Chapter VIII - Comfort

Chelsea remembered every bit of her emotions after he left her that day, The anger, desperation, and lost over it but she never brought the topic when she was with her daughter, Rebecca didn't need that. She was anxious that day, very anxious that made her want to go to her husband's location of his job but didn't because of Rebecca.

She waited and waited until evening came, but he didn't come home and that's the first time she shredded a tear into her eyes over her husband. Rebecca was confused that day and noticed the change of behavior of her mother but didn't comment on it. She asked her mother about her father but the only reply from her was that her father was doing work and can't go home for today.

Chelsea secluded herself that evening after she put Rebecca to sleep. She emptied her emotions, making her numbed for a while. Her heart has a little hope that maybe, just maybe, Esmond will return to them tomorrow. She stopped crying and hope for his return. She knew that having hope in something unknown will give her misery or joy. It is just between those two.

Then, tomorrow came, still no sign. No chat, no call, and no letters. She can't contact his family because he said that he's the only one left alive in their generation. Chelsea cried every time when her daughter's not around, she didn't want Rebecca that she's sad and crying.

Days continued to pass, she decided to talk the matter to her best friend, Tom. Calling him while she cried her emotions.

"Tom, can you come here tomorrow morning?" Chelsea said with a crack in her voice, Tom noticed that she had cried before she made the call.

"Of course," he said softly. "What happened?" Tom asked with a concerned tone laced to his words.

"It's about Esmond," she shortly answered, not elaborating the topic. "C-can we just talk about it tomorrow here?" Chelsea asked not wanting the topic to continue unless Tom is facing her physically.

"No problem," Tom said, understanding that the topic is important. "Talk to you tomorrow, k?" he said, busy with the papers scattered around his room.

"Ok, sorry for bothering," Chelsea said with a low note.

"No, you're not a bother," Tom said sternly to her.

An awkward silence was created but Chelsea broke it by thanking Tom for agreeing to her favor. Tomorrow morning arrived, Chelsea was waiting for Tom and Rebecca is still sleeping. A knocked on the door was heard and immediately Chelsea went to open the door.

When she took the sight of Tom, she instantly broke into tears and hugged the man standing in front of her. Tom was slightly taken back at her action but after a while, he started patting her back. Chelsea pulled back from the hug realizing that they were at the doorway.

She invited him inside and closed the door, they proceed to the living room and sat on the couch to begin their conversation. Chelsea cried again, making both of her hands cover her face, she started sobbing and Tom moves near her to comfort his friend.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly to Chelsea.

"I-I," She started stuttering and her voice a bit muffled due to her hands covering her face. "I miss Esmond," she said as she wiped her tears and putting her hands to her side, and looking down to avoid Tom's gaze.

"Where's Esmond?" he asked confused about the situation.

"I don't know!" she shouted frustratingly to him and fisting her hands. "Sorry," she said not meaning to shout, still not facing him. "I-it... H-he just left and didn't come back," she said explaining. "It's been a week and I don't know what to do. I can't lie to my daughter all the time," she admitted now looking at Tom with grief.

The first thing he noticed to his friend was that she looked miserable, the red eyes she has and the bags below her eyes, the reddish nose, and the trembling lips.

"Why didn't you call me when he left?" Tom asked softly to make her friend comfortable around him.

"Because he said that his boss required him to go early to his job, but his actions acted differently, like saying goodbye..." she informed him, a tear forming under her eyes and she wiped her eyes with her hands.

"We should call the police and inform them about this, Esmond might be in danger," he said thinking logically about the situation. Chelsea looked at him with wide eyes.

"Oh God... Why didn't I think of that!" she said muttering to herself. "Stupid emotion!" she whispered shout to herself. "But... but why did he look like saying goodbye?" she asked herself quietly. "Oh!" she exclaimed realizing something and looked at Tom who was thinking deeply. "Maybe he was threatened!" she continued with a horrified looked on her face.

"Maybe..." he whispered to himself repeating the word Chelsea mentioned.

The two of them called the police and reported the situation. They said that they will investigate and try to solve the case. After a few days later, the police informed them that they went to gather information about her husband's job and who did he work with but they didn't found anything about the location of Esmond's job because it's empty. They suspected his boss of getting involved in his kidnapping of a man named Esmond Collins.

Now, in the present time, Chelsea decided to go to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. She walked towards the door of her room without making a noise to prevent Rebecca from waking up. Chelsea closed the door slowly and began to go to her destination. She grabbed a glass and filled it up with water. She drank it slowly but stopped when she heard a noise outside the house.

She peeked through the window to see the yard and discover a silhouette of a man sitting near a tree with a provided chair. Chelsea noticed that the man was looking up to the moon, seemingly admiring its beauty. Looking up close, she began to familiarize the man with his hair. She placed the glass she used in the sink and marched outside to have quality time with the man outside.

She sneaked towards him for her to surprise him.

"Hey, Michael!" she greeted the man sitting and earning a terrified and shocked look from him. "Don't do that," Michael said rubbing his chest showing that he was startled by her and trying to mend his pumping heart. Chelsea just chuckled in response.

"So... What are you doing outside?" she asked Michael as she grabbed a chair and placed it beside the left of Michael's position. She sat on it and looked up, imitating his actions earlier.

"Just admiring the glow of the moon while I wait for Christmas," he said while he focused on watching the moon.

"You can't sleep?" she asked him.

"No, it's my tradition to go outside before Christmas when the weather is in a good condition," he said informing her about the reason why he is outside. "My siblings think it's weird, but I love doing it so they let me be," he said with a smile. "What about you?" he asked Chelsea. "What are you doing here?" he continued now looking at her with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

"I can't sleep," she admitted. "I was overthinking and my mind cannot focused on sleeping," she further explained her situation. "So, I went to the kitchen to drink water but I heard something outside and looked for the noise and then, I found you," she continued facing him.

