Longing You

Miranda was walking, but her gaze was fixed on her phone as she was texting a co-worker when she collided with someone. If it hadn't been for that person, Miranda would have surely fallen down and embarrassed herself at this party.

"I am sor-" The words were caught in her throat when she saw the person with whom she crashed. How can she ever forget him? She has longed to see him for many years.

It flabbergasted Eric to see his wife after seven years in his arms. If it weren't for Lizzy, his daughter, then he wouldn't know for how long he would have kept her in his arms. It felt like a very familiar emotion inside him, and it was too good to be true to have her so close to him.

Miranda, though, was astounded to see her daughter so grown up after only seven years. She is now ten years old and has evolved into a beautiful girl. Her eyes had always yearned to see her precious angel.

"Dad, this party is extremely dull. When can we go home?" She asked him, completely ignoring her mother. Miranda was a stranger to her, as Lizzy was oblivious to her mother's existence, let alone her appearance and presence.

"At the most, an hour or two. Why don't you hang out with other kids your age here, Lizzy?" He told his daughter politely because he wanted to protect her from her own mother. Eric had lost trust in Miranda after she abandoned them seven years ago.

"They are snobbish." She scowled and crossed her arms.

"Sweetheart-" He said. But Nancy, his secretary, cut him off.

"Lizzy, there you are. Briana, your friend, has been looking for you for a long time- Oh, Miranda! It's good to see you after so long." Nancy was surprised to see her boss's wife after all these years. She had hoped Miranda would return soon because she had witnessed what Eric had gone through these years.

"It is good to see you too, Nancy." Miranda smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. But her surprise upon seeing Eric and Lizzy here had not yet subsided.

Nancy sensed the uneasiness in the air between those two, so she decided to leave them alone, taking Lizzy with her.

Miranda, however, was looking at their daughter with love filled in her eyes, which did not go unnoticed by Eric. "When you left us seven years ago, you gave up the right to look at her like that."

"You can hide the fact from our daughter that I am her mother, but you can't stop me from loving her." She told him softly. She completely understood Eric's rage towards her. Under no circumstances does she blame him.

"Miranda, what are you doing here?" He asks her angrily. Before she could respond, the host of the party, Lenny, interrupted her.

"There you are, Miranda. Let me introduce you to Louis, my husband." Lenny smiled and greeted her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She politely replied to them.

"I see that, finally, my wife was finally able to convince you to our party. I can't even begin to tell you how much she has talked about you."

"I am not a big fan of going to social gatherings, but it's a pleasure to be here." With a small smile, she told them the truth.

Before either of them could say anything, another guest called for them. Hence, they excused themselves, leaving her alone with Eric.

To say after living so many with him would have made her feel at home, but rather the time they spent apart made her feel uncomfortable, and the proximity they were standing in did not help.

"Not a big fan of social gatherings? Nice Miranda. You have even begun to lie now." He mocked her.

"Believe what you want, Eric. I have nothing else to say to you." She told him softly, as she was herself at a loss for words.

But, once again, they were interrupted, which irritated Eric greatly. Miranda, on the other hand, was relieved because she did not wish to speak to him. But she panicked when she saw who had intervened.

"Hello, Miranda." Doctor Harold approached her and greeted her.

"Hello." She responded hesitantly.

"I am Doctor Harold Levis." He greeted the man who was standing beside his patient.

"I am Eric Liston." His name rang a bell in the doctors' heads as he recognized him instantly and gave Miranda a look that she clearly understood.

"Very well. My nephew, Richard Levis, works in your firm, so I have heard a lot about you."

"I hope everything good. He is a great chap." Eric replied to him.

Eric Liston is a partner at the accounting firm ListonCharles (LC LLP), together with his friend and co-partner Rodney Charles. After a brief internship and over half a decade of experience at an accounting enterprise, they decided to establish their own.

It was little over a year ago when he ran into his old pal Rodney who was looking for a partner. Eric found it to be a good opportunity as not only having control over his work timings would have been good but also will be relocating himself to BlueStone Valley along with his parents who lives only a couple of blocks away from him.

