Chapter 2

Allison

Finland City was a quiet place.

But from the scorching sun always glaring down, everybody broke out into a sweat. Luckily, on that evening, the air was a little cooler, with the light breeze blowing.

That didn’t stop her from oozing. She panted hard, trying to catch her breath, her mini white shirt drenched from her sweat.

Why do I even wear white? Allison wondered.

Her yoga pants had attached to her skin because of the dampness. Her face glistened as a drop of water fell onto the ground. She stared at the white beautiful fluffy clouds that seemed to float in the air. She inhaled, wondering what she was doing wrong in life.

Letting out an exhilarated sigh, she glanced around her and noticed a couple having a picnic, a blue basket sitting nicely on gray clothes. They were laughing. Must be fun to have somebody, she thought. She grasped that she never really acknowledged observing her environment. All she wanted to do was a sprint to release all the pent-up pressure that had been building up in her.

She took the chance to observe her environment, perceiving things that weren’t there before. A brown dog barked loudly at some kids running away, playing around with it.

She noticed the leaves all around her dried up, resting around lazily. The roaring winds ruined their plan, hauling them around.

Breathing out, she found a spot under a tree, with mint green leaves. The leaves around were crispy to the touch as she sat on them, making a snapping sound like they were breaking up. She took in the apple smell, listening to the birds singing on the tree top. It was tall, she realized as she gazed up at the lace of the branches.

Closing her eyes, her mind drifted off, recollecting the memories of the previous events.

“Allison, are you sure you want to go on this blind date?” her mother, Pamela, asked, showing a little bit of concern.

“It’s okay, Mom, really,” she said, taking another look in the mirror. The way she looked surprised her. Her mother had helped her do her make-up. She chuckled at that thought. She was 22, and yet she had no close friends.

Her denim jacket matched her inner sleeveless shirt. Her blue jeans were reaching her knee, while the shoes she had was a brand from the company her parents were in charge of.

“Who did you say this guy was again?” her mother asked for the millionth time.

“I told you, Mom. A friend of mine said he had a friend who was looking for a date. And I volunteered. For fun.”

It was a lie. She met him at a business conference. He didn’t look like an important person. He was just a plain character in the background. But he was cute and nice when he walked to her and asked her out. She told him she couldn’t mix a relationship with business life. And he understood. But he didn’t back down. He just wanted to have coffee with her at least.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” she thought.

But she couldn’t tell her mom this. Pamela wanted someone influential, and he definitely wasn’t something like that.

“Why won’t you just tell me his name?” Her mother raised her hands, declaring.

“Because I don’t know it! It’s a blind date, Mom.”

Another lie. She didn’t want to, but she had to. It wasn’t an actual lie. After a “Hi” from him, he had said his name, but she just wasn’t listening. No one had actually approached her to say ‘let’s go out for a drink’ only. They all wanted to sleep with her, and Allison knew this guy acted differently. How could she forget something like a name?

She blamed her bad memory. She couldn’t even remember what she ate in the morning.

She had met him yesterday and wanted to have just coffee with him.

“Mom, please take care of Elizabeth, okay?”

“You don’t need to worry about her. You are just 22, Allison. Enjoy the time of your life.”

Her eyes were wide open. Did her mom really say that? She, who was protective of her since she was little. It was that same reason Allison made a mistake and had Elizabeth. She wasn’t calling her daughter a mistake. In fact, she was happy she made such a mistake and had her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to her.

Her mom was annoying, but she had a sweet soul. She couldn’t say she should lose the child. And she was proud she didn’t say that. Her mother loved Elizabeth like she was her younger daughter.

“Thank you, Mom,” Allison said as she hugged her realizing her mom really cared about her.

If only she hadn’t been so protective of her. If only she had let her open up a little more. But it was ‘Don’t do this and that.’ She always wondered when she was little why her parents wouldn’t understand that the more they stop her from doing something, the more she wanted to do it.

