Amelia
AMELIA
Damn, my feet are killing me. I have worked fourteen straight days, which is taking a toll on my body. However, I want to buy a few gifts for Faith. Faith is my light in the darkness of my life. I had dreamed of a different future, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Mac was and will always be the love of my life. We were confident we would attend college together, become doctors, marry, have kids, and be together forever. Even now, I can still remember his touch and his precious kisses. If I closed my eyes, I could see us together in that tiny tent by the waterfalls—the first and only time we made love. Then the graduation party happened.
I had taken extra time to look extraordinary for Mac, which made me late for the party. When I pulled into the driveway, it was packed with vehicles, so I parked close to the boathouse. When I exited the car and started up the path, I ran into Peter, who was looking at his phone. The way he stared at me always gave me creeps.
“Well, look at who it is. Amelia Robertson. Damn, you are looking hot tonight,” Peter slurred, licking his lip and eyeing me up and down.
“Hi, Peter,” I said, hoping to sidestep him and get to the house.
Peter stepped closer and ran his hand up my bare arm. “Why don’t you let me show you what a real man can do? Mac is a pussy.”
“No, thank you.”
Suddenly, he grabbed me and pulled me toward the boathouse. I struggled to break loose with each step, but he had a tight hold. He pushed me hard against the wall, knocking the breath out of me. Just when I thought all was lost, I heard my survivor’s voice. Mac. I opened my mouth to scream, but Peter slammed his mouth against mine. He pressed so hard against me that I could move or scream. The only thing that kept me from panicking was Mac would save me. I thought I would feel Peter being ripped away at any moment, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I heard a ghostly gasp. Peter stepped back, and I looked at Mac. Instead of the man whose love for me glowed, I saw a broken man. “Mac, please, it is not as it looks. He.” But before I could finish, he turned and ran back toward the house.
“Mac doesn’t look happy,” Peter smirked. “Are you sure you don’t want me to finish what I started?” He took a step closer to me once again.
I needed to stop him. Using what my father had taught me, I kneed him in the groin, and when he bent over, I brought up my knee to his nose. I took off toward the house when Peter fell to look for Mac. I looked through the crowd of people and was stopped many times by people wanting to talk. I thought he might have gone to his room when I didn’t find him downstairs. Slowly walking up the steps, I thought about the look on his face. Praying silently to myself. Please let him listen.
I got to his door, took a deep breath, and opened it. As I walked in, my world came crashing down. Mac was naked in the bed, with a naked Harper wrapped around him, kissing him on the chest. A painful cry escaped my lips.
Harper looked up and smirked. “Your loss is my gain. Fuck off, Amelia, he is mine now.”
With tears pouring down my face, I ran from the room, down the stairs, and out the door. I wanted to get as far away as possible but was afraid to go to my car. It was too close to the spot where I last saw Peter.
“Amelia, are you okay?” Josh asked.
“Not really. Do you think you could walk me to my car?”
“Sure thing.”
Peter wasn’t stupid enough to engage Josh because he was twice Peter’s size and all muscle. We made it to my car. Once I was in, I drove around the town, not wanting to go home. Before I knew it, I was at our overlook spot. I exited my car, walked to the bank, and looked into the night sky. Tears ran down my face, and I felt my heart break into pieces. I screamed his name until I was hoarse.
I made it home and crawled into bed. When I awoke the following day, I looked at my phone. I had no calls or texts from Mac and knew that Harper had been right. He was hers now. Had our love meant so little for him to turn to her so quickly?
The days and weeks passed, and my parents asked what was happening between us. I just said we broke up. I went to the police station the morning after the party, showed them the bruises, and filed a complaint against Peter. The judge issued a restraining order, and he wasn’t allowed within five hundred feet of me. I hadn’t seen or heard from Mac, but I overheard my mother telling my dad that he had left early for New York. Harper had been telling everyone they would spend the summer in New York together. I didn’t know what I would do when it was time to go to school. With both of us pre-med, we had every class together.
But one morning in late July, my entire world changed. I woke up sick, and as I was hanging over the toilet, I saw my box of tampons. When was the last time I had my period? Was it last month or the month before? When my stomach allowed me to get up, I went into my room and checked my calendar. I always wrote when I started and stopped. It was then I saw I hadn’t had a period since the end of May. Then it hit me. We had made love right after that. What the hell was I going to do?