He had shifted to Bluestone Valley just four months ago. However, unlike him, they sold their apartment in Pelican City and decided to retire to have a peaceful life in the Bluestone Valley, a little over eight months ago. It was fortunate that he was able to find a modest house for himself just a block away from his parents.

Further, on work front, their accounting firm was blooming despite being established a town. Richard Levis is one of his juniors who works directly for him. He is lucky in that he can trust him with the majority of his duties.

Before Harold could respond, a blonde lady approached Eric and asked for a dance. To say Marisa was envious would be an understatement. Even after all this time, she still clearly loves him. "May I have this dance with you?"

"Excuse me!" Eric excused himself and accepted the lady's hand.

He wanted to prove an unspoken point to Miranda: that he has moved on and no longer loves her. She, however, looked on as Eric was on the dance floor with that lady. That blonde woman might be his girlfriend. It does not matter, though, as she has truly lost all her rights on him.

"It is okay to feel this way, Miranda." Doctor Harold stated, intending to comfort her with words.

"Is it? It does not matter. After all, it's not his fault that he didn't know the real reason for my leaving him. It's completely justified to hate me. Plus, who knows how many girlfriends he's had or has now? I am sure I will get used to it. I am perfectly fine."

"You are rambling now." He stated.

"I am sorry." She lets out a sigh. "I think I am going to call it a night. I knew that coming here was a bad idea."

"However, something good came from it. You saw your daughter, didn't you?"

She responded to him with a bright smile on her face. Talking about Lizzy or even thinking about her brightens her day, but her heart aches at the same time.

"Yes, I just wish I had been there with her in the last few years." She sighed deeply.

"It is still not too late. Tell the truth to Eric. I am confident that he will understand." The doctor advised her.

"No way, Doc. It is too late now. And I doubt my daughter will even accept me. As far as Eric is concerned, he despises me. He would never allow that to happen, and he would not be wrong in doing so. Further, I do not want to disrupt their settled lives. It is not fair to them."

"Miranda," he sighed. His patient was stubborn, but then which of his were not?

"No, Doc. It is not right." She gave him a sad smile. "I should leave now. I do not think I can take it any longer. Good night."

"Do you want me to drop you off?" He asked her worriedly. He knew very well what Miranda had been going through.

"Do not worry on my account. I will be fine. Thank you for offering, though." With those words and Doctor Harold's nod, she walked away.

Eric, on the other hand, was perplexed as to why Miranda was speaking so closely with the doctor. Both of them seemed to know each other well. Doctor Harold appeared to be quite old for her, so them being in a relationship seemed unlikely.

"Your ex?" The lady with whom he had been dancing asked him with interest.

"Something along those lines." He informed her vaguely. He had no interest in indulging with a stranger about his estranged relationship with Miranda.

"Well, it's clear that you still love her, and I believe she does as well." The blonde stated.

"I believe it is too late for that now." With that, he left the lady on the dance floor alone. He was clearly not interested in continuing the conversation with her. He, however, ran into someone again while looking for his daughter.

"God, can't you see where you are going?" The unknown girl glared at him. He was about to reply when she spoke again, this time in an angry tone. "You! Eric, right? No wonder she left." The strange girl then walked away, not allowing him the opportunity to speak.

He simply shook his head, swearing under his breath, before searching for his daughter. When he did, they both headed immediately for home. He had enough for the night and did not want the risk of running into Miranda with their daughter again.

Eric had no idea how he felt, though. He was relieved to see Miranda again, as she was safe and alive, but he was also enraged at the same time. He also felt guilty because Lizzy still had no idea who her mother was. He kept these facts from her in order to protect her. What good would have been done to her when her own mother left her at the mere age of three?

God only knows what new twists and turns his life will take.

Miranda was distorted. She wished for nothing more than for things to return to normal after the misfortune that took place seven years ago. It's a shame that her life will now be filled with loneliness. But she has to be strong and accept her fate. And with that in mind, she went to work.