She always blamed her mom for what happened. If only she had stopped her when she needed to. But it was always the wrong time. Deep down, Allison knew it was her fault.

Her relationship with her mom had deteriorated over the years, but when she had Elizabeth, everything fixed itself. She always saw Elizabeth as a precious diamond. She was lucky she had her. They stopped hugging, and she smiled at her.

Allison observed her with a closer look, noticing the gray hair as it fell from her face and the creases of wrinkles that were slowly appearing on her face.

“Victor will get back here tomorrow. So, come early then, okay?” Her mom placed a hand gently on her face.

Victor Rays, her dad, was a businessman. He had traveled to take care of sales and meetings as he was in charge of handling the shoe company they made together. She had to come over to stay with her mom to keep her busy. Because Allison knew she always felt lonely. And it was also an excuse for Allison – sometimes, she needed a little company along with her daughter.

“Okay, Mom, I will.”

She walked over to the living room – 3-year-old Elizabeth was playing with some paper drawings, sitting on the floor. Crayons were displayed all around the floor and smeared on her hands.

“Hey, baby,” she said, kissing her cheeks.

Elizabeth’s face lit up as she saw her mom. She jumped on Allison, almost staining her clothes with crayons.

“Pumpkin, be careful,” Allison chuckled.

“Mommy is going to go out tonight, okay? So, you can sleep here with grandma.”

“Can I come with you?” Elizabeth frowned, tilting her head.

But it turned to laughter as Allison tickled her.

“No, you can’t, darling, but I promise I’ll be here tomorrow. Just think about it as a little holiday with grandma, okay?”

She pecked on her forehead.

“Okay, Mommy.” Her eyes were watery from laughing too much, and she went back to playing with her crayons.

Allison headed over to her mom and kissed her cheek.

“Okay, I’ll be heading out now.”

They were meant to meet at the coffee shop. She never even got his number and silently cursed at herself for how dumb she was. She hoped he would remember or at least show up because he never asked for her number either.

“Be safe, Allison!” She heard her mom’s voice echo and smiled.

The coffee shop was only a few houses down the street, but she didn’t tell her mom that. Her mom believed it was in a huge restaurant, but all she wanted to do was to get a coffee and go home after.

Heading over to the coffee shop, she felt a gust of wind. It was probably going to be stormy tonight, she thought as the cloud darkened. She glanced at her watch, which read 5:55 p.m., and remembered they set a time to meet by 6 p.m. He should be there or else, she said with fingers crossed.

The café came into sight, and she knew she had arrived. She was about to head toward an empty seat but spotted him. She could remember his brown wavy hair and hazel eyes as they stared at her and his teeth wide in the open.

“Hey,” she said, waving at him.

“Hi,” he replied.

She sat down.

“So, Allison, what do you want to get?”

“I don’t know, cappuccino?”

“Oh, I’ll get the same.”

She got tired of thinking and went straight to the point.

“I know this is going to be a weird question to ask, but what is your name?”

He looked at her like she asked a dumb question.

“I told you my name though.”

“I know, and I forgot, I’m sorry.”

He laughed it off. “You know what? Next time we meet again, I’ll tell you.”

HONK!

A black convertible zoomed past her pressing its horns as it snapped her back to reality. Why was she even thinking of it now?

Juggling back home, she headed straight to the bathtub soaking her body in water. She wrapped a towel around her body and didn’t bother drying up, feeling the water dripping around her. It was 4:15 p.m. She never realized she had lost track of time. She had to go pick Elizabeth up, who had been staying with her mom sometimes.

“Hi, Mom! Sorry, I’m late.”

Pamela waved her hands to dismiss her worries. “It’s fine, I enjoyed spending time with her.”

Elizabeth saw Allison and raced to hug her.

“Mommy!”

“Let’s get you home, go wear your shoes,” she said, and Elizabeth gladly walked away slowly to do that.

