Habits

Habits | seven

| seven

THEN

Ever since I could remember, my mother never showed me love. To her I was the child that she never wanted and I never understood why. My father would always have excuses for her and I believed him. I wanted her to love me the same way that she loved Jacqueline. I yearned for her motherly love. Alas I learned to stay out of her way and never bother her.

I basically grew up without a mother. A mother that would sleep under the same roof as me, yet we barely communicated. It was as if I wasn't her child. Thoughts such as those would always cross mind. What if I had been adopted? We certainly didn't share any similarities of any kind. But I was in fact my fathers spitting image. We were alike in so many ways. What if my father had cheated on my mother and she despised me because of it? No. My father could never be unfaithful. He absolutely loved her.

But I was wrong.

My father had been forced to marry Tonya Williams. Williams being her maiden name before marrying my father. Tonya's father was one of the most richest and respected man in their town. My fathers dad, Thomas Sanclair had made the mistake of making a deal with the devil which cost him his entire company and one of his son. After such, Thomas had no control over his sons future. My dad hated his father and promised his self that he would never speak to him again. I never got to meet my grandfather or grandmother considering that they had died in a terrible car accident. He had a couple of siblings but I never met them since my father cut any type of connection with his family.

Henry Sanclair was forced to live with the Williams' and learn how to take care of his traitorous fathers business. Just as he was finishing his last year in college, that's when he met her. My real mother. Lola Franks. He told me that she was the most beautiful girl that he had ever met. No one had ever made his heart pound like she had. They would occasionally go on dates without anyone knowing but eventually word had spread and reached Damien Williams' ears. Things had gotten a bit nasty after that. Tonya's father, Damien, made Tonya and Henry almost immediately get engaged and get married. Henry was unhappy and stayed that way. Later they had a beautiful baby girl named Jacqueline Sanclair. She had brought a bit of happiness into his tedious life. I didn't come till years later. But I on the other hand, did not have an ounce of William blood running through my veins. My father had kept contact with my mother even after his marriage with Tonya. She was furious when she learned that he and her enemy had given birth to a kid but he had assured her that Mr. William had threatened him with hurting my mom if he didn't have a child with his daughter.

Damien was disappointed when Tonya gave him a granddaughter instead of a grandson. His daughter reassured him that she would try again and give him a boy. Which never happened. The doctor had given her bad news, that she could not conceive.

My father would secretly meet up with my mom which caused her to become pregnant with me. They were happy. For once in his life he was happy. Not a single soul knew. Years went by and suddenly my mother became terribly ill. She found out that she was diagnosed with MBC. Metastatic breast cancer. The cancer had spread too far out for the doctors to treat it. Lola had became terribly sick and could no longer take care of her baby girl. Which led to Henry adopting me and taking me to his home. Tonya became enraged at his decisions but never said much.

Henry Sanclair buried the love of his life Lola Franks months after, burying a piece of his heart as well. But a small piece of her was left in the world for him. Me. But he lost me as well.

NOW

Friday rolled around a tad faster than I had anticipated. Adam had promised me that we would only go for a couple of hours to the party and I agreed. When I had woken up this morning, I had gotten a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to fake sick but I knew Adam would be devastated. I smiled as a text from him appeared on my phone.

Please tell me you told Mrs. P about leaving work early today.

Mrs. Pam, my boss, was the sweetest little old lady ever. Due to her age she couldn't be around the animal clinic much. She usually would let me hold down everything or she would send her son in. I had made sure to let her know that I wouldn't be able to stay late today so she informed me that Logan, her son, would be able to come take my place.

Just as I was about to text A back the door opened and Logan walked in. His white smile was the first thing I saw. He was happily married and had three beautiful kids with his wife Ana. He was the town lawyer yet when he was younger he also learned from his mom a couple things about curing sick animals.

"Hey Abby, how are you?" He asked with a smile. I watched as he took his coat off and untied his tie.

"I'm good. We didn't have many furry friends come in. Just a couple that needed their vaccines."

He sighed as he sat down. I frowned. Logan was always happy. You would never catch him stressed. "Something the matter?" I asked.

"Just some trouble at work that's it." He shook his head. "Don't worry about this old man. I can solve anything that crosses my path."

I smiled but it was forced. Something was bothering him but I didn't intrude.

"Oh I forgot to tell you that Adam is outside for you." And that was my cue to leave.

As a I was punching my time card in the machine Logan leaned on the other side of the time clock with his arms folded across his chest.

"Abby how come you don't talk about your family?"

My heart fell. He knew. He knew something that I didn't want anyone here to find out about.

"There isn't much to tell. Mom died when I was young and my dad abandoned me. I don't like to talk about it." I told him as I started to walk to the door. I was halfway out when his next words made me freeze.

"Someone came to my office today looking for a girl that looked exactly like you but with a different name. Her name is Isabella Sanclair. Know her?" Of course I did. Isabella Sanclair was standing right before him which I'm sure he had already figured that out.

I shook my head, "no I don't. Now if you'll excuse me, I think Adam's been waiting for a while." And with that being said I walked out and didn't look back.