She worked at Little Stars Orphanage in Bluestone Valley. Her uncle used to own this place, but she has taken over the management post his death.

She loves the place from the bottom of her heart. It was unfortunate that she would be unable to show her daughter the love she deserved on the day she left. So, she spends time with the kids in her orphanage. It can be described as a kind of replacement or redemption, and everyone needs one reason in their life to help them survive.

Further, this place was like an extended family to her because she had lost her own a long time ago, and it was the hardest decision she had ever made.

This was one of hers.

Miranda arrived at her destination within ten minutes, as it was only a ten-minute walk from her home. She needed to complete some paperwork for the adoption of one girl who was leaving the orphanage to start a new life. It always made her sad when one of the kids had to leave this place, but she knew it was for the best. They all deserve to have a family.

Martha, one of her co-workers, interrupted her train of thought. "Yes, Martha?"

She is in charge of all aspects of human resources. Whether it is to hire new staff or add volunteers to the group, she is the person for that. Further, she also makes sure of the safety of the children and various other policies.

"Someone has arrived to meet with you. Should I send them in? Martha asked.

"Yes, send them in." Miranda concurred with a nod. When the door opened after a few seconds, she was surprised to see who stood in front of her. It was Eric and her daughter. Their presence caused her to immediately get up from her seat, her face losing all colour.

Eric had not anticipated this. Under no circumstances, he expected to run to meet Miranda in an orphanage out of all other places. He had not expected her, of all the people in the world, to be the owner of this orphanage when Margret escorted him into the room.

He was rock solid on his feet until his daughter tugged at his hand, at which point he stepped in front of her and sat on the chair reflexively. Miranda quickly flipped the photo frame next to her laptop. She can't risk him discovering any traces of how she feels or what life has become of her. It is bad enough that he will now discover she is the owner of this orphanage.

"You are the same lady we saw at the party yesterday." Lizzy pointed it out with a twinkle in her eyes.

Her daughter was dressed in a sky-blue dress with two pigtails. She looked well, and she was proud that Eric had done well with their daughter.

"Yes, I am Miranda Patrick." Miranda used her maiden name rather than Liston to avoid confounding Lizzy. She was still a stranger to her, and her relationship with Eric would have only confused their daughter more. She can't escape the truth that she's nothing more than Eric's estranged wife.

"Lizzy and her two friends wanted to volunteer at this orphanage and spend time with the children," Eric explained hesitantly to Miranda. Ideally, he should have stormed out immediately with his daughter when he saw that it was her who managed and owned this orphanage. But for some reason, he was unable to do that.

"That could be arranged. You only need to fill out some paperwork, and they can begin whenever they want." She told him softly, carefully handing him the papers, avoiding any physical contact.

"May I look around, Ms. Miranda?"

Miranda didn't like it when her daughter addressed her by name, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She cannot come and tell her that she is her mother and demand her rights. She lost her entire right to parenthood when she had to leave her seven years ago.

With a heavy heart, she buzzed Martha inside.

"Lizzy, this is Martha, one of my co-workers. She will show you around." She introduced them with a smile. Lizzy, being a cute little bundle of joy, left with her colleague.

"I am surprised that you work in an orphanage. When did you own it?" Eric couldn't help but ask when Lizzy was out of sight and about their hearing range.

"It belonged to my uncle. My cousin didn't want to handle this place on his own because he was too preoccupied with his studies. So he passed it on to me." She tried to explain everything to him as simply as she could. She didn't want to go into specifics. Nothing good would come out of it.

"Uncle-?" Eric was confused, as he doesn't remember any of her uncles owning an orphanage.

"You have never met him. We got in touch after - after -" Miranda was unable to finish her sentence. It was too painful to even think about it.

"After you abandoned us?" He completed the sentence for her. "It's not that difficult to say. After all, you are the one who left your husband and your three-year-old daughter. It is not the other way around." Eric retorted, but before she could respond, her thoughts were interrupted.

Her neighbour stormed into her cabin and sat next to Eric, completely ignoring him. "I need to speak with you about something very important, Miranda."