"Oh, I see, what were you overthinking?" Michael asked her, getting back at facing the sky.

"Umm... I... I was thinking about my husband," she said hesitantly, thinking if she or would not tell Michael about it but decided to discuss it with him because she trusted him and needed someone to talk about what's in her mind.

When Michael heard this, he faced Chelsea with a concerned face. "D-Did you want to talk about it?" he asked not sure if his question was acceptable.

"Actually... yes," Chelsea admitted to Michael and sighed about it. "It's just Christmas is coming and he's still missing," she continued looking at her hands, she saw Michael nodded his head from the corner of her eyes, understanding and wanting her to elaborate the concern. "Another Christmas and me and Rebecca will be the only one to celebrate in the family, still no Esmond," Chelsea said having a crack in her voice for being emotional. She looked up to the moon while her tears rolled down, flowing to her cheeks. She sniffed feeling the water through her nose while Michael watched her sympathetically.

Michael decided to make a move to comfort her so, he raised his left hand to hold Chelsea's right shoulder and turned his body towards her to face her, making her gasped and looked at the man who gave physical contact. "You know, Tom is there, my mother is there too," he said rubbing her right shoulder. "I'm here for you and Rebecca, friends help, support, and comfort one another, right?" Michael continued with soft eyes looking at her, Chelsea silently nodded. "Friends also became a family, you and Rebecca became a part of Severn family once you stepped inside our home," with this, Michael moved his right hand to hold her left hand to make a point that he was honest and being considerate to her. "Even Tom became a part of the family too," Michael chuckled to his statement which made Chelsea chuckle too. "Just remember that we are here and never going to leave you," he continued looking sincere to her, squeezing her hand making Chelsea looked at their holding hands.

Michael noticed that Chelsea was looking at their hands, making him pulled his right hand from her but Chelsea pulled it back and hold it in both of her hands. She looked at Michael with an appreciative gaze. "Thank you," she said meaning her words.

Michael replied by smiling at her. They looked at each other for a while, seemingly having a silent connection with each other. He was confused when she left on her chair to stand up, making Michael pulled his left hand on her shoulder. Chelsea looked down at him still holding his right hand with both of her hands. She pulled his arms to make him stand up. Chelsea smiled at him when he followed her request. "Can I get a hug?" she looked at him with a shade of pink on her cheeks with a mix of deep emotion, which Michael noticed due to the moonlight produced above the sky. Chelsea released his right hand when he nodded replying to her question with a faint smile on his lips. She moved forward to him to hug him tightly. Michael hugged Chelsea back and moved both of his hands to her back to pat it. "Thank you, Michael," she said on his shoulder and hugged him more tightly and firmly. There were standing under the moonlight for a while, then Michael felt water on his left shoulder. He noticed that Chelsea's shoulder was moving indicating that she was crying.

"Shhh, shhh. It's alright," he said to the woman in his arms, moving his right hand towards her head and started caressing her hair. "Everything will be going to be alright, we're here for you," he continued and placed his right cheek to the left side of her head. He waited for her to calm down and released all of her emotions. They finally pulled back from each other and looked at one another with a small smile on their face. Michael looked at his watch to see that it's 12:07 AM. He widely smiled at it and looked back again to Chelsea.

"Happy Christmas, Chelsea," he said getting back to his chair and looked up at her.

"Merry Christmas to you, Michael," she said mirroring his action, and sat back down at her chair and looked back at him with a smile. They broke their gaze and looked up at the shining sky. They silently enjoyed watching the moon when Chelsea commented on something. "Why did you say 'Happy Christmas' and not 'Merry Christmas'?" she asked him still looking up.

"Why not?" Michael said, shrugging his shoulder while he looked towards the sky. "Mother always says Happy Christmas and I just imitate her," he informed her and chuckled at that thought.

"It's just weird to hear," she replied and chuckled back at him. "Having many people always greeted you with Merry Christmas," she elaborated smiling at her statement.

Michael hummed to her, agreeing to her. They sat and entertain themselves by watching the light glow of the moon above the clear sky. Chelsea suddenly yawned which made Michael face her.

"Get some sleep, you're clearly tired," he suggested to her.

"That's a great idea," Chelsea said sleepily and earned a laugh from the man beside her. "Don't laugh at me," she said to him and looked at him with a drowsy face.

"Yeah, you should sleep," Michael confirmed his statement.

"What about you?" Chelsea asked him. "Are you not going to sleep?" she continued.

"I will wait for another 15 minutes," he informed her. "Just go," he said softly to Chelsea and made a movement with his hands that giving her a message about leaving him and go to her room to sleep.

"Fine," she shortly said, evidently too tired to talk to him. She got up from her chair and walked away from Michael without saying anything to him. Michael just smiled faintly, understanding that she had been tired from her emotional situation.

"See you later, Chelsea," she heard Michael said in the distance which made her only to hummed in response, too sleepy to reply. She came back from her and her daughter's room, silently opened and closed the door, and sneaked back to her bed to finally sleep.

As Michael said, he waited for 15 minutes to look at the moon and after that, he decided to went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He drank it slowly and put his glass on the sink, then wiping the excess water on his lips, and continue to walk towards his room. He got inside and changed his clothes to more comfortable ones then lay down on his bed.

Thinking about his conversation with Chelsea, he promised himself that he will not leave her friend and be there to support and help her. She had been through so much, being a single parent and the only one who's there for Rebecca but that will change soon. Michael thought that he will be there for them.

He looked at the ceiling of his room and began to close his eyes as the dark invade him to finally made him sleep for the day.