Angel of Mine (25 page)

“Hi. I booked an appointment for Ally Chambers, 1:00. “

The lady behind the desk smiles warmly and looks down at her bookings. “Hi, yes here it is. Welcome, my name is Emily, come on through and take a seat.”

Theo walks me over and makes sure I’m comfortable before turning back to Emily. “I want her to be treated like a princess; no expense is to be spared. Money is not an issue. Hair, facial, manicure, pedicure, I’d like her to have the works; whatever her heart desires.” I sigh and stare dreamily up at the wonderful man taking care of me. I feel like a temporary princess, but he is a prince all the time, my knight in shining armour. I was supposed to be rescuing him.

“Have a good time Ally. I’ll be back in a few hours.” He kisses me on the forehead and walks away. As the front door swings shut, I’m left here in his wake, sitting and fantasizing about him swooping in to save me on a white horse. Day dreams of happily ever after in a beautiful castle filling my head.

Carol is leaning against a pole by the donut shop in the centre of the mall where we agreed to meet. Phone in hand, looking intently at the screen, she doesn’t see me approach.

Loud screams come from a little boy trying to drag his mother towards the donut shop, and I walk the long way around a juice bar to avoid them. Can’t say I blame the little tyke much, the cinnamon scent wafting up from the donuts is delicious.

As I reach Carol, I clear my throat and she looks up putting her phone into her handbag. “Hey. Did you and Ally have fun this morning?” I pull her in briefly for a hug. We have gotten a lot closer since her and Ally moved in. Certain situations cause you to build a bond at a much quicker rate than usual.

“I’ll let Ally fill you in over dinner. It should give you two something interesting to talk about.” I’m smiling like a goofball at one of my now most perfect memories and Carol raises an eyebrow at me in question.
Uh oh
, I guess she could interpret that the wrong way.

“Let’s just say that I’m helping her live life to the fullest, and she is going to have a lot of interesting tales to tell from now on.” Before she can press the issue any further, I motion with my hand in front of me. “Shall we go?”

Carol and I are shopping for a new outfit for Ally to wear after her pampering session today. The two of them are going out to dinner for some mother/daughter bonding time.

She drops the topic for now, but still looks curious. “Let’s go, I found a dress I know she will love at a store by the cinemas.” Glad she has already found a suitable dress, I follow her to the store, and we are in and out in ten minutes.

Dress shopping isn’t really my thing, I mean I love Ally and would dress shop for her to make her happy, however I am a guy, and the less time spent in dress shops the better. Especially when I don’t get to see Ally model them for me. That’s half the fun in shopping for your girl right? That and making her happy.

We go to a coffee shop to kill some time while waiting for Ally. “So what exactly do you mean by showing my daughter how to live life to the fullest?” Great, now that she says it back to me it doesn’t sound like I have the best intentions.

“I meant giving her once in a life time experiences, I took her to do something on my own bucket list this morning to get her started.” I cringe at the words bucket list, it’s associated with death, and I have to keep telling myself that Ally is going to make it.

“One thing I came to realize when I was sick was that you see and feel everything more. When you have experienced immense pain in your life, you are easily able to find great beauty in everything. It’s overwhelming at times.” Bearing my soul is not easy but it’s important to me that Carol knows I’m looking after her daughter. I fidget as I try to come up with the right words to convey how I feel.

“I want Ally to be deeply moved by everything life has to offer, I don’t want her to feel like she has missed a thing. Every little thing needs to matter, and I plan on making everything count as an amazing experience for her.” Carol tilts her head to the side and studies me as she contemplates what I have just said.

“You seem so much older and wiser than your twenty years. It must be because of all the things you have experienced in your lifetime. Ally has always viewed the world differently though, I have a feeling she has seen things this way for a long time.”

She’s right; Ally is the most remarkable person I have ever met. “Ally is one of a kind, I feel privileged to have her in my life.”

A slight frown creases Carol’s face and her shoulders drop. “You know Ally’s father left just after she was born, and he hasn’t seen her again since. I couldn’t imagine living without her in my life, knowing she was out there somewhere.” Melancholy fills her words and her eyes glaze over and become distant.

“You have always been there for her though, and you are enough. Ally turned out perfect.” In an effort to comfort her, I reach out and place my hands over hers. I just hope that the aggravation I am starting to feel for Ally’s father does not shine through and affect Carol further. How could he not want to know his own daughter?

“I’m going to try and track him down.” My head snaps up to look at her. Does this jerk really deserve the chance to know Ally after he deserted her? “I want Ally to have the opportunity to meet him. He must care in some way because he has placed money in my account every month since the day he left.”

If I reply, I might say something I regret, so I bite down on the inside of my lip to prevent myself from speaking and nod my head. This jackass better not hurt Ally or he will have to answer to me. “I’ve got a few leads so hopefully I will be able to find him.” We finish the last few mouthfuls of our coffee in silence, reflecting on our thoughts.

