Gisele looked at Slate in alarm after he uttered that sentence. That was a part of her life that only one person knew about, apart from her father, Lizzie.
âI ca- I mean- u-uh S-slate. I-Iâ¦â, Gisele stuttered. Then, she took a deep breath and tried to steer the topic away from her past.
âS-slate, y-you want m-me to trust y-you b-but i-it g-goes both ways. I-I canât t-t-trust y-you if you d-donât t-trust meâ, she managed.
Slate looked at her in the eye and said, âI do trust you, Gisele. I do. I trust you like I trust no oneâ and Iâm falling in love with you, he added silently.
Gisele closed her eyes in an effort to compose herself. She took in a big breath and started, âMy family was a very happy one. My mother, my father and I. We were very happy. My parents were even planning on having another kid.â
ADVERTISEMENT Gisele took in another deep breath and continued, âWhen I was eight years, the problems and the arguments started. I was very young but also very smart, I used to overhear all their arguments. If it wasnât about money, it was about my father seeing another woman. It was like they were endless.
Everyday, they had an argument. Every. Single. Day. School was like a safe haven for me. It went on for two years. The day I turned ten was the day my father left. He packed a bag when my mother was out, and sneaked out like a thief in his own house.
âI tried to stop him. Crying and begging. At first, he ignored me. But then I became persistent. I clasped his pant leg and clung onto him for dear life. He tried to shake me off but I wouldnât budge. Then he picked me up and saidââ. Gisele stopped and started crying again.
âI canât Slate, I just canât!â, she cried urgently. âThose memories, I-Iâve t-t-tried s-so s-so h-h-hard to forget them. P-p-please d-donât make me say i-i-tâ. Her voice broke on the last word.
Slate took Gisele in his arms and didnât say a word. She cried and cried for a long time. Her sobs became scarce and she stopped.
ADVERTISEMENT âI need to say this, I need to! I need to let go of the past and the past and this is the only way to do thatâ, Gisele said shakily but, in a determined voice. Slate hid a smile. Thatâs my girl, he said in his mind.
âWhen he picked me up, he looked right into my eye and said âI never wanted you, girl. I never wanted any of you. I just wanted your momâs money. Not any of this baggage. But now that the cash is finished,I refuse to be stuck here with you when I have better opportunities out thereâ. I was crying and tried to hug him but he pushed me away and said, âSee? Youâre clingy, just like your mother. A bunch of stupid clingy b****es.â then roughly put me down and went out.
âI didnât understand half of what he was saying, but I was big enough to understand that he didnât want my mother and I. When my mother came back, she threw a fit. She broke plates, furniture and anything else she could lay her hand on. When she was tired, she went into her room and lay there, not doing anything just lay there. She may have fought with my father, but I knew she loved him. She sunk into a depression and nothing helped. Her family didnât want anything to do with her because she had married my Dad without their consent or acceptance. She died when I was nineteen and I was on my own till met Lizzie. She took me in, along with her parents. And Iâve been happy ever since, not thinking about that incident and bawling my eyes out.
âUntil today, I met him. Looking like a poster child for money, riches and elegance. And he tried to touch me and pretend once upon a time, he didnât break my heartâ, her voice was laced with bitterness and then hatred, âI hate him! And Iâll never forgive him!â
ADVERTISEMENT After this, she broke down again and Slate comforted her with nonsensical utterances of love. She fell asleep slowly.
Sometime later, Callie tiptoed into his room and said, âDaddy, can I sleep with yoi guys?â
Slate nodded and Callie climbed on the bed, in the middle of both adults. With Gisele and Callie by his side, Slate felt complete. Like he had finally come homeâ¦