Chapter Fourteen

Dear Keanu,

Oh my god, I actually wanted to ask you to be my pen pal but I was worried you would say no! I'm so glad you sent me that letter, I've always wanted to do something like this, and now I can! I'm literally so excited for this journey and I hope we can continue to do this for as long as possible :)

I've never done this before so I have totally no idea what to say haha, but I guess I'll talk about what's been going on in my life lately. Things are still tense with Leonard, and he keeps texting me apologies in between angry messages, so I've completely ignored him lol because I feel like I have better things to do than entertain him.

Actually, now that I read what I've just written, I'm sorry for saying those words about Leonard. He's your son after all and you love him so I understand if you feel insulted. But as much as I love him, we have so many moments of dissatisfaction. I know it's normal for a relationship to be like this, but I still feel down during those bad moments.

I don't know, maybe I'm not being grateful. Leonard has always been the person to congratulate me on my milestones, even though he doesn't always do that. I still remember the day I topped my school for the subject and he exclaimed proudly to everyone that I was his girlfriend. His friends were impressed. So that was a good moment!

Am I doing this right? Haha.

Regards,

Alice.

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Dear Alice,

I think you're a natural at this. I see you've decorated the letter with as many sakura flowers as possible. The paper is even perfumed with grape and I've never seen so much pastel in my life. It must've taken you a long time to do this, and I appreciate the effort you put into this. I wish I were as talented in embellishments as you are, but I lack the eye for things like that.

But let's not talk about Leonard, shall we?

I'd love to talk to you about things like what you think about yourself. Do you have any areas in life where you doubt yourself in? Do you have moments where you question yourself and ask if you're worthy of what you have? I'm curious to know how you've been doing mentally and emotionally, since I know you're doing excellently in your professional life.

Let me know,

Keanu

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Dear Keanu,

Thank you for the compliments! :) I think highly of you too.

About your question, I've been plagued by thoughts recently that I'm not a good daughter. I'm always so busy at work, and when I come home, my mother is waiting for me at the dining table, asking if I want her to heat up my dinner. I always tell her no and head to my bedroom straight after. She frequently enters my room to ask me how things are going since we see so little of each other but since I'm so exhausted, I've started locking my door the moment I enter my bedroom so I can go to sleep earlier instead of having to talk to her.

I was doing fine with this routine when one day, I saw that she had left her copy of my bedroom keys on the table in my room. It struck me that she was thinking about my need for privacy and had decided to honour that by handing over the keys that would unlock my door. I felt like such a failure then, and I can't look her in the eyes now whenever I sit down to eat dinner with my family. I hate that I was unable to even have the decency to talk to her for a little while after work to let her know I'm doing fine and there she was, sacrificing so much for me like she has continually ever since I was born.

So because of this guilt, I've been separating myself from my family and I can't help but ignore their requests for family time because all I can think about is how bad of a daughter I am. I feel like I owe them the basic requirement of a grateful daughter but since I'm unable to do that right now, I feel that I don't have the right to interact as I normally do with them.

Best Wishes,

Alice

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Dear Alice,

Mike told me once that when you were just a kid, you were so engrossed in running around the house that you accidentally caused your mother to trip over you while she was pregnant with your little brother. They had warned you several times to stop but you didn't care. Your mother lost him and to this day, they have refrained from trying for another child to honour his death.

Don't you think it's silly to believe that they would not forgive you for what you mentioned when they forgave you for something bigger? Especially for something that wasn't entirely your fault?

Take care,

Keanu

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Dear Keanu,

I never thought about it like that before wow. You gave me the courage to talk about it with my parents and we had such a sappy moment, you'd barf if I told you about it. We made up after that and now we've never been closer! Thank you so much. I love how close you are to my parents, and I know you'd never do anything against their wishes. You mean a lot to me, and I'm so happy to have you in my life.

Also, there are a few things I want to say to you in person, so let's talk at school!

Yours Sincerely,

Alice

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Dear Alice,

I'm glad you're in my life as well. But if you pull another prank on me at school, I'm going to have to consider suspending you (jokes).

I can't believe you had the nerve! It must've taken you such a long time. You spent every single day without a trip to my office to insert a coin each day into the compartment of the telephone. You increased until it was heavy enough and finally removed all of them one fine day, and I hit myself in the head so hard when you dialled my extension while you were sitting in front of me filming everything.

I think you'll have to watch out, Alice. But anyway, let's try that Green Bowl you've been talking about for so long. I'm excited to see if it's as good as you say it is.

All the best(?),

Keanu

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Dear Keanu,

I'm sorry, dude, but putting my calculator in Jell-O is such a dad joke that I need to break it to you that you're way too old for this generation. You need better pranks, like seriously. I'm not even kidding.

But hey! You've been hiding secrets from me! I thought we told each other everything. But you haven't been telling me everything. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I asked you about it in the office and you changed the subject! Well, I'm not letting it go. Spill your secrets.

Just in case you're thinking of escaping again… Let me make it very clear to you what I'm talking about. Mike has been telling me about you often and we talk about you all the time. You guys spend so much time together that it's ridiculous. But a few days ago, he told me you've been smiling more lately and laughing to yourself whenever you're out with him working at Starbucks even though he didn't crack a joke or even say anything to you.

He thinks you have a girlfriend! I think so too! Tell me, who is this mystery woman and why are you keeping her identity from me? I'm not going to let this go until I get to the bottom of this, so forget about escape!

Love,

Alice