The Art of Letting Go

ONE

THE ART OF LETTING GO
CHAPTER 1- SUNNY BUT RAINING

"HEY, AMBER. This is Chris. Again. Talking some serious nonsense, You know that some people find it lucky to witness a sunny weather but then at the same time, it is drizzling, the skies are of a shade of pink and yellow mixed together, it's like heaven having their own pastel-themed party.

This is what I'm looking at now, it's about 4 in the afternoon and I'm over viewing the sunset in Santa Monica Pier as I sat by the seaside, it was a ritual, it is what we used to do.

You lived in Michigan Avenue and I'm in Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, it was easy for us to sneak together since our streets are basically neighbours. Our meeting point is at the kid's park, known as the Tongva Park, you would usually excuse having coffee at Starbucks just so that you could sneak out of your house even if it is past dinner.

Our memories are playing in my mind as if it were a slideshow, a never ending slideshow that will always play even if I don't intend to, everything around here reminds me of you, and it is suffocating.

I wanted to get away but I couldn't, I couldn't face the fact that you are, in fact, gone. I went searching for you, I looked for possible clues and signs, maybe they got it wrong, maybe it isn't you and that you are somewhere waiting to be found, waiting for me.

It took me five months before fully accepting that you're gone, and all the promises that we intend to keep came with you.

The sound of the waves is therapeutic, it helps keeping the atmosphere from being silent, it is not noise, but the sound of nature. I once slept by the beach and near the park just to wait for you, I thought that if you were to come back, these two places are the only places that you would go to.

Everything reminds me of you. I miss you, and I love you so much.

SNAPSHOT:

The Los Angeles heat is literally over thirty degrees in summer, the sun is full on out, bikinis and swim wears are worn. But Amber Stephens is working for her parents, she helps in selling motorcycle and car parts as well as repairing or assembling services. She doesn't usually mind, but her parents are bossy as hell.

"I told you to come over at 7:30, Amber! It's past 9 o' clock, I have to go to the bank to withdraw some cash and pay our debts about an hour ago, what were you doing in the house?" her father scolded at her as if no one could hear him.

"If you could actually find us a babysitter for my brother and a maid for cleaning the house then I don't have to do the part that involves making sure that he eats before I leave the house and I had to make sure that he's had a bath" she answered while crossing her arms, her father's eyes widened and his nose flared "you will never raise your voice on me, you got that?"

She inwardly groaned, she could never handle being calm around her dad, he was always too nosy about things and he couldn't even keep his temper at bay. There was no point in trying to explain herself, she would still be wrong or disrespectful.

With a sigh, she declared defeated and sat down on the chair "fine, I'm sorry, you can do whatever you have to do now" and her dad left without saying a word.

She rubbed her temples in a circular motion and tried to calm herself down, she felt like she was about to faint. The moment she looked up, their eyes met and he gave her a teasing grin, the corner of Amber's lips curled in a form of a smile.

It's Chris, he walked over to her with a huge grin on his face "a way to start the morning, huh?" she rolled her eyes "tell me about it, I wasn't exaggerating when I told you that I literally do everything that I can just so that I couldn't be here, he's unbearable"