Chapter Ten
The sun beaming brightly, the wind lingered long enough to have a minor role. It was a beautiful day. Matt made it a point to get up early and go running which normally she would have stayed in door and run on the treadmill.
Warming herself up, she twisted to the left and to the right, bending forward stretching. When she came back up, she saw someone walking towards her, lifting her hand to block the sunlight she almost laugh at her luck. She stood up straight and waited for Grate to get to her. She thought the park was going to be a good idea to take in what nature has to offer, but now it’s unlikely.
Grate smiled knowing she probably wanted to reach out to a nearest rock and throw at him or run and hide behind the nearest tree. She once again wore a body hugging outfit that does nothing to help his attraction to her. She seemed to be in her own world when it comes to him and he has no idea when he started to really notice the little things in her, like when she smiled sincerely a little dimple is visible. Her eyes had always and will always be the most powerful weapon for her when it comes to him.
“Nice day isn’t it?” Grate inhaled the sweet scent of air.
“I guess.”
Attempting to create small conversations with her isn’t going to be in the best interest. He sensed it and she’s aware of it.
“What is it that you want?”
Grate reached out and grabbed her arm when he noticed the movement in her feet as if she’s ready to bail in any minute. Matt stopped and looked at his hand on her arm. She felt a little warm just by that simple touch. Then her heart fluttering like a teenager, shaking her head this is not supposed to happen. She brushed his hand away and backed herself a few steps from him.
“There’s a party that I would like for you to attend with me. However, if you want to show up at a different time that is fine, I think it’ll be fun and a fresh start for us.”
“I thought you don’t like me, why do you want to go with me for? There are plenty girls out there that would want to go, why not ask them?
“Maybe I changed my mind about you since the first time we’ve met and maybe I have been dating those girls that you so kindly suggested and I don’t find them that interesting and maybe I am getting tired of dating around.”
Matt looked up unexpectedly. “Well, I still don’t like you.” She said it so softly that it didn’t quite sounded like she meant it. Her cheek became warm, looking at Grate once more she took off running before she made herself into an idiot when the afternoon hasn’t even roll around yet.
Damn the girl, she is going to make him run after her in a suit. Had it ever been easy with her in the first place? Advancing on her, he stopped in front of Matt. She paused taking in several breaths before looking at him. A question in her eyes was all she gave out. Brushing her bang to the side unaware of how that little move of hers seemed so sexy to him in the morning. He struggle a cough to clear his head.
“I have not told you the small details of the party yet, before you so eagerly took off.” He somehow, found that annoying.
“Oh,” Was all she said.
Grate started to go over the details with her all the while he noticed how appealing her lips came across. He averted his stare and let it stay with a couple sitting on the ground conversing. He came back to her folding his arms when she said nothing else.
“Is there anything more?” She said it in such a clip tone it grated on his nerve.
Dropping his arms, he stepped forward. “Can you at least meet me half way? I am trying here.”
Matt blinked at him and found that soft voice of his suddenly endearing. There was almost a plea in his tone that she could not dismiss because she has never heard it from him before.
Grate somehow found himself like a little boy asking for a favor from someone that didn’t quite care if he received it or not. He has no idea why, he wanted to be near her or to be with her in the first place. She is the total opposite of all the girls he had been with. He tends to be with the quiet, well manner and someone who is sensitive to other people’s feeling. While she is loud, says what she wants and is not afraid to let people know exactly if she does not like something. A small sigh of surrender came out and when he looked deeply in those eyes that never fail to tell a different story, he was lost. The matter of the heart is one of life greatest mystery. Making up his mind for the last time that he was going to pursue her, he extended a hand to her.
“I want us to start over.”
Matt studied his hand. Was it friendship or was it more? She looked at him and those eyes were dancing to a beat of its own it was almost sensual. “I have a date, got to get going.” Quickly she ran and left Grate standing there.
Grate looked at his hand, being rejected by her has been a normal thing so far, yet he could not hide his disappointment. He was not much a chaser, never had to work for a date or for a girl that he is interested. Matt is the first and will be the last. He found it to be exhausting. He has tried looking at her in a negative way, starting with what happened between her and his brother. But somehow, she managed to make her way into his heart. He had tried talking himself out of it, given plenty of reasons to not look her way, but so far it hasn’t work out. Turning around he watched Matt ran off until she was out of sight.
