AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER10
"Suzette Melissa Sorenson, what have you done?" I walked through the doors of my family home, and this was the greeting from my dad.
"Dad..."
My next memory after his eloquent greeting is awakening on the couch with a spinning head and a racing heart. I had spent days trying to outmaneuver the paparazzi, so I could get home to the security of my dad's arms after the hell that had become my life. As my dad crouched down next to me with that familiar look of love and concern puckering his brow, I felt the floodgates open up, and I cried. I cried for my broken heart; I cried for the piece of me that was now missing, a piece that I wasn't sure I would ever have again. For the first time in my life, I felt despair. Who knew the human body could withhold such torment? How strong was the mind that it could withstand that agony and not break? Well, I was sure mine didn't have too far to go before that happy occurrence.
"Suzie, hon, I'm sorry, come on, sit up here and drink some water." My dad, in his comfortable flannels and khakis, was just what I needed. Such a stark contrast from my life of glamour, my laid-back camera-shy dad.
I lifted myself up on an elbow as he held the glass to my lips; I could barely take a sip of water since food had been my enemy for the last eight days. I must've lost ten pounds already, pounds that I couldn't afford to lose, but who cared about that now, who cared what I looked like when my life had fallen apart when what I loved the most in this world had been ripped away from me? And the screwed-up thing about it is that I have no idea what the hell happened.
"Well, are you ready to talk now, or do you need more time?" That's my dad, the no-nonsense cop. He would coddle me, yes, but he would demand his answers.
"Dad." And the waterworks started again; why couldn't I get the words out of my mouth? This is why I was here after all, for his comfort and understanding, but where did I begin?
"Dad, I don't know what happened." Was that my voice sounding so little and broken?
"What do you mean, Suzette? You're all over the news, you and Gage and that, that Terry character, what were you thinking, or were you thinking at all?" Although the words stung, there was no heat to them as I knew there wouldn't be; no matter what, I knew there was at least one person on this earth who wouldn't judge me, and that was my dad. He had always been my rock, the one I looked up to, until my Gage. Oh gosh, my Gage, would he ever be that again? I don't think I could live in a world with him without being with him. He was my other half, my better half; how could I have been so stupid, so naïve? How could one momentary lapse in judgment destroy so many lives? I wish I had the strength to take my own life, but I was too much the coward for that, so instead, I came here to hide away and lick my wounds, heartsick and soul-weary.
I guess dad realized he wasn't going to get anything coherent out of me at this point because he laid me back on the couch, covered me with grandma's old Afghan, and patted my head a few times before kissing my forehead.
"Sleep Suzette, you look plain tuckered out. We'll talk whenever you're ready."
As I dropped off into the sweet abyss, my last thoughts were of him, my sweet Gage, my heart. I cried myself to sleep once more, hoping against hope that when I woke up, my world would be put back together again.
