Hey guys! So we are really starting to see the making of 'An Imperial Affliction' in this chapter. It's not my longest chapter but you definitely see some start to AIA. You'll get more next chapter! Hope you like it and please comment and review! :)

Okay?

~Wallflower95

8

Breaking A Promise

Everyone makes promises. Every day. Sometimes we just don't understand the promises we make. No matter how big or how small that promise is it can make a huge impact. Today... today I'm breaking another promise.

Ten months since Anna. Two months since I hit Candice. Things aren't any better. I still drink every day. I know I shouldn't do it but I don't stop. I'm not sure I ever will. But there is not a day that goes by that I don't regret what happened between me and Candice. Since then she has moved out and we haven't spoken... until today. She left me a message saying to meet her at our favorite cafe. I tried to look as presentable as possible. I put on a nice jacket and tried to lay my hair down flat. I haven't shaved in sometime and the shirt I'm wearing still smells like beer from a few nights ago. The bell above the cafe door rings and Candice steps in. She's wearing black boots, a black denim jacket, brown pants and a red turtleneck. She looks like she hasn't slept much and there's something in her eyes. A small hint of fear. I flinch. It's because of me. She sits down across from me.

"Hi Peter." She breathes out. I try to smile.

"Hi." There is a moment of awkward silence.

"How are you?" I ask her. She brushes her hair behind her ear nervously.

"I've been good. Yourself?"

"Fine." She reaches into he bag and pulls out a small stack of papers. She looks at me nervously and then pushes the pile towards me without saying a word. Before I even read them I know what they are. Divorce papers. I felt like this was coming. My hand is shaking slightly as I pulled them towards me.

"Just... just sign and I'll be on my way." She whispered. I tried to hold back all the emotions bubbling inside of me. I shook my head.

"No. I don't want this."

"Peter..."

"I love you, Candice. Please... don't do this." She sighed.

"I miss her too. I miss her so much." She said quietly. Tears fell down her cheeks.

"It's like... it's like a part of me died with her." She said. Her hands were shaking.

"I thought we could have worked together. To try and... recover together. But there is no recovering from this. There is nothing worse in the world than losing your own child. It is an indescribable pain." I nodded.

"I know why you do what you do. Drink." She whispered.

"It's your way of forgetting. I get that." But she was shaking her head. "But it's not the right way. We could have worked together. We could have gotten through it. Anna wouldn't want this." I took her hands. She tried to pull away but I held on.

"That's why we have to stay together. For Anna." I said. She shook her head.

"I can be with someone who does that to themselves." She whispered.

"I'm sorry Peter. I love you. I really do but... I can't do this." She took her hands away and wiped at her eyes. My heart was pounding. I couldn't hear anything. Everything was muffled. All I saw was Candice and she was slowly slipping away.

"Please, don't do this." I whispered. She looked at me.

"Can you honestly tell me that you would stop all of this? Stop all the drinking. Would you?" I tried to say something. It should be an easier answer. Yes. I could stop all of it. Of course I could. I made a promise that I would always be there for her. I remember my wedding. Putting on that wedding ring and making those vows. My answer should have been simple. I should have just said that right then and there. But I didn't. I didn't say anything. Candice was crying.

"You promised me." She whispered. She slipped off her wedding ring and put on the table in between us. She put her hand on her mouth to keep her sob muffled. I wanted to hold her close. To tell her everything was going to be okay. But it wasn't. Nothing was okay. She stood up. I should have followed her. I should have gone after her. But I didn't. I just sat there staring at that damn ring. And she walked away. Out of my life. I had lost everything.

I sat at the kitchen table, staring at the wedding ring she had left me. I couldn't think... I couldn't breathe. It was so empty and quiet at home. I pulled at my hair. I wanted to yell and scream. I grabbed the table and flipped it over. Yelling as I did that. The neighbors would probably call the cops saying that there was some drunk mad man living next door. The ring was on the floor now. Teasing me. There was a chest in the living room. I opened it. It was full of drawing and stuffed animals, toys. Memories. Heartache. Anna. I threw the ring in there and slammed it shut.

I was truly alone now.

It was unfair. So unfair. She was only eight. How could she go without living her life? She would never kiss a boy or go too school dances or graduate from high school or even have her own family. She didn't get to experience any of that. Maybe I had too much to drink that night, but for some stupid reason I grabbed a pencil and a notepad and started to imagine what Anna would have been like as a teenager. Her blonde hair cut short, almost pixie cut. Her hair is blonde with some brown in it. She wearing a green unbuttoned shirt with a light pink tank top, jean capris and purple chuck taylors. That's the way I imagined her. And then I just kept going. It's funny, in university I wasn't the best writer. I was more of a speaker but right then and there the words came pouring out and they just kept coming.