chapter64 Discontinued

when Grace told her father that she would be visiting Lucas family, he insisted that Grace retire to the house for the night. for strict fatherly reasons

and that's why Lucas had. to drop her off at Tang villa. Lucas wouldn't admit it but he is scared of her father and she couldn't blame him, her dad can be very intimidating when he wants to be, it didn't even matter that Lucas is richer and has a higher social standing. plus, Lucas's jaw hasn't completely healed from his brutal blows. but despite his logical fear of her father, he still offered to walk her to the door.

"hey?.. are you alright?"

"yeah. the dinner went unexpectedly great and it turns out, you have always been a well behaved gentleman since birth" she teased. hearing about her mother dampened her mood but Lucas presence effortlessly cheered her up.

"don't tell my mom but I was the one that broke her expensive historical vase when I was ten or that I was the one that crashed her car when I was fifteen or that Ethan and I used to skip school to go hiking up the mountains or I was the one that trashed her flower garden or that..."

"okay.. okay. I get it. you are a low key bad boy" she chuckled "did you really do those things?"

"well. I did everything except skip school. I did go hiking with Ethan during the summer and as for those other crimes, I confessed right away"

"wow, such a good -I mean bad boy" Grace laughed.

"well I'm sorry if I'm too good for this world" Lucas huffed. he said it as a jokes but she could tell that he was feeling apprehensive. most girl love the bad boy type and he is worried that she might not find his goody twoshoes-ness attractive but quite the opposite is the case. bad boys are so very rated. she found his virtuous personality to be extremely sexy.

"luckily for you, I like good boys. I find them to be very sexy" she whispered seductively. brushing her lips against his teasingly.

Lucas cursed under his breath before cupping her face and kissing her in a fervency that she returned.

"uhr.. uhm. "

"oh crap" Lucas froze. her dad was by the door staring at them -at him with a harden gaze.

"G-good evening Mr Tang sir" her father ignored him and walked back inside.

"round up and come inside"

"your dad hates me" Lucas sighed.

"sorry"

"he'll come around soon. I think. I hope"

"he still hates Ethan" she didn't mean to crush Lucas's hopes "maybe you can invite him to a boxing gym, he would like that"

"or a golf course or wide spaces. where there'll be enough room to move in case he decides to swing his golf club at my direction"

they both laughed.

"today was f..."

"Grace!!" her Dad yelled from inside.

"one minute!!" she yelled back "today was fun, I had a good time, good night. bye"

she pecked him on the lips before practically skipping into the house. when she entered the house, she saw her dad sitting on a sit. his hands folded, his legs crossed and a frown on his face.

"you know Lucas is a really nice guy right?"

"maybe, but his reactions are even funnier than Ethan's when he's scared" his frown turned into a mischievous grin.

she shaked her head at her dad's antics. he stood up and kissed her forehead.

"get some sleep kiddo"

~~~

everything was going great, after a wonderful evening with her boyfriend and his family. she brushed her teeth, took her bath, put her pajamas, combed her hair and lied on her soft bed but as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw her eyes, she saw her mother. not the happy memories, not even the one she imagined.

not many people knows this but due to the shock from the accident all those years ago, her brain had blurred all the memories of her mother. all twelve years of them. the only memory she can remember is the memory of that day. the day life left her mother's eyes.

one could only imagine how heart wrecking it feels to think of one's mother and only see the images of her death so she had to imagine things, imagine good things, motherly things. but it nothing like a real memory.

it is 2am already and she still couldn't sleep. she tossed and turned and tossed some more until she couldn't take it any more. she went to the kitchen to get some warm milk but that didn't help either so she did something -not so smart. she went to the basement. alone.

the basement that holds all her mother's pictures, belongings and memories.

she stood in the dark basement. she had turned off her flashlight as soon as she entered the room and she was to afraid to turn on the lights. she didn't know whether to fear staying in the dark or coming into the light. she is afraid to remember.

what if am her imaginations were opposed to the truth? she imagined her mother to be brave and caring and loving and.. motherly.

what if all of those things were lies she told herself to cover up the truth? why else would her subconscious blur out such an important part of her life?

'deep breaths' she told herself. the first thing she noticed is the distinct scent of apples tangled in some kind of citrus flavor. lemons? limes? grapefruit?

she remembers the scent, it smells like mother.

'you can do this. you are ready. you are strong' she tried to hype herself.

after a few more hesitation, she turned on the lights.

the first thing that caught her eye is a picture, a framed picture. it is a life sized picture so how could it not. but that was besides the issue. the issue is the woman who had a confident grin on her face, a happy grin. like the world has no sorrows in it. she also had a child with her not more than four years, clothed in a bright purple dress and a big purple bow on her head.

'this is her, this is me. this is us'

years of memories began to unblurr in an instant.

her head felt heavy and her knees weak.

her brain circuit could probably be fired..

... discontinued.