"Excuse me?" Miranda asked, baffled.

"You are excused. Now can we talk?" Benji stated.

"Benji, I am busy with someone here. I will talk with you once I get back home." She stated, trying to make him leave.

"You are not busy. Talking to some guy is not classified as being busy." Benji then asked Eric, looking straight at him. Would you mind if I had an important conversation with my so-called friend in your presence, gentleman?"

"Go ahead." Eric was perplexed.

"See, he doesn't have any issues. Now, young lady, tell me why your house was so messy this morning." Miranda's eyes widened as he said this.

"You entered my home without my permission." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," he replied, casual about his actions.

Miranda took a deep breath before beginning. "You came here to tell me this?"

"Yes, amongst other things." He nodded.

"You cannot just enter my home without my permission," she remarked, scowling.

"When you became my neighbour and made countless unwanted appearances in my home, I convinced myself that I should start treating you like a friend to make it more bearable. But you couldn't possibly honour it, could you? In exchange for our friendship, you keep your house so unclean." Benji exasperatedly told her.

"And this still doesn't explain why you broke into my house." She asked him in an irritating tone.

"It was for something very important."

"Benji, if you don't tell me why you came to my house in two minutes, I will clean you off the planet." She locked her gaze on him.

"I needed some milk to go with my cookies. But don't be concerned about your place. I cleaned it. You should be grateful to me." He smiled at her as if he had won some kind of prize.

"Benjamin, get out of here right now before I punch you in the face." She made a threat to him.

"You would never do something like that." With a frown, he said.

"But I can definitely call your mother here, and who knows how long she will stay with you?" She challenged him with a smirk. The only person who could keep Benjamin Myers

"I am going; I am going. But keep in mind that our conversation isn't over yet." Benji exited the room, but not without saying. "Thank you so much, gentleman, for not interfering with my conversation with this lady. I am sure you feel honoured to be in the presence of the man with the highest IQ in human history." He told Eric proudly.

"Is he insane?" Eric asked her, dumbfounded.

"Please tell me about it. I have had to put up with his craziness for the past five and a half years. Ignore him-" Her phone rang again, interrupting her. She apologized to him before picking it up.

The constant interruptions irritated Eric.

"Yes, Roby- You know why I didn't- But, Roby, it doesn't matter- You know what? Join Melissa and me for dinner, and I will explain everything to you- Sure thing, brother- Bye."

"I don't remember any brothers of your name, Roby," Eric asked, puzzled. For him, everything has turned into a massive jigsaw puzzle. Miranda was the most simple and lovely woman he'd ever known. However, he now feels as if he never knew her. He was her goddamn husband, and they had a good, loving marriage before she deserted them.

"He is the son of my late uncle." She explained to him.

"Which uncle?"

Miranda's mouth opened, but she did not know what to say, so she closed it again and pursed her lips. Eric understood that she would not reveal anything to him, not that he was interested. Nothing about Miranda Listo- Patrick could interest him any more.

"I should probably get going, but please do not try to come close to my daughter during my absence." He was still enraged by what Miranda had done to them, she did not hold it against him.

In the idol scenario, he should not have left his daughter in her care, but he knew Lizzy would be safe with Miranda. Even if she is not aware that Miranda is her mother, this is the closest and possibly the only time she will have with her mother.

As he exited her cabin, he ran into the strange girl from the party again.

"What on earth are you doing here?" She questioned him angrily.

"That is none of your concern." He blew her off this time. He had enough of women stepping over him for no reason.

"When it comes to my best friend, you are my business. You have done enough to hurt her, so stay away from her." She glared at him.

"Look, I have never even met you or your best friend." He told her, annoyed.

"Does the name Miranda Liston ring a bell to you?" She crossed her arms and asked with raised brows.

"Look, Miss. I am not sure what lies Miranda fed you, but I am the one who is the victim here, not the other way around." Eric stormed out of the orphanage with his daughter.

