Part Time Romance

" We never wanted you to find out but someone has leaked this information to the media, hence we wanted to tell you the truth before you found out on your own. There was an article about it yesterday, but Lucas buried it before it exploded further," explained Manick as he saw how distraught his daughter was. Each of her teardrops were knives being plunged into his chest.

Maya was shell shocked but woke up when she heard Lucas' name. " Lucas knew?" she asked. " Yes, we told him when he came looking for you," replied her father. Only then the fact that her dad said the Damiens knew her heritage came to her mind. " Why did the Damiens know about it?" asked Maya wanting to complete the puzzle.

Manick looked at Irene with a pained expression, she nodded and he then turned to Maya and continued, " Derrick Damien knew about it because he was Matthew's and my business partner 30 years ago. We were childhood friends and partners. He also knew all of these because Matthew had an affair with his wife, Maria. Derrick found out and he broke the partnership, at the same time Matthew and Fiona met with an accident and passed away."

Maya felt her head was about to explode. Her biological father had an affair with Lucas' mother. This was too scandalous for her. She felt dizzy and before she knew it, she fainted. The last thing she heard was her mother's scream.

Maya woke up in her bed, the same bed she has since she was 13. She stared at the canopy top and wished she never knew all these information. Irene saw that Maya was awake. She went to her and held her hand in hers and asked, " How are you feeling baby? Do you want some water?" Maya just shook her head slightly and spoke softly, " I want to be alone for a while." That statement broke Irene's heart. This was the sole reason she never wanted Maya to know the truth. She didn't want her to pull away from her. Irene got up wordlessly and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Maya sat up in her bed. She hugged her knees close to her chest and rocked herself. She felt lost, rudderless. She didn't know who she was. She always felt her family was her identity. She couldn't accept the last 25 years of her life was a lie. Her parents were not her parents, her brothers actually her cousins. Worst of all, the fact that her father had an affair with Lucas' mother. She was angry. She couldn't even question them, since they were dead.

She thought back to the time every year when her parents took the entire family to visit her uncle and aunty's graves. Not uncle and aunty but father and mother. She got off the bed. Grabbed her wallet and walked into the garage. She climbed into her car and sped out of the gates. She drove straight to the cemetery. She knew where it was since they visited it every year.

She slumped to the ground tired and whispered, " Why did you both leave me? Why did you die and turn my life upside down?" Till this date she has not seen even pictures of them. She doesn't even know what they look like. She just laid next to their grave and closed her eyes. She wondered if she looked anything like her parents. All these years she thought she looked like her mother. Now she was curious. She sighed and just lay there motionless.

She didn't want to move. She didn't want to face her parents. Seeing her parents face in her mind brought tears to her eyes. She loved them. Eventhough they were not her biological parents. She loved them. She grew up calling them Mama and Papa. She slept in their embrace. Even now she refused to go back because she couldn't handle seeing them broken and down. It hurt her too much.

She lied at the same spot with her eyes closed and before she knew it she was asleep. The travel and the stress of the news really drained her. She was overwhelmed and lying down brought upon sleep. She didn't realise how long she slept for but when she woke up, it was already dusk. She rubbed her sore eyes, crusted with tears. She sat up slowly and was shocked when she looked up.

Lucas was sitting right opposite her on the ground. She only then realised there was a blanket over her. She didn't know how to face him. One side she was embarrassed that her father had an affair with his mother, the otherside she was fuming because he knew the truth for months but never told her.

She decided to ignore him as she figured out her life. She folded the blanket, left it on her side, stood up and walked away without even sparing him a glance. Lucas followed her quietly till she reached her car. He then stopped her from opening the door. " Don't shut yourself from me please," pleaded Lucas. He looked haggard as well. He was still in the clothes from 2 days ago. His usually clean shaven face was covered in 2 day old beard. His shirt unkempt and messy. He looked dirty but still handsome.

She refused to respond to him. " Can you please move away from my car," she said monotonously. Whilst trying to grab the handle. " I am not moving till you look me in the eyes and talk to me," stubbornly replied Lucas as he stood firmly between her and the car door. " I am not interested in talking to you. I don't know who you are," Maya replied as she looked at him directly in the eyes hoping he would stop bothering her. She hated him for hiding the truth from her.

" I could never tell you the truth because that would be going against your parents wishes," Lucas said as he looked at her pale face and her red rimmed eyes. She had eyebags and dark circles under her eyes. " It was neither my right or my jurisdiction to tell you that," he went on further. " How am I suppose to trust anything else you said when you hide such a thing from me?!" screamed Maya as she punched his chest with her fists. " How am I suppose to believe that your love is true when everything else has been a lie!!!" Lucas hugged her tightly as she screamed at him. She continued punching him and as he held her she broke down and start crying uncontrollably. She felt her world falling apart and she was powerless against it.

" No matter what happens in life. You are mine and I am yours. Nothing else matters. That is the absolute truth," declared Lucas as he looked directly into her eyes. Maya stopped crying for a moment as she saw the expression on his face.