“How are you, darling?”

“I’m okay, Mom.”

“Are you sure? You’re not still thinking about him, are you?”

“It’s been 2 months, and it was just a blind date – of course not.”

She realized she never told her mom the truth. So, she had to stick to the same story. Her mom only asked because she never brought him up since that one day. Plus, she even said they were friends. But she never got to meet him again.

The next morning, Allison had prepared to go to work. Last month, her dad had asked her to help manage their shoe company, and she couldn’t say no.

The doorbell rang, and she peeped through the door hole. She saw Sandy, Elizabeth’s new home-school teacher that started teaching her a month ago. She opened the door, and Sandy greeted her with a wide smile, hugging her.

“Hi, Allison. I hope I’m not late.” She had a bothered look on her face.

“Oh, of course not.”

Allison said and waved it off with her hands as she looked at the time that had just clicked 9:20 a.m. She had to hurry because she had to attend a meeting by 10 a.m.

They both went to the living room, and Elizabeth playing with her toys spotted Sandy and was excited to see her. Allison knew Elizabeth really liked Sandy, and she was happy she did.

“Hi, Miss Sandy.”

“Hi, Elizabeth. How are you today?” She grinned, her white teeth making it brighter.

“Okay, I have to get to work now. I’ll leave you two alone,” Allison said as she straightened her gown and wore her shoes.

“Bye, Mommy.”

She carried Elizabeth up for a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

“Ok, baby. I’ll see you when I’m back.”

The ride to her work was comfortable. She stopped to get her favorite coffee like she always did every morning. She could finally head to work, satisfied with it all.

“Hey, Allison!”

She looked at John who just called her, grinning at her. He was a young guy with black hair, a few feet taller than her. She always thought his black long hair was the reason he had a seductive face. She found him attractive, but she couldn’t go out with him, even though he had asked her out a couple of times.

She just didn’t want to mix business and pleasure. He made it clear he wanted to be more than friends. She checked her watch and figured she only had 10 minutes before her meeting started.

“Hey, John, how’s the big man doing today?”

She looked at his huge body and smiled. He wasn’t too buffed, but he had some muscles that showed clearly. Does this guy go to the gym every day?

“Pretty good. And how’s the little lady doing?” he smiled sheepishly.

She gave him a light punch on his arm and shook her head.

“So, I know I ask this every time, but do you want to go out for-”

She walked away to her office, cutting his sentence short, knowing what was coming next. She turned her head around smiling and mouthed a NO. He chuckled lightly, strolling away in defeat, but she knew he was still going to ask again.

Her secretary was already at her spot, piling up the documents Allison knew she had to sign. Wanda was a wonderful secretary, but the way she dressed made her seem otherwise. Her short office skirt with an unbuttoned shirt and always chewing a piece of gum were her flaws. It was enough to seduce her if she was a guy.

“Hey, Wanda. How many times do I need to tell you this is an office, not a club?”

She didn’t want to sound like a bossy bitch, but she had to keep her moderate. Wanda only snorted, not minding what she said. She couldn’t fire her yet, she was good.

Hours went by, the time being 1:30 p.m., and Allison sat down in her chair in defeat. She still had to sign the pile of papers on her desk. Her secretary had gone on her break, but Allison was pretty sure she was fucking in the bathroom. Her desk phone rang, and she picked it up.

“This is Allison Rays of Vicaela Shoes-”

She was interrupted when she heard a woman’s voice.

“Allison! Hey, dear.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Just wanted to tell you we’ll be coming over for dinner soon,” her mother said with an excited voice.

“Okay, Mom.” She knew they liked to eat dinner with her sometimes.

“And how’s my cute daughter doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“You know you shouldn’t be working so hard.”

“If I don’t, who will? You and dad?”

Sighing, Pamela gave up. “Your dad wants to talk to you.”

“VICTOR! Allison is on the line.”