Chapter 7- In which she reconnects
"Savannah, she's our step- sister."
My ears are probably ringing from hugging him so tightly. "Excuse me? Am I halluci-hearing, if that is even a word, or did you just say that the bimbo at your table is our step-sister?”
Not even a half-sister, a step-sister. A child who wasn’t even his own! A daughter!
Samuel sighed. "No Sav, that is not a word and yes...I did just say that the woman at my table is our step – sister," he shifted from one foot to another uncomfortably.
"That fucking bastard!" I was beyond pissed. I wanted to murder the one person who was behind all of my misery, my oh-so loving father, Gregory McKenna. "She died, Samuel! Mom is dead because of the bastard! He even abandoned me because he said he didn't want a daughter; he said he was with our mother only to have a son! And now you're telling me that he had a daughter from his marriage? That my existence meant nothing to him?"
I hadn't realized I was crying until Samuel wiped my cheeks and hugged me tightly to his chest. I was furious at the wretched man who had given birth to me but I was also mad at Samuel for not telling me, so I pushed away from him, ignoring the look of hurt on his face but he caught my arm before I could leave.
"Listen to me Savannah! I know you're mad, OK! I know that you're hurt, but I couldn't tell you before exactly for this reason. I tried, I really did, but how could I tell my own little sister that our father refused to accept her as his own, claiming to not want a daughter, but he was already raising a daughter who wasn’t even his own." He was breathing heavily when he finished and I understood that this was just as hard for him as it was for me.
"That's why we're doing this, Savannah. We will take away everything from him as he did from us. We will ruin him. But I can't do this alone Sav, I need you with me," he held my shoulders in a firm grip and looked into my eyes as he spoke. "Are you with me?"
"Always, big brother," I promised him. No matter what happens, I would always choose my brother. We were blood and we will stick together through thick and thin.
"Good," he wiped my cheeks and gave me a sad smile. "No one can see us together. Let's clean up and leave. I'll call you tonight, okay?"
"Yes." With that I gave him one last hug and he gave me a kiss on the forehead and we parted ways.
After cleaning up my face of tearstains and runny makeup, I quickly made my way back to where Nathan was waiting patiently, the bill having been already paid. I wasn’t exactly going to split the bill since he was the one who asked me out to dinner and not to mention he was a CEO. I was debating if I should just be polite and ask if I should pay my half of the bill, but hell! Where was I going to get the money to do so? The only saving I had was from doing various part-time jobs during my college years and I didn’t have all that much. If Nathan hadn’t offered to help, I would’ve been on the streets by the end of next month.
"Wow! That was quick,” he said sarcastically as he saw me coming.
"Sorry." I apologized with a sheepish smile. "The restroom was a bit crowded. Shall we leave now?"
"Yeah. Let's go,” he said getting up from his seat and buttoned up his jacket. And then, much to my surprise, he helped me put on my jacket as well.
"Not bad, Mr. Synclair. You've grown over the years." I joked hoping to lighten the mood but a sad expression crossed his face.
"You know, back in high school I always made fun of you for being too serious and uneventful, while I lived everyday joking and playing around. I didn’t have any worries and I never cared about the future or what it held for me...until it was too late," he looked up at the star filled sky and I realized that we were already at the parking lot, standing in front of his car.
"My family, my dad, mom and my elder brother had gone to attend some charity event two years ago. I was supposed to go too, but I bailed. I was out all night screwing some chick I don't even remember the name of. When morning came and they didn't return, I didn’t care because I thought it was some work related stuff. I didn’t even bother calling them to check on them. It was around noon when the police arrived. A truck had run into their car. The driver was drunk, couldn't press the brakes on time and he crashed into them full speed. And just like that…they were all dead." He leaned his back against the car and rubbed at his eyes with the back of his palms. "It took for them to die for me to understand my responsibilities. I had been an ungrateful jerk all my life and you have no idea how much I wish that I could see them one last time to tell them that I loved them very much and I was grateful for everything they had done for me.”
Maybe it was my conversation with Sam that had me throwing my arms around him and hugging him tight. I knew what if felt like to lose everything you love and even though Nathan hadn’t been an angle to me all our lives, I felt sorry for the boy who had lost his parents. I felt like we had something in common now, even though he didn’t know my story and I didn’t know his. We were two people with similar experiences who understood each other.
He didn't complain though. Instead, he too wrapped his arms around my waist and held on to me as tight as he could. I wiped at my eyes as we pulled away. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t suddenly develop feelings for a bully. I was simply crying for the child who had lost their parents too young.
A child, who had been too strong in their beliefs. Belief that she was living in a happy family. Belief that her parents will always be there for her, always have her back and love her unconditionally.
Belief that...her father could never be as cruel as to leave her alone with her heartbroken mother, never to return to her again.