Sweet Hope

“Austin,” Levi croaked, unable to hold back his cries, “We were wrong. We made him leave and he hadn’t done anything wrong!”

Austin was lock still, until his eyes snapped to mine. “But the coke I found?”

Dipping my head, I worked on not letting my anger show, but I snapped, “He bought it after the Seahawks game… when everyone ignored him… including me. I hadn’t known he was Axel Carillo until that day. I’d met and fallen for Elpidio, then when he was introduced to me as Axel, I freaked out. I hurt him so badly.”

“I knew I saw something between you that day,” Molly suddenly said. I offered her a weak smile. “They way you both couldn’t keep your eyes off each other… I should have put two and two together, but I never ever dreamed Axel could do this.” She gestured in awe to the gallery of his works. “The talent he possesses is astounding.”

I nodded and my tears came thick and fast. “I hurt him, Levi hurt him… all of us did, and he stupidly bought the drugs from some street gang. He just wanted to escape the pain for a while… he was so lost and reverted to what he knew best.”

“But he didn’t take the coke, did he?” Austin asked, knowingly.

“No… he didn’t.”

“Shit!” Levi said, “How do we tell him we’re sorry? How do we get him back?”

Everyone looked as helpless as I felt, when Austin suddenly asked, “Which piece was his first? The one that got him recognized? Which one is it?”

Taking calm breath, I led them toward the angel, which was the study of many admirers. But I heard the moment the Carillo’s had seen it. Sobs and anguished cries ripped from their throats.

“It’s Mamma…” Levi said, his voice breaking.

“It’s called Ave Maria,” I explained. “It’s how he saw your mamma in this life…” I pointed to the other side of the sculpture, “and how he dreamed she would look meeting the next.”

Reaching out, Austin crushed Levi to his chest as they both broke down at the feet of the marble depiction of their mother.

It was heartbreaking, gut wrenching and I couldn’t take looking at it. Turning away, I tried to breathe despite my tightly coiled chest, when I noticed many of the guests looking my way and smiling as they exited a darkened, cornered-off display. A door separated it from the rest of the gallery. I suddenly remembered Vin putting something together here. Hell. I’d been so preoccupied with Axel’s disappearance that I had forgotten all about it.

Walking toward the door, I heard Molly and Rome following behind me, but I didn’t turn around, couldn’t turn. Suddenly, I heard the melodic sound of my favorite piece of music drifting to me from behind the wall.

My heart hammered in my chest as I slowly opened the door, the sound of Yiruma’s “Kiss the Rain” seeping into my every cell.

Flashbacks of me playing this, my favorite piece of music, for Axel in his studio raced through my mind. With every memory, I felt my heart break just that little bit more. A sizeable crowd had gathered around the sculpture, lavender lights creating a soft glow from above and the scent of Jasmine permeating the air.

As I moved closer through the crowd, many smiled at me as “Kiss the Rain” played on repeat. As if the visitors sensed I needed to be alone, they quietly dispersed. My feet abruptly ground to a halt…

Staring back at me was… me…

“Oh, Ally,” I heard Molly sigh from behind me, but I couldn’t look away. I was transfixed by the sculpture in front of my eyes.

A Carrara sculpture, of my smiling face, my chin balanced on my fist and my long hair flowing to one side was staring back at me.

Shivers ran down my spine and butterflies rattled around my stomach as I realized this must have been the piece he was working on this week, outside… this was what he so desperately wanted to carve… this beautifully crafted face… was how he viewed me….

“Hope,” Molly’s said, in awe. My glistening eyes followed the sound of her voice and she looked at me, her eyes watering beneath her glasses as she added, “This piece is called ‘Hope’.”

Choking back a sob, I noticed that the room had cleared apart from my friends, a pained and sullen Austin, Levi and Lexi entering the room.

I watched as they saw the sculpture, and Austin had to turn away.

“What have I done?” I heard him whisper to his wife. “What the fuck have I done? Look at what he’s created. Look at all this, what he’s achieved and I made him leave because I jumped to the wrong fucking conclusions… I never gave him the chance to explain!”