Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

SEPARATION

Chapter: 3.
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Has your heart ached so badly you wondered if it'll stop beating?
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He did the best he could to get some of the things on the list and the rest he couldn't do them. The time was too short and he had less money. She wasn't happy but she often has her ways of footing bills by accumulating more debts for him and so she gave Allison the fancy birthday.

A few months after her birthday, she got a job and all hell broke loose. He was still able to get by, to support her, while he struggled to clear his many loans. Then his company went into a little dilemma and Mr. Zachary needed to let some workers go and he was one of them. He hadn't even recovered from the shock of losing his job when his wife came home with divorce papers. He had refused to sign them and she had promised to suck the living daylight out of him until he did.

After everything and now she wants to leave him, at this worst state in time. Couldn't she have at least waited until he got himself another job? Where would he go? What would he do? She's about taking it all and leaving him with nothing. Why would she even do this to him? He has tried everything for her, to please her, he hardly ever complains about her extravagant lifestyle.

Everyone mustn't be the same. That's what he's always said. Don't we all have our little flaws and faults, but that doesn't define who we are. A little imperfection, we have all got that and with Maria, he did nothing but see her in that light. She adores fancy things and wants to own the best, it's not a bad thing. That's just who she was and he loved her like that.

What heinous crime had he committed to have been gifted with such ill fate?

"I forbid you from dropping out of school for any woman!"

His father's words rang through his ears like a sour tone.

Allison turned two then five and he couldn't tolerate her anymore. He wanted to for his daughter's sake, he loves that little monkey too much, she makes his life worthwhile but her mother was going to make sure he either died or went insane. He had to do something. He had to do something before he got out of hand. He had gotten a series of other jobs and had lost all of them mainly because his performance was lacking, he was always tired and would fall asleep at work, he would lose control at slight provocation and often be found snapping at customers and his health was deteriorating as he found solace in alcohol.

He didn't want that picture to be the one Alison remembers the older she gets. Already he had noticed she seemed slightly ashamed of him from when she would come to hug him and sniff the smell of booze as if he had just taken a fresh bath in a tub filled with alcohol. Then she stopped hugging him whenever he returned home and her mother wouldn't stop nagging him and making a scene, most times she would hit him a couple of times without minding the young eyes watching.

That night he had returned home clean. Alison was kneeling in front of the television. He always found that posture adorable, like a little angel waiting for her wings to manifest, her smooth black hair swept down her shoulders to her waist. Her mother had just combed her hair. He could tell from how smoothly they flowed. Her plate of snacks sat in front of her, her little fingers constantly dipping into the plate to pick a snack but her eyes stayed focused on the cartoon.

He got her a stuffed unicorn, a really big one nearly as tall as she was. Once he had dropped his satchel bag, he walked towards the oblivious girl. Her soft giggle filled his ears when she laughed at her cartoons and he smiled. It warmed his heart.

"Hey, baby girl?" He called from behind her and she turned to look at him.

"Hi." She returned and faced her show once again.