Pope drove up to the house slowly when he saw Nan watering the grass, but there was a distant look in her eyes. The water was flowing while she stood still looking out to space. He parked the car on the side next to Mint’s house and got out, walking with a question yet worried look he leaned it. “Are you ok?”
Nan blinked away her concentration and turned to find Pope staring at her. “Yes, I guess.” She looked down and there was a puddle of water. Putting the hose down, she wiped her hands on her shirt. “Not really.” She admitted.
“What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Mint?” The eagerness in his tone alarm Nan as well. He realized that and tried to stir up a smile halfway.
“It has something to do with her.” Nan thinned lips became thinner. Her hair barely reaching her shoulders she grabbed it and tied it securely out of her face.
“Tell me.” He swallowed not liking the sound of it even if Nan has not revealed much. If it has anything to do with Mint, his heart just skipped.
She extracted a piece of paper from her shirt pocket and handed to Pope. He looked at it with great confusion, the number or whoever number it belongs to he does not recognize it. “What does this number have anything to do with Mint?”
Nan’s eye fell, she answered softly. “It belongs to her dad. He has changed his number and thought to inform Mint of it.” She sounded disgusted.
Pope immediately turned red with anger. The bastard does not learn he should have finished him years ago, if not for Mint begging him not to kill her father, he would have been happy to see him to never walk this earth again. Crumbling the piece of paper, he shoved it in his pocket.
“Mint does not need to know this ever happen. I don’t want her to have any contact with him. EVER! Understand?” The sharpness in his tone was clear enough that he meant business.
Nan touched Pope’s arm gently. Almost in a whisper she added. “Pope he is dying.”
It didn’t get any reaction from him. He kept his tall frame just as that. His face unchanged by the news. “Good, not a moment too soon.”
“If anything, Mint has a forgiving heart. Seeing her father on death’s door will change everything. She’ll likely to forgive him for what he did. Even though, she said she does not want to have anything to do with him but I also know she still thinks of him as her father a fact that for the life of her she can’t refuse bad or good.”
“I don’t know how you two can do it, but I can’t. Even the mention of him gets me boil inside. The image of Mint in my arms with her eyes swollen, lips bleeding, bruising everywhere barely hanging on. It broke my heart that day. It took all I have not to kill him.” His eyes fell to the ground before continuing. “For as long as I live, she will never have to endure such thing from him or anybody else, I will not have her go to him dying or not. He does not deserve to see her for any reason.”
Nan stood next to Pope and saw the truth in his eyes, that above all things Mint is his to take care of. “I have had my fair share of his abuse that is why I chose to leave. That day when Mint went to visit him, I didn’t quite know he was going to turn into a monster. He said that he had changed but it was the worst that he changed into.” She blinked hard to fight the tears. “Mint was so excited that day to see him, thinking her father wants to work things out and be a father for once. She sees the good in people especially in a father she didn’t have in the first place.”
Pope stared at a red rose that is so lively compared to his mood. He lifted his eyes to her but didn’t see a grudge or hatred for her ex-husband.
“I have learned to let go, hating a dying man will do me no good. I will be the one that live with the ugliness of my hatred and that’ll eat me up alive. I don’t want to spend my life that way nor does Mint.”
Pope silent increased and he turned to the side almost expecting Mint to show up at any time. His heart weighed heavily on the matter. One is Mint, whom he has vowed from the day her father almost killed her that he’ll protect till his last breath. Two, was a well- known fact that Mint, would no matter what the circumstances will want to be there to see her father in his dying days.
He turned to Nan to say something when he heard footsteps almost in a skipping pattern. He wiped away any trace of worry and smiled widely at Mint. “Where have you been?” He walked over to her just as she was near him.
“Running some errands for mom,” She leaned out a bit and looked at her mom, whom tried her best to look like she is enjoying the day.
“Mint?”
“Yes,” She looked up at Pope with such puppy eyes and as always never hides anything from him.
He took a couple of steps and reached for her, pulling her in a tight hug, he touched her head stroking her hair so softly and gently, Mint could not do much but relaxed in his arms.
“Do you trust me?”
“You know I do, always have and always will.”
“Good,” He smiled to himself. Yet something in his heart is telling him to think otherwise.
“Why are you asking me this?” She tried to lift her head up, but Pope kept her to him.
“I just want to make sure, that I still have your trust. Remember Mint whatever I do, is in your best interest and that will never change no matter what. Are we clear on that?”