Carol must really hate me for all that Ally is going through. I have no idea why she isn’t treating me with complete disdain. It has been weighing on my mind, but I’m not sure how to go about apologising for her daughter taking my leukaemia. I feel like the scum of the earth, even though I wasn’t aware she was doing it. If I hate myself, surely she must hate me too.

I pass my empty coffee cup back and forth between my hands. “Penny for your thoughts?” She asks.

Unable to look up at her I stare at the cup in my hands with an utter self-loathing. I’ve been avoiding this subject with her. Our only interactions have been small pleasantries at the house. I need to clear the air though, and let her know how truly sorry I am for what has happened.

“Do you hate me? If it wasn’t for me...,” I trail off. This line of thought hurts too much. To have to watch Ally suffer is awful. To know that I caused the pain makes me want to hurt myself. That would be taking the easy way out, so I need to stay by her side and help her through.

Carol takes the cup out of my hands and places it down on the table. “Theo, I want you to listen to me very carefully.” I look up into her concerned face and feel surprised by the compassion I see there. She doesn’t break eye contact once as she tells me, “I know my daughter, and she is stubborn. If she wanted to find a way to heal you, there is no way you could have stopped her. And she undeniably wanted to heal you. Ally heals complete strangers without blinking an eye. She loves you, so of course she would have found a way. You need to stop beating yourself up over this Theo. Unfortunately, in this case, the saying ‘life’s too short’ has never been more true.”

She is right. It’s the very same reason I didn’t waste time being angry with Ally for healing me. I didn’t want to waste time on getting upset with her for what she had done. It was already too late to change anything. Our time is better off concentrating on getting her better, and making happy memories.

I nod my head to agree with her. “I know, but just so you’re aware, I did everything in my power to stop her. I didn’t know what she had done until it was too late.”

She narrows her eyes at me and reaffirms in a stern voice, “Theo I told you to stop beating yourself up and I meant it.” I’m grateful for her understanding, no matter what she says, it’s more then I deserve.

“Now come on, let’s go check on Ally. I want to see my baby enjoying herself on her birthday while she gets pampered.” I happily agree. As Alex would say, I’m ‘totally whipped,’ because I miss her like crazy already.

My skin feels fresh and radiant after my mini facial. The improvement from the way it was yesterday is phenomenal. Bowls full of floating candles strategically placed throughout the room release a citrus scent. Rainforest music brings me peaceful serenity and I feel like I’m floating on a cloud.

The stylist is doing my hair and I kick back with a magazine and relax. A jingling noise comes from the front door as Mum and Theo walk in. A large bag rests in Theo’s hands, and I wonder when Mum got here and what the two of them have been up to. More surprises?

“No peeking, I’m not ready yet.” I hold the magazine in my hands up to obscure the view of my unfinished hairdo, but he tries to push it aside.

“I mean it Theo. Do you want me to get that blindfold of yours out?” Through the reflection in the mirror, I see Mum raising an eyebrow and a look of alarm in Theo’s eyes.

He holds his hands up and is quick to explain, “It wasn’t for what you are thinking, I swear. I put it on her in the car so I could surprise her with the spa visit.” A noticeable lump slides down his throat.

Mum thinks this is hilarious. I know her well and I can tell. She is enjoying messing with Theo, only he doesn’t realize it’s a joke. With her hands on her hips and her mouth pressed into a hard line, she narrows her eyes and pauses a moment, letting him flounder under her glare. Then she promptly bursts out laughing. I definitely get my sarcastic, dry sense of humour from her.

“Wha? What just happened?” Poor Theo, I’m not sure he knows how to take my mother yet. She has certainly put him off kilter.

“Leave him alone Mum,” I laugh.

“It’s okay Theo, no blindfold is needed. You can go home so you won’t be tempted to look and I will bring Ally home when she is done.” She sits down in the chair beside me and mouths ‘your hair looks stunning.’ However, she says aloud, “I’ve always wanted to see how dreadlocks were done.”

She is so bad. “She’s joking Theo, I’m not getting dreadlocks. Don’t worry about me; my hair is safe. You will be bored here. Go home and relax, and I will see you when I get back.”

“Okay, love you. Have fun.” He turns to leave, and I put the magazine down to get a better look at his backside as he walks out the door. No longer than a minute later, my phone dings.

Theo – XXX wish I could have kissed you good-bye for real, but was worried your mum might throttle me. Love you. See you when you get home.

A smile crosses my face as I reply.

Ally – I might throttle you because you didn’t. ;) Love you too. xxx

When we arrive home from the spa, Mum ushers me to her room and unzips a garment bag revealing the most stunning dress I have ever seen. Pale pink and lavender silk twist and flow in a multitude of layers. The colouring matches my new necklace perfectly. A fitted bodice gathers slightly on the right hand side. It’s full length and a pair of silver high heels rest in the bottom of the bag.