"Daddy! Daddy! Can you please help me get my pink book down from here?" Alice called out as he repeatedly jumped from a fixed spot, trying to reach out her designated book from the immaculately arranged bookself in Vincent's room.
Samar walked in while adjusting his glasses and said, "Daddy's not home. But I can get that book down for you."
Alice turned towards him and responded with an innocent wide smile spread across her face, "I know daddy isn't home. He is gone somewhere with Oli mommy, right? That's why I called my other daddy!"
Samar's eyes widened as he didn't anticipate a six-year-old kid to say something like that that would stun him to such an extent. His facial expression faltered yet he managed to striaghten his posture and question with his arms tightly folded, "Who is your other daddy?"
She didn't utter a single word. If anything, her smile beamed even more like the sunshine penetrating through the dark clouds, that once prevailed on her. Not that long ago, she ran in the thunderous rain and arrived at this very mansion, drenched in water, and collapsed with a fever. She may be young, but any kid would think that they had no future left in that moment. They are not mature and don't know anything about the real world, hence they are more vulnerable to find themselves helpless. However, today she stands on her own two feet, believing that she has three parents who stayed with her and genuinely cared about her. All she did was point her finger at him.
"Why me?" Samar asked as he unfolded his hands and clenched his fists instead, trying to hold back the tears from the young girl in front of him.
"My other daddy said so. And I love you." She said as she ran towards him and firmly embraced him. That's when Samar couldn't hold it in. The tears uncontrollably flowed from his eyes and dripped down his cheeks. He made sure to constantly keep one hand on his face, and the other holding onto the person he thought he would never see. The hand on the face, prevented the little girl from feeling the teardrops as they would tip on her head. The other hand, grasping and processing the special moment where he realized that he was indeed a parent. The parent of a child, he wished he had.
His mind flashed back to the day, where his whole world started to fall apart. Olivia and Samar did try for a child, several times with no profoundable results. When consulted with a doctor, it was revealed that Olivia was infertile, and she couldn't be a mother. Samar was shocked to see Olivia's calm and composed nature regarding the matter and left the room with a smile on her face. All of that wasn't real. He didn't even have the decency to offer her to cry on his shoulder. He should know her better than anyone, not me. As a friend, I am well-aware that ever since her suspension from Colonel Gray, Olivia has learned how to put on a brave front that no one can break into. I am astonished to see that Samar didn't even notice the drastic change. It can only make me think that he doesn't know her very well to begin with. When she is infuriated, everyone around her has to bear with the consequences. She knew that. That is the main reason why she has locked her heart from expressing any sort of emotion to the public. Including her friends. Including me. Including her significant other. In my opinion, the track that both of them are currently going down on, didn't seem to meet at any nearby intersection that I could perceive in the nearby future. If anything, they are diverging apart. Today, when I try to put myself into their shoes, I feel that both of them were right in their own way. But my reflections and opinions right now isn't going to close the void in the relationship.
Samar had his way of reacting with complex issues like this. To be honest, Olivia could have done better. This is because what happened next was nothing compared to what had already transpired.
Stepping into the bar.
Meeting up with a friend.
Cursing your wife's reaction behind her back.
Trying to cope up with anger in an illegal fashion.
Vandalism of a public property. Prison.
Need I say more, my dear?
"I am going to call someone to bail us out." Samar affirmed as he same into his consciousness with Vincent by his side. He remembered the kind of person he became last night as the prickling pain in his head only grew more and more.
"Aren't you gonna call Olivia?" Vincent asked with his eyebrows raised.
"That won't be necessary. She will be sleeping anyway." He replied.
"Well you two ruined the 'sleep' that you speak of." A voice called out. The woman stood with her hands on her hips, as she saw the two men behind the silver bars. Samar came on his feet and stepped towards her. He couldn't come closer. He wanted to tell her how he was feeling. He wanted to explain what happened. He wanted to embrace her and apologize to her. He wanted to do whatever came to his relatively normal and sane mind.
She articulated after letting out a sharp exhale, "These bars that have come between us. I am not going to be able to break them to get to you. You don't deserve it. You're not a man in my eyes anymore, Samar. A man knows how to compose himself when he receives bad news. You clearly don't." She whirled around and left the police station after filling out the legal formalities.
While two strangers grew close with this incident, a relationship that all of us toiled to piece it back together, had been drifting away yet again. The only difference between this and last time was, we are not the same people who we were back then.