and said she needed to
go to the toilet. As soon as she left I looked at my mum..

“
Mum
I'm still waiting for that reply.. and Kylie told me that her Dad had
always wanted to marry me and I preferred another man.”

My mum nearly suffocated in
the food.

“
What
did she tell you? Oh, honey she's just a girl, you know how children
are..”

“
Yes
I know they are innocent and sincere. Mum what's going on?” I
wasn't going to give up until I had an answer.

“
Honey
it's not important... just live the present OK.”

“
No,
mum did I know Tyler before please at least that..”

“
OK..
yes you did.” She finally confessed.

“
Oh
my God, I knew it. Was he my boyfriend or what?”

“
Yes.”

“
I
can't believe this, but we're not together anymore right?”

“
Well,
that's something you have to decide, that's why I didn't want to tell
you. Listen you can't live in the past, what you did when you were
another person won't dictate your future. You have to choose
according to how you feel now OK.”

“
He
invited me to dinner tomorrow.”

“
Who
Tyler?”

“
Yes.”

 “
And
are you going?”

“
No.
I'll be with David tomorrow. My God, I feel so strange. Mum are there
any more things that I should know?”

“
Listen
Cassidy you'll get to know everything but little by little, please
don't ask me anything else. Just think about tomorrow and have fun
with David.” She said curtly hinting that this was the end of
our discussion. She started to eat again. I couldn't. Kylie returned.
I excused myself and went upstairs. I just need to be alone. All this
mystery was killing me.

CHAPTER 18

 
I
slept very little and at 3.00 in the morning I was already on my
feet.  I had taken a shower and prepared all I needed for the
trip. I kept gazing at my watch as I waited impatiently for David to
come for me. Mum and Kylie were fast asleep. I went downstairs and at
3.30 I was waiting for him behind the door. I couldn't wait to see
him and to be with him. I had time to think during the silence of the
night. Tyler kept popping up into my mind and my mother's words were
still echoing in my mind. He had been my lover? We had been a couple.
We had been intimate, no wonder he knew exactly what to do to make me
melt. I was angry with him. He had never come to see me in hospital,
what kind of boyfriend was he? If I were so important for him why he
never visited? David had been with me all the time. I must have loved
him once. How was my life with him, was I happy? Was he really what I
wanted? I tried to understand how I were before the accident.
Probably I was a person who looked more at the appearance than at the
character. Probably I loved the life that Tyler could give me, the
money which I could spend. No wonder I had all those expensive
clothes. Most of them had still the tags on, I had bought them but
never even put them on. The more I got to know about the Cassidy I've
been, the more I hated who I were. I had broke David's heart in the
past, I had preferred someone else to him, Kylie said so. Was that
other man Tyler? Stop, enough, these thoughts were killing me. My
mother was right, I shouldn't ask to know about the past, it just
made me feel bad. Just then I heard the sound of a motorcycle
approaching. With my heart pounding in my chest, I opened the door
and went out. I saw him coming. He stopped in front of the gate and
took off the crash helmet. My God, he was so handsome under the
moonlight. I loved his sweet smile.

“
Hello
Cassidy? Are you ready?” He asked.

“
Yes.”
I smiled happily. Then, I grabbed the bag and ran to him. I put on
the crash helmet and jumped on the motorcycle behind him and hugged
him tight. This time he didn't have to tell me how to do it. My hands
wrapped around him tightly. It felt so good being hugged to his body.
I loved his scent, I loved this man. He started the engine and we
left. The ride was fantastic, the cold breeze brushed my skin making
me shiver. In about twenty minutes, we arrived. David bought the
tickets and we got on the ferry boat. There were many persons. 

“
How
come there are all these people?” I asked when we sat down at
the cafeteria on board.

“
Well,
at Sunny Island there is the  Sunfest, which is done every year.
It attracts hundreds of people. Probably the island will be full.
There will be a nice atmosphere. We'll have fun I'm sure.” He
said gazing down in my eyes. He moved his hand resting it on mine. It
felt so warm compared to mine. I shivered at his touch. I glanced at
him and blushed. He smiled his sweet smile that made my heart melt.

“
I'm
so happy you're here with me.” He said then. “Thanks for
coming.” His expressive blue eyes glowed with intensity.

“
Thank
you for inviting me .”I replied.

 
Just
then the waiter brought us our cappuccino and David retrieved his
hand. I kept looking at him, he was such a nice guy and not only in
appearance. He was beautiful inside. He was a fantastic father, and I
was sure he would be a very good husband. Hopefully my husband. We
arrived at Sunny Island exactly at six. The sun was just about to
rise. We left the ferry boat and began our journey on Sunny Island.
David stopped the motorcycle on the side of the road so that we could
see the sun rising. It was such an amazing way to start the day. A
sweet breeze blew my hair as we both looked at the beauty of nature.
His hand locked comfortably against my back. This was heaven on
earth. Having him beside me was enough to make me feel in peace with
myself. We stayed there to look at the beautiful colours of the sun.
With just small acts,David made my life so meaningful. I felt so at
ease with him, everything seemed natural, just right. I felt safe and
happy. We didn't say anything but remained in silence seeing the
scenery. Then finally he looked at me and smiled.

“
It's
beautiful. You're beautiful Cassidy.” Saying that he touched my
face . His thumb massaged the curve of my jawbone sending shivers of
pleasure along my body.

“
Ready
to go again? We have to arrive at Crystal hotel at 7.00. I have to
meet some persons and then go for the rehearsal. In the mean time,
you could get some information from the reception about what you
would like to do as soon as I finish. This will be your day, we'll do
anything you want.”

He was so sweet.

“
Thank
you David.”

I hugged him tight to me. I
would have wanted to stay in his arms forever. He hugged me back and
kissed the top of my head. Then he let me go and we continued with
our journey. The island was beautiful, there were beaches everywhere,
small bungalows and palm trees. It looked really exotic. There were a
lot of souvenir shops and far away I could see a roller coaster.
Probably there was a Luna Park. That would be a nice place to visit I
thought. When we arrived at Crystal hotel, the porter came to greet
us. A man came immediately to speak with David,he was one of the
organisers of the concert. Affterwards we were shown to our room. It
was very luxurious, the bedroom was beautiful and it had a big
balcony. It was a shame we weren't going to pass the night there, I
thought. I blushed at the idea of sleeping next to David. I looked
around and then walked to the bathroom. As I expected it was as nice
as the rest. It even had a jacuzzi.