Hours later, Evelyn shook her head to chase away the sleep threatening to engulf her. With better clarity, she saw that things were still not done, so she went to the nurses at the front desk once again:
"Excuse me, I have things to take care of, can the hospital call to inform me when Damien's treatment is done?"
The nurse recognized her:
"Of course, madam."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Evelyn let out a strained smile toward the nurse and turned to leave the hospital.
The buses had stopped working since long ago at such a late hour, so she called a taxi online. It took her to a neighborhood that had buildings with affordable apartments. After climbing a couple of stairs, she arrived at her less than 50 m² apartment.
The first thing she did after locking the door and changing into her slippers was to go to the bedroom to take a look at the small form sleeping on the big bed.
She went to sit on the side and adjusted the quilt before stroking the exposed dark hair. All the while, she was lost in her memory when looking at the face before her.
She was brought out of her thoughts when a small voice questioned her:
"Mom, you are back?"
"Yes, sweetie. Sorry if I woke you up. I took longer to come back today. Go back to sleep. I will clean myself and come sleep beside you soon."
"Hm."
She smiled as the boy went back to the land of dreams. She put down her bag, and went to take a shower as she had said, too tired to think about eating anything.
In the small bathroom, she stopped before the mirror to take a look at herself. Touching her face, she remembered the letter from six years ago, and some of the events that happened in the following period.
She let out a tired sigh and took off her clothes. Despite all the hardship in her life, her inability to afford high-class beauty products didn't seem to have prevented her from keeping her form and appearance at their best.
She let the water flow on her smooth skin and take away a part of her tiredness and troubles. She dried herself with a towel, before wearing her sleeping clothes for the night.
Once on the bed, she spent the time doing what she had been doing before. But this time, she made sure to not disturb the sleep of her son, and as she got lost in his appearance that reminded her of someone else once again, she didn't even know when she closed her eyes.
_ _ _
_ _ _
"2017 January 09
Evelyn, I don't think I will ever stop loving you, but I'm sorry, we can't be together anymore. While we promised to never part, and grow old together, I need to focus on my career, and I must discard any distraction. I wish you success in life, and for your dreams to come true. Hopefully that you will meet someone worthy of you, who will put you above all.
Take care of yourself.
Damien."
Evelyn, with a younger look and longer hair than in the present was holding the piece of paper with the hurtful words with both hands, torn between tearing it apart in resentment and piercing it with her gaze to find some other truth in the words. But even her eyes were betraying her as they were becoming misty, making her sight foggy.
At the side, on the table, was a photo of her in the arms of a young man with not much of a smile on his face, while hers radiated joy.
The confusion in her heart was more than the pain, and to clear it, she made a decision and raised her head with determination to not give in to the feeling of weakness that was threatening to engulf her. She didn't want to falter, so she stood up and…
_ _ _
_ _ _
"Mom… Mom… Mom, wake up, I will be late for school."
Evelyn was woken up by someone shaking her out of her sleep, and from the light coming on through the curtains, she knew that morning had come.
She opened her eyes with reluctance and sat up.
Turning toward the boy in whom she always saw many characteristics of his progenitor, she smiled slightly:
"Alright, Jason, I'm awake. Go wait for me in the bathroom. I will be there soon to help you clean up. We will leave after we eat something. Start by brushing your teeth, I'm coming."
"Okay~"
The boy of five or six years old skipped toward the bathroom, prompting a scolding that came from behind him:
"Stop skipping, what if you slip and fall down? Do you want to go to the hospital to try the needle of the doctor?"
Jason froze, seeming to remember a traumatic experience, and started to walk more carefully.
Evelyn smiled at his antics and took her phone, only to see that she had missed the alarm she had set for the morning.
She yawned, and left the bed after motivating herself.
One hour later, she left the apartment with her son who she first sent to his school. The latter was high-class, and most of those arriving came with their own cars, some with drivers, and none with clothes as cheap as the ones Evelyn was wearing.
"Have a good day, mom."
"You too, sweetie. Bye bye.
"Bye bye."
After waving at each other, she watched her son go inside before she turned around to leave.
She returned to the cab, and made it take her to her workplace that was in an office building in another part of the city.
She ignored the sign that read "Green industries", and took an elevator inside to go up.
A little later, she arrived in a wide room, and while nodding to the colleagues around with a gentle smile, she went to the desk that was hers among the many inside.
Placing her bag down, she started to get ready for her tasks of the day.
A few steps from her, with a few minutes before they had to focus on their work, some her colleagues were discussing:
"I don't think Miss Harsh will come today."
The second woman, with a gossipy look, did nothing to hide her interest:
"Huh? What happened? Did she elope with a man? Is it an old man or a young guy? Or did she drink too much yesterday? I heard that she likes to party."
The woman who started the conversation couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes:
"Stop making up stories in your mind. I heard that she was in an accident last night, so it is normal for her to take some rest."
"Tch. We all know that even if she was to decide to stop coming altogether, she would still be getting paid."
"Shh. I heard that her father and our employer know each other. And there is also the one who has been pursuing her for years. If you want to get fired, don't pull me down with you. Anyway, it's time."
The gossiping colleagues went to their desks and started their work for the day.
As for Evelyn, despite the conversation that fell into her ears, she saw no need to care about the information. She opened a folder on her computer and started working.
_ _ _
_ _ _
"Hello?"
"Hello. Madam Evelyn Softsnow?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Madam, I'm calling to let you know that your relative is out of danger and that his treatment is done."
"Is he awake?"