Song: I saw you in a dream - The Japenese House
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I was laying in my bed, the window of the room opened to bring in a little chil air. It was october, Autumn was here now and soon winter will be too. I pulled the blanket up to my face as my right hand was holding the phone which was glued to my ear.

"How's your mother now?" Asked Leigh.

"I don't know, she is weaker than the last time I saw her. She walks and talks and eats fine but there is cancer inside her which is growing every minute"

"Of course. But don't worry too much, I'm sure now that you're with her she will recover quicker" replied Leigh.

"I hope so" I reply turning to the left side.

"How is everyone at work?" I asked.

"Everyone is okay and everyone misses you especially Cole. Come to think of it how did your date with Cole go before you came here? You never told me about it"

"It was nice, I didn't have much time so we only went to eat ice-cream. He was really sweet, said all the right words to comfort me."

I paused for a moment before saying:

"He said he'd wait for me"

"Awww isn't that nice? He really does like you alot. Besides when your mom gets all better you will come back and then you can start a real relationship"

My eyes wandered around the dark room as another cold breeze entered through the window.

"I met Carter today" I said in a small voice.

"WHAT!? Its been like what? Twenty minutes since we started talking and your only telling me about it now?"

I rolled my eyes at Leigh's reaction. I think I miss her alot now.

"I visited Ally today and he coincidentally came there"

"And?"

"And nothing, we acted like strangers, only hi and hello and then he was gone. It was like he didn't even know me"

"Why do you seem so affected by it?"

I shut my mouth for a moment, Leigh's question offending me in some way.

"I'm not affected by it" I replied, a little irritated.

"Also, he has a girlfriend" I sighed.

There was no answer from the other side and for a moment I thought Leigh had left.

"This just got a hundred times better, don't you think?"

I could hear her smirk all the way from Canada.

..........................................

"Mom I'm going for a walk need something?" I asked, popping my head inside her room.

"No, nothing. Come back before dinner okay?" She said placing the book she was reading on her lap.

"Okay, goodbye. Take care" I said closing the door behind me.

I was here for a week now and mom was right, staying in the house all day did get boring. I started the car and backed out of the driveway.

Although there was a park near this house, I wanted to visit the one near my old home, where I used to take twins and Millie all the time. It had been so long since I saw it. Whenever I felt sad or stressed, a walk in that park really helped me out. And maybe this is why I was going there today.

It took fifteen minutes to reach the park. As I stepped out, a chilly air swept past me in a hurry. Shivering a little I closed the door and locked the car. A small dairy in my hand incase I felt like writing something which I knew I will. It had been too long since I had.

I placed my dairy in my purse and walked towards the entrance. Sun was slowly drowning and leaving this place in darkness, from a distance I saw kids playing in the playgrounds. Some taking swings while others sliding down the slide.

My mind drifted back to Alex and Daniel, how they would take so much time on the slides and never get tired. How Millie would like me to get her higher and higher on the swings and still won't be satisfied. A smile crept on my face as I saw a little girl about the same age as Millie sitting on a swing.

Its only been a week but I missed them so much. And although I talked to them everyday, today that didn't seem enough.

I opened my purse and got my phone out, dialing dad's number I started to walk away from the playground.

"Hello" came my dad's tired voice.

"Dad, you can't get tired this early" I said with a small smile.

"I know, but these little devils take too much of my energy. And since you're here why dont you resolve this dispute between Alex and Daniel?"

"Okay" I responded as dad turned the loud speaker on.

"What's going on?"I asked as the pond in the park came in my view.

"Eva, I'm asking Daniel to do his homework with me right after we come home from school so we have the rest of the day free-"

"Eva, I am extremely tired when I come home from school unlike Alex I play basketball. I NEED REST-"

"Eva, he doesn't sit down to do homework until after dinner, thats my time to sleep but I can't because he keeps bothering me with 'I don't understand this', 'how to solve this'"

"Eva-"

"Okay stop" I huffed, sitting on a bench near the pond.

"How about you two do homework somewhere in between? In the afternoon?"

"But I need to watch television then" Said Alex.

"And I need to practise" replied Daniel.

"Then how about you take turns? One day you do homework right after school and the next after dinner?"

