Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Soon after she had kicked Aaron out of her apartment, Paris had packed her things, called Amy who told her she was welcome back anytime and an hour later she left New York city for Wisconsin. After she had gotten to Amy’s house, feeling weak she went straight to bed telling Amy she was going to give her mother a call the next day, she needed to see nana, she missed nana.

The next day the loud ring of Paris’s phone wakes her and she hurriedly jumped out of bed seeing her mother’s name on the screen and had picked up ‘’ What??’’ she screams throwing a coat over her pyjamas and running out of the apartment, dropping her phone on the floor in her haste, startling Amy who was about to head to her ballet class but had no choice but to run after her , they had alighted at the hospital and Paris had stormed in like a mad woman running down the corridor in which her mother stood, looking like a teenager instead of a 46 year old woman, same blonde hair except her’s had gotten a little whiter and thinner due to constant bleaching , and she and paris also had same large forest green eyes and thick lashes, she was very beautiful and looked like a model , dressed in black leggings, a big sweater and nike sneakers , her hair held loosely in a messy ponytail she was drinking a cup of coffee, ignoring her mother who didn’t even pay her even the slightest attention, she ran into the room and froze at the sight of nana who was laying lifelessly on the hospital ,her gown hanging off her thin shoulders, hooked on to machines , walking slowly toward the bed , nana had called out to her ‘’ Paris?… is that you Paris?’’. Holding her thin, pale veiny hand Paris had replied ‘’It is me nana … am so sorry nana… I shouldn’t have …’’. ‘’ Don’t blame yourself daughter… I missed you greatly’’ nana says softly, her lips quivering, her eyelids fluttering , she could barely keep her eyes open. ‘’ I missed you too nana … so much too much… I shouldn’t have left nana …’’ Paris says tears rolling down her face and onto nana’s hand, suddenly nana squeezes Paris’s hand and says brokenly. ‘’ You have done great my dear … you did well , you did your best … don’t let anybody put you down baby , don’t let anybody tell you different and make sure to always keep your head up dear … nana will always be by your side’’ and like a bad dream the hand squeezing stopped and nana froze and Paris unable to look at nana looks at the beeping machine instead, willing everything to be a dream , and as a doctor walks in checks her pulse and sighs , announcing that she was gone and declaring her time of death , Paris unable to stomach seeing nana lifeless ran out of the room, falling to the ground in the corridor, then standing up abruptly, weeping loudly only to run into her mother who was silently crying, hugging herself ‘’ She lost nana’’ she thought to herself bitterly as Amy walked up to her and hugged her tight, suddenly angry at the short moment she was allowed with nana she walked away from Amy and up to her mother and pushed her backwards in anger ‘’ You kept her from me, she had been here for two weeks and you didn’t tell me’’. ‘’ At least you got to see her before she passed on’’ her mother said unfazed. ‘’ You really are an animal’’ Paris replied. ‘’ Excuse me? I won’t be disrespected by…’’ says the older woman. ‘’You never wanted me hence you never wanted me to be happy, you unsuccessfully tried aborting me twice as a baby and you abandoned me once as a kid but this is the height of your wickedness and this is by far the meanest thing you have done to me so far… I know nana was the only reason you came back that day, the only reason why you couldn’t leave me at the park years ago was because she threatened to report you’’. ‘’ She told you?’’ the older woman asks. ‘’ Oh you have no idea, you evil woman! but guess what? I never asked to be born much less as the daughter of an vain creature like you, I was born out of your inability to keep celibate , you yourself ruined your Broadway career , it wasn’t me it was you and you alone, you know they always say a mother is not the one that carries the child but the one that takes care of it, so in the end you never were my mother like you wanted , not even for a moment of your life, it was always nana , my real mother was nana ,now nana is dead and she has me and you to grieve for her but you … you will die alone with no one to tend to you, feel free to live as you’ve always wanted as now you are free, I free you from your heavy responsibilities , the tie holding you and I together has been broken’’. ‘’ I didn’t tell you because …’’ she says only to be cut off by Amy who had been silently looking on the mother and daughter. ‘’ Ma’am on a normal day I wouldn’t involve myself in someone else ‘s family matter but my own mother once told me the first, foremost, and the important duty of a mother is to love , nuture and protect her child, a woman who fails in that duty, is a total failure in life no matter how successful she is … Paris let’s go.’’ ‘’ Be happy!’’ Paris says in a voice laced with indifference, walking away with Amy leaving the older woman with a pained look on her face. CHAPTER TWENTY – SEVEN – THE CHOICE.