Whereas Miranda's best friend, Melisa, was concerned, she knew that Eric had no idea how Miranda was suffering. She shouldn't have aimed her rage at him, but Miranda didn't deserve to have her life made more difficult. She really needs to control her temper.

Miranda has been the only person on Eric's mind for the past few days.

Who is he kidding, though? Since the moment he met her, since the day he asked her out, since the time they have been dating, and since the since the promise of eternity of being together, she has never left her mind. Even after she left them, he never stopped thinking about her.

So many thoughts were battling in his brain. Why does she still have such an impact on him after all this time? He was doing well without her. She had to barge back into his life just as he thought he could move on. No jokes there, but he is well aware that he will never be able to move on from her.

Not that he tried.

Eric was walking past their town hospital exit hall when he noticed Miranda entering. "What the hell are you doing here?" He spoke his thoughts louder than he wanted to.

"I- um-" Having caught her off guard, she stammered. She couldn't think of the right way to respond to him. Instead of telling the complete truth, she found a way to not lie to him. Her words were not entirely wrong because she does interact with the children whenever she comes here. "I came to meet the kids in the cancer ward."

Eric wasn't convinced, though, but he didn't ask her any more questions or express his doubts in front of her.

"How about you? Are you okay?" Miranda asks him worriedly.

"It's too late to express your concern, and I just came to pick up Lizzy's blood test results."

"Why? What happened to her?" Miranda tensed up as any mother would.

"Cut the crap, Miranda. Stop pretending to be concerned. It was just a routine check-up, and you have no right to know or inquire about it. And, as I previously stated, you have lost the every right of motherhood to express your concern or affection for us." Eric glared and literally pushed past her, leaving her alone in front of the hospital's entrance with tears in her eyes.

She went where she was supposed to go after gathering herself and wiping her unshed tears.

"Hello, Miranda. Is everything alright?" Doctor Harold Levis asked her. He could see her solemn face and red eyes.

"There is nothing wrong. You very well know that I hate attending this appointment." While sitting in the chair in front of him, she tried to change the subject.

"I am a psychologist, and you are my patient. I can tell when something isn't right." He stated the facts.

"I met Eric on my way here. I don't know how to deal with him. Moreover, knowing that Eric and Lizzy are just around the corner makes it difficult to live without them." She confessed.

"Miranda, as your doctor and a friend, I believe you should tell him the truth. You won't be able to recover from your depression unless you let things go, and that won't happen unless you tell them everything. With Eric still taunting you from time to time and your daughter unaware of her realtionship with you, your health may suffer." He tried to make her understand as any doctor would in his place.

"I cannot tell them anything. Besides that, Eric will not listen to me, let alone believe me. And my daughter will resent me once she discovers I am her mother. At the very least, she's talking to me now. What if she completely ignores me when she finds out the truth? It is better to keep them in the dark."

"But, Miranda-"

"No, doc, this is exactly what I am going to do. First, I need to strengthen myself." She spoke more to herself than to her doctor.

Doctor Harold tried to convince Miranda all throughout the appointment, but she kept refusing. By the end of the night, Miranda was exhausted. As it is, she is unable to sleep more than half of the time due to her nightmares, and her weekly sessions with Doctor Harold just add to her fatigue. Even today, she couldn't sleep, so she grabbed her jacket and headed to her favourite haunt, 'Midnight Snackers,' without changing her pyjamas.

She entered the little eatery, sat in her usual spot beside the window, and ordered her usual meal and drink.

Lander and Rachael were walking down the street, discussing their son and granddaughter.

Eric and Lizzy.

It has been their usual topic of discussion. They were both concerned about them now, more so since their son has been acting strangely for the past few days.

They both decided to go inside the 'Midnight Snackers' restaurant after coming across it to have some late-night snacks. It was a great place. Even though they had never visited this late at night, they had heard good reviews about it. It was two in the morning, yet there were quite a few people sitting on the table. There was only one small group of friends, but others were engaged either in their work or their thoughts. However, they were taken aback when they noticed their daughter-in-law sitting alone, engaged in her own thoughts, while sipping from the cup.