Poles Apart

0 | Valentina Rose Castello

The soothing sound of waves crashing onto the shore filled my ears. I moaned and extended my arm in search of my phone. The gentle ambience the sound of these waves gave me was the only thing I looked forward to everyday. It meant it was time for me to quietly sneak out of my house and my mothers poor attitude towards everything.

I sat up and grabbed my phone, I saw that I had quiet a few notifications. I immediately went to the messages app and searched for the two people that I was most excited to hear from; my dad and my brother. I saw that I hadn't received any messages from my dad, that made sense.

I was on the phone with my dad all night yesterday, till my mum ruined it by barging into our tiny flat with a man and her friend, Angel. I talked to my dad about everything, my relationship with him was confusing. We would get really close for a few weeks or even months, talking on the phone everyday and him making an effort into seeing me as often as possible. Then his girlfriend, Alyssandra would find out and he would disappear. I valued every precious second I had him.

Although my mother is my biggest burden and the root problem of my depression, I can't have my dad finding out what she does for a living or how very "well" she treats me. He only knows that we have financial issues. I refuse to let my father view us as weak women. As much as I love him, I try not to let him dive too deep into our lives only to leave us again. He was jealous that I chose my mother over him after all. To me it made sense, he already had my brother, it would only be fair for my mother if I went under her care. As difficult as she is, she was still my mother.

I tried to see my dad as often as I can, but sometimes things get rough. He lives in a luxurious waterfront mansion in Connecticut. My mum and I live in the Bronx, in the filthiest and most dangerous neighbourhood; Hunts Point.

My father is a fashion executive and an entrepreneur. He is the founder of the Inditex fashion group which has a chain of the worlds best clothing stores. His company operated stores like Zara, Massimo Dutti, and Stradivarius. He had more than five thousand stores all over the globe.Since he is growing old he gives 80% of his work to my older brother, Calvin. He only shows up when it's crucial that he signs something. The company is growing under the hands of my twenty-four year old brother, Calvin.

I looked through my messages some more and found a message from my brother. Hey baby girl, I'm not gonna be able to pick you up tomorrow. I gotta leave for London in the afternoon. It was very last minute but I'll make it up to you when I get back!  I frowned as I read the message once more to make sure my eyes weren't betraying me. It was 3:50 in morning and I had the worst sleep due to my mothers retarded friends. Since he cancelled on me I had nothing to do today but I still had to leave this place. I decided to get dressed and go to my friend Bella's place.

I would say that my relationship with my mother is on a different level, I know she cares and loves me dearly. She just happens to have fell into a trap, a very dangerous trap. I try to convince her to get help, but I rarely ever see her alone. She's always got her friend Angel clinging onto her arm. Angel was worst than my mother is, way worst. They met 3 years ago when my mother lost her job, I was sixteen at the time. They both worked in a grocery store in the Bronx.

Our flat was a one bedroom, one bath flat. My bed was in the supposed living room, that didn't even exist now. We had a very small kitchen which we never used, the stoves are mouldy and rusty. The fridge wasn't even connected to the outlet. Angel and my mother share the bedroom with a different guest or guests every night. The lights were always dim in the living room and bedroom, the bathroom doesn't even have light since the bulbs burned a few weeks ago. I didn't care since I never use it. The flat always reeked of alcohol and cigarettes.

My father knows that my life can get pretty rough. As close as I am to him, I don't like him to shower me with money and gifts. The only gifts that I accept are Christmas and birthday presents.

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Hello readers! If any of you exist lol! This is my first story so please don't be harsh. :)

The story has not yet started as you can see, I just wanted to introduce Valentina and give you a quick peak on her life. The next chapter where the story will actually start should be uploaded in a little bit as I will begin editing it now.