Aaron walked into his office, only to meet his mother perched regally on his chair ‘’ Hello mother … what are you doing here? …I suppose you didn’t happen to drop by for a cup of lotus tea’’ he says mockingly. ‘’Well I came because Alexa called me’’ ‘’ Called you huh? She was just being crazy; you need to go back home mother’’ Aaron replies. ‘’Is it true that you are seeing that woman?’’ she asks tapping her heels against the floor. ‘’If by that woman you mean Paris then yes mother I am’’ he says. ‘’ I won’t allow that. I won’t let you!’’ she says loudly, her tapping stopping abruptly. ‘’ You can’t stop me mother… hell I have had enough of you bossing me around, I still can’t get over the fact that you asked me to seduce a woman to cover your tracks, I fell for her then, l love Paris mother and no other woman not even Alexa can come close’’. Standing up she moved close to him , her face dark with anger, she pointed to him dangerously and said ‘’ You can’t be with that woman win … she is not even educated son, she is a nasty lowlife, a nobody, she is nothing but gutter trash and she threatened me win! she wanted to file a lawsuit against me!’’. ‘’ I know exactly what you did mother and the only thing am sorry for, is overlooking your wrong and trying to help you’’. ‘’ I am your mother ! you have to make a choice win. You need to pick between that woman and me.’’ ‘’ Stop calling me win mother! I hate the name! you know that and stop with the patronising act. I love and adore you but Paris is my whole life, my future…. I can’t live without her so….so … Mom…. I have to head to a meeting now, I will call you when I get back’’ he says walking out the door as his mother crumbled to the floor crying bitterly.

Aaron knocked on the vintage door with bated breath and was about to knock again when Amy opened the door sighing in relief and beckoning him in. It had been weeks since his painful separation from Paris and he was living a miserable life, unable to stand Alexa and unable to fire her due to her effectiveness he had stopped going to work, working straight from home threatening to fire her if she ever came close to him again , Leo had since taken over the control of the company with Han reporting to him every evening . Last night after a drunken bout of tears Amy had called to say he needed to come over as Paris was depressed, he also heard about nana’s death and he could feel her anguish hence taking the first flight here , he walked into the room where Paris was laying on the bed face up and did a double take… she wasn’t smelling like strawberries , she looked rake thin and haggard her dress hanging limply over her now skinny body, her weight loss wasn’t that obvious but he knew that body so well that he could tell she had lost considerable weight , her hair was matted and she looked deathly pale which said a lot ,Amy had said she wasn’t doing great and was skipping meals but he never imagined it was this bad , this Paris was a shadow of her former self, the moment she sighted him she slowly stood up staggering and swaying on her feet, reaching out to hold her steady she stopped him with a hand up, her nostrils flaring . ‘’ What are you doing her?’’ she said and he suddenly felt sorry for all the pain he had caused her. ‘’ Well… Amy… Amy called’’ he replied. ‘’ Well she shouldn’t as I am fi….’’ She tried to say, before falling to the floor and going out like light ,yelling out for Amy he had carried her limp body down the stairs and into his car and he drove like a crazy man to the nearest hospital. CHAPTER TWENTY – EIGHT – SUNRISE.

It had been a day since Paris had been admitted, and after all the tests run on her the doctors had diagnosed her with orthostatic hypotension( OH) a common problem in eating disorder treatment which was often caused by acute or chronic malnutrition / dehydration which led to a drop in blood pressure which was the reason for the dizziness and the light-headedness experienced when one rises from a lying position to sitting or from sitting to a standing position caused and despite how serious her condition sounded, Aaron knew she fainted because she went into a dark depressive state and wanted to starve herself to death and he felt so guilty he was getting depressed himself , she was admitted and was been observed , wanting the best care for her he had requested she be put in the hospital VIP suite , Amy was gone for her night shift at the liquor store and he was watching Paris, had been watching her ever since she was admitted, not wanting to leave her side for a minute , scratching his light stubble , he headed to the bathroom and washed his face and walked back into the room, after adjusting the drip connected to her right hand he suddenly felt vulnerable and sad and he held her left hand sitting on the chair beside her bed. ‘’ I never told you anything about me Paris and yeah you might not be able to hear this but I suddenly feel like talking, I should have told you all this before but I never had the chance to... ours was a whirlwind romance , it happened so fast , it was so unplanned and it had me acting giddy all the time , as opposed to what people actually think I was born in Massachusetts but my mother and I moved to Madison after my father left and at twenty finding Madison small, boring and lacking I left for new York, am bad with numbers , I’ve failed mathematics all my life, I suck at calculations and am actually scared of water and drowning hence me not having a pool in my house, I was pushed into a pool when I was seven and I almost died so when I see a pool I lose my shit , am scared of thunder and lightning , I always have since I was a kid and recently I have been scared of losing the people I love , my dad left when I was four hence my hatred of the name win and my mom had to work four jobs to feed, clothe and send me to school , she also never remarried or had any other relationship because she hoped one day he would return, he never did though , he died of prostate cancer last year and I feel absolutely nothing for him , he was never around anyways so I barely knew the man, kress is my mother’s maiden name as I refused to go by my father’s name Jefferson , am thirty going on thirty one in November and I have never had a pet , my mom never liked them and Alexa didn’t like them either when we got together something about her being allergic to animals but I’d love to have a cat or a dog or both , my favourite colour is blue, I hate vegetables , I have a sweet tooth and I hate chips, am allergic to nuts and eating pineapples give me serious rashes, my favourite movie is the outpost , a movie based on the true life stories of the sacrifice of American soldiers at the battle of Keating in Afghanistan , it was the first time I ever heard of the battle of outpost Keating in port Kadesh , the movie hit me so hard that I teared up a little watching it , I have watched that movie more times than I could count and that movie made me appreciate life more , I have never been a fan of Scott east wood but his portrayal of American SSG Clint Romesha was really impressive , my favourite book is the outpost: An untold story of American valour by Jake tapper it’s a book based on the lives and the stories of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect other soldiers from the Taliban, favourite series is the mentalist , am a big fan of panic at the disco, west life and the vamps I just have a thing for bands never liked the Beatles though , my favourite actor is Daniel Craig who I was lucky enough to have met at a showcase three years ago , my favourite actress is Charlize Theron , I never told you about my real dream , never told anyone for that matter … my real dream is to be a father … a good father, the best there is, I mean I will never leave my kid and just up and go, no matter how bad it gets and I was this close to that dream before it was taken from me so harshly … I cried for days as I had been preparing myself for the fatherhood experience, I also want to get married before am thirty -five and ... am so sorry I didn’t tell you about Alexa it’s just so hard for me to talk about and am sorry about my mother I didn’t mean to hurt you ... I have no excuses, what I did was terrible but I love you Paris, I love you as I have never loved any other woman hell I even picked you over my own mother, I’ll marry you today if you let me Paris … I have a lot of fears but with you I believe I can get through anything because you make me feel strong, you make me laugh, when am with you I can’t seem to stop smiling, everything you do from your nose scrunch to your adorable pout just always fuels my hunger for you, just please forgive me, I know you think you have nobody but I want to be somebody … everything to you, I will take care of you I promise … Paris just forgive me…. please’’ he says brokenly tears rolling down his face, suddenly he felt a light squeeze on his hand and he looked up, into Paris’s teary forest green eyes. ‘’ You lied to me Aaron and that hurt me, it ripped my heart to shreds, I don’t know if I can trust you again’’ she says brokenly, tears rolling down her face. ‘’ Am sorry Paris… I was such a dick to you, you didn’t deserve all that … am so sorry’’ Aaron said back, his face looking older than normal. Paris sniffled and looked him just as he bowed his head still holding on to her hand , unable to look away from him she looked at his head full of dark rich locks and she found herself itching to run her hand through his hair as she done in the past , she still loved him she realised , wondering if she ever stopped , he had broken her trust and deceived her but she still wanted him , needed him , he was also genuinely sorry and he was proving that over and over again , sighing she placed a hand over his tan hand holding hers and startled he looked up , his eyes gleaming with unshed tears . ‘’Am sorry about your child, you didn’t deserve that’’ she says looking into his sad eyes, smiling sadly, he just shook his head and looked down again, unable to stomach the silence in the room, she sat up and spoke. ‘’ So how did you and Alexa meet?’’ ‘’ Paris….’’ He replied wearily ‘’ I just want to know … that’s all’’ Paris said. ‘’ At a fashion show in Brooklyn, it doesn’t matter anymore now Paris’’ ‘’ So how long did you date for?’’ she asked and she could read the frustrated look on his face. ‘’ Hmmm …. We were on and off for two years and after we found out she was pregnant I decided to do right by her so I proposed to her …. If only I knew’’. Aaron says wearily and Paris seeing the hurt dancing in his eyes, moves to him and holds on to his hand. CHAPTER TWENTY- NINE – YOU ARE MY STARLIGHT Paris was jealous but she decided not to let it get the best of her , Aaron was a good guy , a good guy which Alexa didn’t deserve , he for all his sophistication was a broken man, she put herself in his shoes and she could feel his pain, grief and anguish but she loved him, despite everything she loved Aaron kress and she doubted if it was ever going to change ,looking at him again , she decided to be the fool , she couldn’t imagine going on with her life with this man excluded from it , he made her world colourful, he made her happy , seeing him made her glad , feeling fireworks exploding in her brain she inched closer to him , put a hand under his chin to raise his head up and kissed him deeply, feeling so at peace with the world that she moaned softly, Aaron elated pulled her closer to him almost yanking her off the bed and kissed her back groaning with delight , he pulled away from her , smiled brightly and cupped her face in his strong hands , her hands on his neck, realising she was uncomfortable he stood up from his chair and sat by the bed placing his forehead against her and rubbing his nose against hers , he loved her , he couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop, he wanted her for life. ‘’ I love you Paris , so ,so, so much I don’t know what to do’’ ‘’ You can kiss me more’’ she says breathlessly ,earning her a dazzling smile from Aaron whose face was lit up with glee, as he held her by the waist and pulled her even closer to him and kissed her deeply he felt ravenous with passion and he realised how much he missed holding her, touching her, how much he missed this , they went on like that kissing each other senseless for a long time until they both needed to catch their breaths , smiling widely at each other, she ran a hand through his messy hair and he patted her back slowly. ‘’ I like you with the beard but I prefer you without it, it looks so weird’’ she says with a smile, making Aaron laugh heartily. ‘’ So you mean I am ugly with it on me? It has to come off then, I always want to look good for you, ugly is a big no no!’’. ‘’ You couldn’t be ugly even if you tried babe, you are perfect’’ she said confidently running her fingers over his plump lips. ‘’ I love you Paris’’. He says softly, looking into her beautiful eyes. ‘’ I love you more Aaron , I don’t think I can ever stop’’ she says kissing him again, after kissing for what felt like ages they separated breathing heavily , she looked at him and giggled as his eyes were dilated , smiling he hugged her tightly , soon he let go of her and helped her to lay back down on the bed , remembering his words from earlier she decided to talk about it . ‘’ So you like cats huh? … guess I never pictured you as a cat or a dog man coat , I like cats too and I have never had a pet before too ,even though as a kid what I wanted more than life itself was a white bunny, never got one though, I was born and raised in Madison , am 24, it might not seem like anything but I have an I.Q of 146 and am really good with numbers ……. I quit school soon as my nana got sick so I could get a job to help my mother out with money for nana’s treatment , I still hope and dream of going back to college ,…well my own favourite colour is purple as it’s a bright and happy colour and I like vegetables to an extent , but hate lettuce and as you well know my favourite fruit are strawberries, my favourite movie is the Lucky One featuring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling , it’s the most romantic movie I have ever seen, it’s much much better than the book , I also love melodramas and my favourite actress is Lily James , favourite actor Liam Hemsworth but am kind of torn between the Hemsworth brothers but I think I like Liam more, am a big fan of romance novels and some of my best books are It ends with us by Collen hover, The notebook by Nicholas sparks , Me before you by Jojo Meyers ,The fault in our stars by John green and Paper towns by the same author , I also like non- romantic novels like the divergent series by Veronica Roth, and hunger games by Suzzanne Collins ,I like Taylor swift and I adore Adele but I will always be a mega fan of Magic ..Rude will always be a classic any time any day ,my favourite song is Rihanna’s dancing in the dark and am a pretty good swimmer so you don’t ever have to worry about drowning as long as am around, my own dream is to be a pilot, I have only been in a plane once not to talk of driving one, the only time I’ve seen a cockpit before is in a movie but well a girl can dream right ? it’s such a fascinating dream though, I don’t even know where to start but I know I have to start somewhere, dreams only remain dreams when they are not worked on. ‘’I could help; I have friends’’ says Aaron. ‘’ Thank you Aaron’’ she says with gratitude. ‘’ You need to know something though Aaron... I may never get along with your mother, she is a real piece of work and am not the type to allow myself to be bullied, am sorry I just don’t like her and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. ‘’ She’s not …... it’s okay dear we will work it out, the most important thing right now is that we are together and that is all that really matters’’ he replies, hugging her again. ‘’ And the lucky one is such a cheesy movie, I couldn’t bear to watch it to the end, a man surviving the horrors of war because of a picture? ohhh come on!’’ he said speaking into her hair which made her giggle. ‘’ Ohh you know you like the movie Aaron, you can tell me, I’ll tell nobody’’ she replied in jest. ‘’ I don’t, it’s such a sappy movie …. Not that I care but what happened at the end?’’ he asked. ‘’ They ended up together, they had a happy ending’’. She says laughing heartily. ‘’ That’s even worse’’ he said, trying to hide his smile. ‘’ I know you are smiling Aaron , I can feel your smile’’ she says making him groan and unable to help himself he burst out laughing, with Paris he knew his days will be filled with laughter and his nights with love. ‘’ I love you Aaron, I really, truly do’’ she says. ‘’ I know baby; I know’’ he says kissing her head. Amy standing by the door entrance is seen smiling brightly at the blissfully oblivious couple.