When I calmed down, I knew I needed to make sure I was pregnant and plan my future without him. I couldn’t tell him since I knew he wouldn’t care. Going to the urgent care center downtown, I learned about my future with one word. PREGNANT.
Once I got back home, I sat down and contemplated the situation. The idea of going to college and caring for a baby simultaneously seemed impossible, especially in New York. I would ask my parents if they would help me if she went to a nearby college. As I researched colleges and what is needed to be a single parent, I didn’t pay attention to the time until it was dark outside. Walking out of my room, I entered the kitchen to see my parents. However, they were not here or a note. They didn’t let me know where they were, which was strange. Out of nowhere, a knock sounded at the door. I opened the door, and there, standing on the stoop, were two Spruce Pine Police Officers.
“Ms. Robertson?” One of them asked.
“Yes.”
“May we come in?” they asked.
My world had changed so much today, but nothing prepared me for what happened next. My parents were killed in a head-on collision by a drunk driver. I remembered little about the next few days, but I remembered the cold rain falling when they lowered them into the ground.
A few days later, just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. My parents hadn’t informed me about their financial difficulties and lack of proper life insurance. The home was not paid for, and I could not make the payments without a job. I sold the house to settle the loan and other bills.
I found a job at the Country Diner. The owner had been friends with Charlie and was glad he could help me. I was upfront and honest with Mark, telling him I was expecting. Despite his shock, he promised I could work until the baby arrived, and a job would await me afterward.
With my college savings, I found a small apartment on the east side of town. Since I had received a scholarship, I was saving to purchase books. Mark and a few people from work helped me move into the apartment. I sold any furniture I couldn’t fit in my apartment and banked the money from the sales for when I would be off with the birth.
The months ticked by, and before I knew it, I was in labor. Laying in the bed in a room all alone, I couldn’t help but wish that Mac was here with me. Hour after hour, I endured the pain, and finally, a little after midnight on Valentine’s Day, I gave birth to a little girl.
After she checked over and declared health, they handed her to me. I looked down at my daughter with tear-filled eyes. She looked just like I had dreamed all those years ago.
“Do you have a name?” The nurse asked.
“Yes. Faith Olivia Robertson.”
“What a lovely name. I will be back in a little.”
I unwrapped Faith from her blanket and counted her toes and fingers. She was perfect. Wrapping her back up, I held her close. “My little Faith, I promise to be the best mommy to you. I promise to love you enough for both me and your daddy. He won’t be around, and I am sorry, but I want you to know you were conceived in love.”
Two days later, I took Faith home to our little apartment. I found an online service representative job, which I could do until I could return to the diner. When people were right when they said children were expensive. However, for Faith, no amount of work or sleep lost was too much. One sunny day in June, I was off and was taking Faith for a walk through the park when I ran into someone who had changed her life. Harper.
“Amelia Robertson.”
“Hi, Harper.”
“What are you doing babysitting?” Harper said, then looked down into the carriage. “I will have to look you up when Mac and I move back after school. We plan on starting a family right away.”
I needed to leave. I couldn’t hear Harper and Mac’s plans. It hurt too much. Plastering on a smile. “I am sorry, but I am so busy. I must rush, goodbye.” Pushing the carriage and putting as much distance between us as possible before breaking down. Any thought or dream that one day we would get back together had been dashed.
The years flew by, and in a blink of an eye, Faith was nine. Even though I worked two jobs, I never had enough money to give her everything she deserved, but Faith never complained. Her mother’s love was all she needed, and she had it. We attended church whenever I was off. One Sunday, a lady approached me and asked if she would mind if they put Faith’s name on a gift tree for Christmas. They explained they knew I worked hard and that sometimes everyone needed help. I prided myself on supporting myself and Faith, but for once, it would be nice for Faith to get something I couldn’t afford.
“Amelia, can you work over an extra hour today?” Mark asks.
I was finishing cleaning off my last table and wanted to say no, but it was an opportunity to make more money.
“Sure.”
Mark walks away, and I feel like someone is looking at me. Looking out the window, I gasp. Mac is standing outside, looking in. Has he seen me? Did he even recognize me? Then, suddenly, he turns and walks away. All my feelings for him locked inside my heart, bust free, along with the pain. I can’t help but wonder if he was married and if Faith has any half-brothers or sisters. However, the thought of that is too painful to consider.