Getting it Right

WORDS ARE LOUD

A R C H E R  P O V

We stood back to watch Sasha with her brother, and I've never encountered the softer side of her before. 

The way she cares about her brother, and shows him love. It's truly a shame there's such an age gap between them. Pleased that Aston is only two years older than me, and we have our odd disagreements, but we never fall out.

Her dad offered us a drink, so we're polite, but I couldn't understand why he told her he didn't have room for her. He seems a nice guy, but her stepmother is a little strange. 

Aston noticed she liked everything to be perfect. Like she had to prove she was better than everyone. 

It caused me to think when the stepmother said she'd read about the lavish parties my parents throw, and what Sasha said is making sense.

Just watching all these people, they all appear like stiff upper-class rejects, apart from her father, who seems down to earth. "Sasha, could I have a word, please?" Her father says when stepping closer to us. 

She stands to glance at him.

He peers at us and pulls Sasha a few steps away from us. We could still hear him. "Mya wants you to leave before the cake comes out." "Dad, I told Carter I would stay. He asked." 

I tilt my body to glance at Aston as he shakes his head. "Sweetheart, it's nice you showed up, but she's afraid you'll say or do something in front of her friends to show her up." I couldn't believe what he's asking Sasha, his own daughter.

Sasha glances over at us, shakes her head. "Not you too. I expect this from Ruth, but not you. What the hell did I do for you to hate me so much? It was you who walked out on my birthday." She wipes her eyes. 

Her father steps back, shaking his head. "There's no reasoning with you when you're in a rage. You need to leave, and I'll phone you." Pass my glass to Aston, about to step over to Sasha, but her mouth just had to open, spilling out all that rage.

She gazes right at her father with the whites of her eyes. "I'll leave and don't ever contact me again. It's all your fault I'm like this. You're the one who left me with her. I was sitting at the table staring at my cake, waiting for you to come home. It was my tenth birthday, and Ruth laughed. She picked up the cake, threw it in the bin, and glanced back at me, telling me you had left me. Then she told me it was my fault you left and how I ruined her life. Every fucking day she would tell me I was a waste. That's when I snapped and left the house for a month. She never searched for me or wondered where I was nor did you." Everyone is staring over at us, and her father bowed his head in shame.

It's no wonder Sasha is full of rage with what she's gone through. "Sasha, I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't know you left your mother, and she wouldn't let me near you. Your mother had no right to tell you it was your fault. It was mine I had an affair and fell in love all over again with Mya. I never wanted to hurt you. When you came to me to sign the pro contract for junior boxing. I wanted you to follow your dream. I attended every boxing match and could recognised the rage but also the passion for it. Then your mother turned ballistic, and the judge said your mother had full custody. I tried my hardest to get it overruled but it didn't matter how much money I threw at my lawyers to get me what I wanted your mother won." Sasha steps away from him.

She glances at us and moves away, then halts in her stride, and twists when she gets to the door. "Dad, you can continue playing happy families. But don't you ever contact me again. You're dead to me." Rubbed my face, I couldn't believe she said that. 

Placed the glass on the table and followed her to the limo. Aston isn't far behind after her stepmother wanted to talk to him.

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