Part Time Romance

" How can you love me? You knew what happened between our parents?" asked Maya full of shame on behalf of her father. She didn't feel he was her dad but he was still her biological father and his blood ran in her veins.

" I will love you no matter what. What happened between our parents has nothing to do with us and it will not change the way I feel for you," answered Lucas seriously. " There is something else you should know. Something not even our parents know. Come with me," said Lucas as he pulled back from the hug and offered Maya his hand. Maya didn't think she would be able to take anymore news about her past or her parents. Reluctantly she gave her hand to Lucas, he held her hand as he led her towards his car and drove them away from there.

It seemed well maintained and quaint. Lucas parked the car and got down, then walked across the car to help Maya out. He held her hand as he rang the doorbell. He then turned towards Maya and said, " This person apparently knows the truth about my mother." He didn't look happy as well, Maya looked at his handsome face and wondered how he coped when he found out the truth. He must have been devastated that his mother left him immediately after her parents died in a car crash. No one was able to find her and he has always been treated badly by his step mother.

Maya squeezed his hand tightly and smiled. Lucas smiled back at her and they turned to see an elderly man walking towards them. He looked the same age as their father but he seemed weak. He opened the gate and looked up at Lucas. He smiled and invited them in.

Maya and Lucas walked in tentatively behind the elderly man. Once they entered the living room and he invited them to sit down, Lucas spoke up, " Do you know who I am and why I am here?"

" You are Maria's son, and you have come to find out about your mother." replied the man with a raspy voice. Lucas and Maya were shocked. They didn't think he knew who they were. " Since you know, could you please tell me the truth about my mother's disappearance?" asked Lucas anxiously. He was finally going to find out the truth he hoped. Why his mother left all those years?

" Maria and I were in love. We fell in love shortly after you turned 1. We never meant to fall in love but we both didn't expect it. I was working as a manager in your dad's company. Derrick was a smart businessman but a bad husband. He abused her verbally all those years ago.

I offered her my shoulder to console her and our friendship blossomed into love. She was too afraid to leave your father and she worried about leaving you. That's why she stuck on with your father for those few years. Matthew knew about us as he was not only my boss but also our friend. The three of us went to school together.

Matthew helped us keep our affair a secret, unfortunately 2 years later, Derrick found out and he threatened to kill her. Fearing her safety she left you and him and ran to me. We lived here all these years. No one knew where we were and she changed her name. It nearly killed her leaving you with him but she knew as bad a husband he was, he was a good father and he would never abuse you. She regretted her choice to leave you. She would cry every night hoping to see you again," explained Jamal.

Lucas was silent throughout the story. Maya was confused. She thought her father was the one who had an affair with Maria. She didn't expect such a twist. So that meant that her dad was innocent and that he never cheated on her mother. Maya needed the confirmation. " You said You were in love with Maria, but everyone thinks that my father Matthew was the one having an affair. Why was that?" asked Maya as she looked at the elderly man with a hopeful expression.

" Matthew was implicated as he was trying to protect me. No one knew who I was. Matthew knew that if Derrick knew who I was, he would kill me. Hence he pretended as if he was the one having the affair. Fear not child, your mother Fiona knew the truth. Matthew loved Fiona more than anything else in the love and she did him. It was unfortunate that they died so suddenly. They were loyal people," answered Jamal as he looked at the girl before him, she looked so much like Fiona. He teared up as he looked at her.

My parents loved each other. My father didn't cheat on my mother. They are innocent. Maya felt a boulder lift off her shoulder. The one thing she felt ashamed about was a false rumour. She suddenly wished to hug them and apologize for doubting them. They were her biological parents hence she felt happy that their names were no longer besmirched.

She then turned to Lucas. He was sitting next to her like a stone. She tried squeezing his hand to elicit a response but he didn't even flinch. She was worried for him. She then realised something and turned to Jamal, " Where is Lucas' mother now?" Jamal looked down as he cleared his throat. He looked up with tears in his eyes and said, " She passed away 15 years ago. She succumbed to cancer. We tried everything we could but she just couldn't fight it."

Maya felt sad. She wished to know Lucas' mother. She wished Lucas could have met her one last time. Lucas looked stoic and she felt he needed closure as she had. " Can we see her resting place please?" asked Maya on behalf of Lucas. " Her ashes were buried under the cherry tree next to the cottage." answered Jamal with a tired look. He wished he could join her wherever she was. He was tired of living alone without her.

Maya dragged Lucas towards the cherry tree and as they stood under its vast foliage, she looked up at him. Lucas looked broken. She didn't know how to console him. How to explain that his mother loved him even though she chose to leave him. She finally decided words were not going to help. She pulled him in for a hug and held his large frame as tightly as she could. She was conveying all the words she couldn't say through the hug.

Lucas finally woke from his reverie and hugged her back. Maya was the anchor in his life. Without her he would be lost. She held him and prevented him from floating away. He cried silent tears at the loss of the mother he never knew but missed every day of his life. As a child he hated her for leaving him but as an adult he understood her predicament. No one was perfect. He realised he couldn't hold her decisions against her. He let out a sigh and with that sigh released all his baggage regarding his mother.

He turned towards the cherry tree and left all his regrets, anger, frustration, hurt, and all other feelings he had towards his mother. He could put all of them to rest the same way his mother rested there peacefully. He wished to walk away sans the baggage of the ghost of his mother in his memory. He chose to believe that she loved him and that she had to make certain choices and that did not diminish her love for him. She gave him life and she was entitled to live her own as well.