The Cinderella | Wattys 2016

Epilogue

Epilogue

"Blake?" My gaze averted towards the source of the voice only to find Amanda standing by the door frame of my bedroom. I got up from my position and stumbled onto the slippery surface of the carpet.

"What do you want, Amanda?" I asked, not daring to look at my sister. I hiccuped and wiped the tears near the brim of my eyes, letting out a sigh.

Amanda turned me towards her, by my shoulder and lifted my lowered head up with her finger. "I want my brother back, Blake. I don't want this ruptured and broken man as my brother." She said as put the strands of my hair, away from my forehead.

I meekly raised my eyes to her, "He died, four months ago."

I walked away from her and stood by the windowsill, gazing out at nothing in particular. I closed my eyes as the cool breeze fanned over my face. "Blake." Amanda said, as she put her hand around my shoulder and rested her head on my back. "You're becoming a recluse. Do you think she would like to see you like this?"

That ticked me off. She mentioned the person I was trying to keep my mind away from. "I don't care what Grace would want, Amanda!" I snarled at my sister, startling her in the process. "I don't give a flying fuck about her expectations. I just want her in my life! Tell me, Mandy, is that possible? Will I ever be able to hold her in my arms, kiss her, heck even see her?" I fumed, not caring about the hostility in my tone.

Amanda's voice softened at my desperation and let out a sigh as she ran her fingers through her shoulder length blonde hair. "I know you're heartbroken, so am I. I lost one of my closet friends and it hurts me a lot. But you and I, both are helpless." She said, worry lacing over her face as she took in my appearance. I don't even remember the last time I shaved.

My heart fell a little upon seeing Amanda so despondent that I couldn't help myself from wrapping my hands around my sister and letting out a sob. God, it just hurts as much as it did on that night. My heart tightens just by her image crossing my mind.

My beautiful Grace.

"It's just, it's just that I cannot pass a moment without thinking about her, without thinking about the fact that she's not with us anymore because of me. I killed her, Amanda, albeit indirectly!" I cried. My sister cupped my cheeks and wiped the tears with her thumbs.

"Hey, I know what it is like. I do. But you cannot keep blaming yourself for something you didn't have control over." Amanda whispered.

I closed my eyes as reminiscence of her words echoed in my ears.

"What's in the past is in the past." She said with a smile. She leaned towards me and pressed a lingering kiss on my cheek. As my eyes bore into her beautiful dark blue ones, guilt for being a classified cunt, bottled up within. How can she be so selfless? "You cannot do anything for what is done. So just enjoy the moment we have right now because this is soon going to slip away into the oblivion of time." She said, trying to cheer me up.

"Don't go all philosophical on me, love." I mumbled, rolling my eyes at her but an amusing smile was lingering on my lips. One more reason to love this gorgeous human.

"Too bad, Blakey. I love philosophical shit." She grinned.

"She is every where, Amanda." I let out a helpless bawl, trying to remove her image from front of my eyes, but I couldn't. "All her words just resonate in my ears and her smile..God, I can never forget her. I just cannot." I sniveled, panting a bit.

"Who's asking you to forget the person you love with all your heart?" Amanda asked, while she continued patting my back in a reassuring manner. "You have to get yourself back from your mess, for her sake, brother. You have a daughter to take care of. You just cannot run away from your problems. You face them. Be an Evans." She said, casting me a half smile.