Mint nodded. She trusts him with her life and no one will ever come close to that than him. She loved him so many years ago, maybe it started out as a little girl’s dreaming of her Prince but it grew so much more as the years progressed. Her heart is beating fast, why is he asking her the question out of the blue? But being in his arms is like being in heaven. She could feel his heartbeat against hers, his strong yet tender arms wrapped so warmly around her. Strange as it may be with him questioning her, she was going to let it go and enjoy this rare moment.
He pulled her away from him, holding onto her arms he almost laughed seeing the disappointment on her face. “Come on, help me get some boxes out from my car and I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
“Promise.” She beamed at him with anticipation.
“Promise.”
“Oh, you are the best. You are going to regret promising me such thing. I am going to take advantage of you. I swear I am.” She turned around. “Come on, hurry up we don’t have all day.”
“The car is not lock.”
“Ok.” Mint ran off to his car.
Pope turned to Nan but could not fake a smile this time around. He was going to have to make a hard decision. He turned around and walked over to Mint where she tried to manage three boxes by herself but failed.
Nan held onto her tears as long as she could. When Pope walked off she let it flow down her cheeks freely. Mint does not realize how much she needed Pope or how much both of them needed him. He has been nothing but supportive, helpful and bend over backward to do anything possible to make it easier for Mint. But if this one decision that Pope is going to make turned out wrong? What will be of them?
The night was chilly, Pope tossed and turned and getting a restful night might not be possible. He finally gave up lying in bed with his eyes opened might not be a bad thing. He rested one arm over his forehead staring at the ceiling almost counting numbers that wasn’t there. A deep sigh brought him to the situation that kept him up so far. Trying to magically blink it away, it kept coming back. He turned and found a picture of Mint next to his nightstand and immediately the tension eased a bit.
He remembered vividly the day they first met. He came home from work, driving normally pulling into his driveway when out of the blue a little girl on her bicycle came out of nowhere. He didn’t have time to stop and ran her off the sidewalk and into the street. He panicked praying nothing bad happened to her. When he went to her side, he looked down and saw a few scrapes and bruises.
“Are you Ok?” He asked. No denying he was worried half to death.
“Bleeding here and bleeding there, no big deal.” She said without looking at him initially.
“You are kidding me, right?” The question wasn’t meant to be sarcastic but the way she describe the bleeding as if she’s talking about some silly thing on her skin came out as one.
“Oh, I am not.” She happily lifted her elbows to him and her knees and everywhere else there were a trace of blood.
Then just like it happened yesterday, he remembered the smile she had for him it was purely from the heart. Her pain seemed to stop. She looked directly in his eyes and in her little girl’s voice. “You are the most handsome man I have ever seen.” Her smiled matched the sun. “I may be small now, but when I grow up I am going to marry you.”
It rendered him speechless. He hid his smile that threatened to become a loud laugh. “Oh, I must hit you harder than first imagine.”
“No, you did not.” Some of her hair got away from her ponytail, tucking a few strands behind her ear she looked back to him.
“How old are you anyway, not old enough I take it.” He took her elbow and closely examined it.
“I am nine, but a wise nine. Mom says I’m the wisest of them all. If you don’t believe me you can go and ask her.” Her face showed a slight of pain when he blew on her wound in case there’s debris stuck to it. She seemed lost in the moment when she stared at his face. And just like that her eyes became so bright with a hope so big he smiled.
“My young heart is so sure, that I will definitely marry you when I get older. So prepare yourself, take it as a warning.” As soon as she said that she went back to looking at her wounds.
And he had never laughed so hard in his life.
Their journey began from that moment. She has been his shadow ever since. Excluding work, Mint has been with him most of the time. He has watched the changes in her, stood by her through her toughest times. But in exchanged Mint has given him more than he has given her, that a true friendship and pure love does not have a price tag and with that he would not do anything to damage her heart.
The memories of Mint had always been a blanket to him on these, kind of nights. He never thought it would keep him warm better than anything else. He got up and walked over to his window, sliding the curtains to the sides he looked over to Mint’s house and saw her sitting peacefully with her hair up engrossed in her writing. He watched her from afar smiling to himself. How long can he keep up with this? The not knowing what will happen between them, to a certain degree is strangling him. He looked up to the sky, and said a silent prayer. Whatever happens, just don’t take Mint away from me, he heard himself said. When he opened his eyes again, the light to Mint’s room was turned off and she went to bed. And with that, he almost chocked on the truth of their relationship
