Rhythm of Heartbreak (COMPLETED)

Chapter 29

Jess was peeling an apple carefully while the aroma of the fresh flowers filled her nostrils it made her think of spring, the fresh dew of blossoming grass and bountiful flower petals. She directed her eyes on her mother who was studying with her too.

"I am glad you came and visited me..." Kris uttered.

She smiled and handed her the plate of the newly peeled apple. "How are you feeling?" she asked while her eyes caught the darkening of her mother's eyelids.

"The same I guess, there are days I feel stronger but most of the time I feel more tired than usual. Breathing can sometimes be difficult too." She softly answered.

Jess showed sympathy in her eyes as she embraced Kris out of nowhere. "Hang on their mom." He stated.

Kris squeezed her arms too and momentarily closed her eyes to capture this moment in her memory.

Jess slowly breaks the hug and takes something out of her handbag. She carefully placed it on Kris's lap. "Is he, my father?" She asked as Kris took the picture and studied it.

"So, you saw this in the house." she plainly said. She nodded and didn't mumble any more words.

"Yes, he is." Came her short reply.

Jess nodded again, confirming her doubts. "What happened between the two of you?" she asked, unable to stop herself from prying.

Kris's eyes moved away and stared at the window, she might have been contemplating either telling her or not. She patiently waited.

"I was in my last year in law school when I met him." Kris started recalling the day she met Adam. "He lost his way around the campus and bumped straight into me, I thought then he was an alumnus because he looked a bit older than the typical university seniors, plus he was clinging to his guitar case instead of books. That was a dead giveaway" She narrated. Jess was listening to her story while the images flashed through her mind.

"It turned out, they were hired to play that day. He was flustered because he couldn't find the amphitheater and he was running late. He told me, that his bandmates would kill him if he didn't arrive there right at that second. I wasn't aware that the school prepared an event for that day. Curiosity took over me and so we walked side by side as I led him to the event hall. I stayed for a while and when I witnessed him sing, I was hooked. His energy was contagious, he was lost in his music and the zone of his element. It was mesmerizing to watch." Kris continued.

Jess saw a flicker of spark in her mother's eyes recalling this memory of her father. She must have loved him dearly, no wonder she was wrecked when he left.

"We started dating not long after, at first it was just a casual hanging out, Adam was hilarious, he's like a breath of fresh air. He's attentive and romantic, but all that changed when I got pregnant with you. Everything in my life started to fall out of place, my parents disowned me and so I had to make ends meet to survive and finish my schooling while I was carrying you. Adam, he wasn't ready. His career was soaring at that time and bad publicity can end his fragile state for good." She stated, and her face became serious.

"I was still chasing for him at that time unable to let him go, it was a humiliation I allowed myself to be in. One time, I went to his band practice after I begged one of his bandmates to give up their location because I wanted to talk to him, I needed to speak to him desperately. When I got there, I saw him and another woman looking affectionately at each other, it was like an out-of-body experience as I watched her cling to him, I knew it wasn't a new love, there was something familiar between them like they had known each other for years. Eventually, I learned that she was the original girlfriend of Adam, and I was the side chick. I remember how she glared at me and my growing tummy, that's when I realized she wasn't aware of my existence and that he fooled both of us." Kris painfully closed her eyes.