21 Days To Live

Day 10 & 11

Tuesday
6:30 pm

"What do you think of going shopping with me today after school? I've got this party coming up, and for that I need to find a new dress to wear," I lied to her, knowing that I couldn't exactly tell her that I had heard her conversation with her friend last night.

Gemma looked up at me with surprised etched on her face. "You've never been shopping with me, why would you want to now?"

"I think you have a great fashion sense and you could help me pick out a very nice dress. And then we could even find you something," I stated, perhaps lying once again.

Gemma wore dresses but only when it was very necessary, otherwise she stuck with her jeans and t-shirts.

Gemma humourlessly chuckled, then shook her head at me. "I do not know anything about fashion. Half the things I wear are not even girl-like."

I placed my napkin on the table after wiping my mouth with it, and then nodded. She wouldn't agree like this, I had to find another way.

"If that's what you want, then it's fine with me," I spoke. "I'll take someone else, but for now I've got to go to work and you have to go to school."

Gemma fell into thought for a moment, a brooding expression taking over her features.

"This is going to be only a one time thing," she said, as I got up from my seat. "I'm only going shopping with you because I have nothing else to do."

A smile immediately made its way to my lips at her words.

"Great. I'll pick you up after school, okay? Do you want me to drop you off to school right now?" I questioned, excitement bubbling up inside of me at the thought of going shopping with my daughter after years.

"No thanks," she answered. "Don't think just because I agreed to one thing that I'll suddenly want to spend all my time with you. The less I have to see of you, the better for me."

1:07 pm

I stared at the bouquet of roses placed in front of me, looking at how almost half of the roses had withered away. There was once a time when they all were full of live, a deep red that filled my black and white room with colour.

There were only eleven left now. Meaning that I had eleven more days to live.

It reminded me of Rome. My life without him was empty, and unadventurous at one point. But, when he entered my life something had changed. He showed me a new side to the world; a happier side.

I had began to move on from the past with him, and somewhere along the way I truly believed everything would be alright.

Yet, I was wrong. We never planned for Gemma to come into this world, but when she did we both tried to create a loving world for her. Rome believed I should have stayed home with Gemma when she was young, insuring that she needed a mother not a nanny. I tried my best. For four years I gave up my job, my dreams to take care of her, but then I couldn't take it.

I felt as though I was giving it all away. It was also around that time that Rome became careless. He lost his job, and soon we were suffering from financial crisis. I was offered a job as an assistant at the very company I worked at today, and without thinking much of it, I took it.