"But-"

"Alex and Daniel, you both need to sit down and solve this problem like adults. Didn't you two promise me you won't fight after I left? And you won't make it harder for dad?"

There was silence on the other side and I could hear the gears in their mind turning.

"Sorry Eva, sorry dad" came two small voices in unison.

A smiled crept on my face as I heard dad say 'thankyou'

"Where's Millie?" I asked. It was strange not hearing her voice kn the background, picking Alex side like she always did.

"She went to the bathroom ten minutes ago, she's taking a lot of time" replied dad.

I pinched the space between my eyes.

"Dad, she's fallen asleep"

"Damn it, Eva, I'll call you later" I heard him say before he ended the call.

Laughing a little, I placed my phone back in my purse and got out my dairy. I looked up at the sky and then down at the trees around me. A sense of calmness surrounded me. My eyes crept from the trees to the pond, water glistening. It was as beautiful as I remembered it.

My eyes shifted up from the water and right across from me, on the other side of the pond I saw Carter. With a girl.

He was wearing a light blue denim shirt with light blue jeans, looking intently at the girl standing next to him, his hair dancing around in the wind. My eyes shifted from him to the girl next to him.

She was beautiful, that was my first thought. Her light brown wavy hair fell gently behind her back. From this distance I couldn't see her features properly, but I could tell she had a long face and a small nose. She was wearing a floral dress that came to her knees. Her hand held the foods for the swans in the ponds who were gathered around both of them.

She dropped some in the water for them to eat as she talked animatedly about something. She turned towards Carter and said something which made her smile, he pushed his hair away from his face and turned away, still smiling.

Thats when his eyes met mine and the smile on his face slowly faded away. I remembered the times when I was the reason he smiled and again was stunned by how much time has passed, how many things have changed.

The girl next to him was still talking and he was still looking at me. His expressions unreadable, like always. Before I could look away, he did. Going back to listening to what she was saying. A small smile crept back on his face as he tucked the hair which were in front of her face, behind her ear and I looked away.

I stared at the the tree next to me, thinking how nice it would be if it could turn into a human and come sit next to me. I willed my eyes to stay where they are, to not go back to him but they didn't listen. Sometimes I think my body controls me instead of me controlling it.

I looked back to where they were standing but they were no longer there. My eyes travelled to the left and saw them walking away, their hands intertwined. The girl was swinging their hands a little and then placed her head on his shoulder.

He never looked back.

I looked away from them, my eyes won't go back. I won't see them disappear in trees.

I stare down at my dairy and after a moment put it back in my purse. I didn't have anything to write.

Or maybe I had too much.

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I parked my car outside Ally's house, it was five o clock in the evening. I was roaming around the house today when I thought of visiting her again. We didn't talk after we met that day but I really didn't want us to go back to being strangers.

Now that I was here and had a lot of free time, I could hang out with her. Maybe we'll find our friendship that we lost somewhere on the way to adulthood.

I grabbed the flowers that I bought for her from the passenger seat and stepped out. I came back in such a rush, I didn't have time to buy gifts for anyone. I hope she likes the roses, her favourite flowers from the time I shared with her.

Walking over to the front door I pressed the bell and waited, flowers in my hands. After a few seconds it opened to reveal the girl from the park.

The girl with Carter.

"Hello?" She said with a small smile.

This close I could see her features perfectly. And god she was beautiful. More than she looked from afar. She had blue eyes and plush lips which were painted in pink, a light blush on cheeks.

"Hi.." I said clearly my throat, realising I had been quite for too long.

"Is Ally home?" I asked, trying to stable my voice.

"Kaisey who's at the door?" I heard Ally's voice approaching and after a second she was at the door.

"Oh hey Eva, its you" She said, not really delighted.

"Hi, I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'll visit"

"Yea, sure, come in" she said stepping aside.

"Kaisey this is Eva, my childhood friend and Eva, this is Kaisey.........Carter's girlfriend"

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Hi everyone. Now this is what you call fast updating. This chapter is kind of a filler, just easing the idea of Carter with another girl. My friend Yusra introduced me to this song which I think fits for this chapter and which I think everyone should listen cause its beautiful.

Hope you like the chapter. Comment and vote

Love
S. Maham Fatima