When 75-year-old Richard spots his ex-wife Vanessa with a man 20 years her junior, he assumes they’re dating and starts a fight. To his surprise, Vanessa reveals that the man with her is their son he never knew existed. But that’s not the only secret Vanessa has been keeping.
Richard was walking home from the grocery store when an unpleasant sight stopped him in his tracks. His ex-wife, Vanessa, was walking arm-in-arm with a man around 20 years her junior.
“Is she seeing someone else…already?”
Richard was furious. He watched them enter a café and hurried in after them. Bitterness surged into his nerves when he witnessed Vanessa and the guy holding hands and smiling over something at a window table.
He couldn’t bear seeing Vanessa moving on so soon after their divorce. So he angrily stormed to their table.
“What the hell, Vanessa?” Richard banged on the table, startling Vanessa and the guy with her. “Well, well! My 72-year-old ex-wife has found a new man to romance just a few weeks after leaving her husband! Bravo..! And how long have you been together?”
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Vanessa was so embarrassed and pleaded with Richard to stop. Simon, the man with Vanessa, rose from his seat.
“Mom…is this my Dad?” he asked.
Richard was astounded.
“What did you say?”
At this moment, Vanessa understood she couldn’t hide the truth from her ex-husband or Simon.
“Richard, please sit. I have something to tell both of you…Do you remember when we first met 54 years ago…at the bar?” Vanessa’s voice trembled as she recounted her past…
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It was the fall of September 1968. 17-year-old Vanessa and her friends were thrilled by their success at sneaking out of their homes to party at the pub.
“Van, you sure your Dad didn’t see you sneaking out of the house? I don’t want the party to turn into some church sermon!” One of the girls joked as they burst into the pub.
Vanessa’s father, Alan, was a pastor at the local church, so Vanessa had a strict upbringing. She wasn’t allowed to hang out with her friends after sunset. Sunday school was a norm. Hard drinks and late-night parties were strictly banned. And definitely no sex or drugs.
And Vanessa hated it. She loved her Dad but not his restrictions. She wanted a life full of adventure, like her friends. So that night, Vanessa had mustered the courage to sneak out after her parents fell asleep and accompanied her friends to the pub.
Rock’ n’ roll melodies played in the background as the teenagers made their way toward an empty table and immersed themselves in the glitz and glamor of nightlife. Soon, Vanessa and her friend, Carla, headed to the bar to get drinks.
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“By the way, I heard Dylan will be here tonight with his friends!” Carla said.
“It’s over between Dylan and me! Period! I don’t even want to talk about him!” Vanessa replied.
She and Dylan had recently broken up, so knowing he was going to be at the pub irked Vanessa. She sat at the bar and ordered a martini. As she chugged her drink, a handsome stranger walked up to her.
“Hey there, gorgeous!” the 21-year-old lad said, leaning closer to Vanessa. “My name is Richard. Can I buy you a drink?”
Vanessa was new to taking hard drinks, and it felt like stars were bursting around her head. When she looked at Richard, she thought he was cute and couldn’t resist his charm.
“I’d be delighted!” Vanessa smiled and locked eyes with Richard seductively. She fell for him at first sight.
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Richard and Vanessa talked as if they had known each other for ages and danced to jazz music rolling in the background.
“I’m new to this town,” Richard said as he wrapped his arms around Vanessa and pulled her closer. “Came here on business. Hey, shall we go for a drive? Maybe you could show me around?”
“Oh, I’d love to…but it’s getting late,” Vanessa said when she saw the time on her watch.
However, she immediately changed her mind when she saw how disappointed Richard was. He was too charming for her to say no, so she agreed to go with him.
That night was nothing short of magical for Vanessa. She and Richard drove across the bustling streets, laughing and chatting. They kissed passionately, and soon Vanessa found herself wrapped in Richard’s arms as she experienced her first intimate encounter. It felt like a fairy tale.
They kissed again after dressing, then Richard drove Vanessa home. Every inch of her heart wanted her to stay with him as Vanessa crept into her bedroom. She watched from her window as Richard waved goodbye and disappeared into the night.
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Vanessa decided to forget everything about that night and move on with her life until she started feeling nauseous three weeks later.
“Vanessa, what’s wrong?” Vanessa’s stepmother, Rebecca, banged on the bathroom door. “I heard everything, Vanessa. You better come out and explain why you are crying.”
Moments later, an unsettled Vanessa emerged from the restroom, holding onto her stomach and wiping her face. “I am sick…I have a terrible headache.”
“Why are you holding your stomach if it’s a headache?”
Rebecca’s cold and suspicious tone froze Vanessa. “Girl, who do you think you’re trying to fool?”
“I said I’m feeling sick,” Vanessa stuttered and ran back to the bathroom to throw up. Rebecca’s worst fears were confirmed when she saw her teen stepdaughter emptying her stomach into the toilet.
“Vanessa, tell me the truth,” Rebecca stared grimly into the girl’s eyes, “Have you been intimate with someone? Are you pregnant?”
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Vanessa burst into tears. She knew there was no escape and confided her secret to her stepmother. Rebecca’s initial shock quickly turned to outrage when she heard that Vanessa’s pregnancy resulted from a one-night stand, not a reckless moment with her boyfriend.
“God…You slept with a stranger?” Rebecca jolted Vanessa’s shoulder. “Your Dad will be so ashamed…and how long can you hide this? This child won’t grow up without a father…do you hear me?”
“Tomorrow night, I’ll take your father to a restaurant. Meanwhile, you’ll tell Dylan you want to get back together. Bring Dylan home and…” Rebecca paused as this was not how she’d normally advise her daughter “…spend the night with him. This is the only way to avoid a scandal. Abortion is completely out of the question.”
Vanessa nodded. She regretted sneaking out that night and meeting Richard at the bar. Every moment that felt magical then was now haunting.
Tricking Dylan felt wrong, but she couldn’t confess what she’d done to Dad. Vanessa spent a long, sleepless night thinking about what to do. Eventually, she made a difficult decision and approached Dylan the next day at the park. He agreed to join her for dinner.
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When Dylan arrived, Vanessa sat down with him on the sofa and put her plan into action.
“Please forgive me, darling,” Vanessa leaned closer to Dylan and placed her hand on his lap. “I made a huge mistake…being alone, I realized you’re the one…that I was wrong to break up with you. I’m sorry. I love you…like forever!”
Dylan cupped Vanessa’s face in his hands and looked into her eyes. He was over the moon when she said that.
They hugged, and the evening ended as planned when Dylan carried Vanessa to her bedroom upstairs, and they made love.
Two weeks later, Dylan joined Vanessa’s family for dinner. Afterward, he and Vanessa dropped a bombshell on her father with the news that she was pregnant.
Alan was furious with his daughter, but the thought of becoming a grandfather calmed him down. And Dylan seemed to be a good guy from a wealthy family who would do right by her. So at the end of the serious conversation, Alan put on a happy face.
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Months passed, and at only 18, Vanessa was rushed into the maternity ward when she went into labor. Hours later, Dylan wept joyful tears as he cradled his baby son in his arms and introduced him to his parents and closest relatives gathered in the maternity ward.
Two days later, the couple were preparing to go home with their son when a doctor burst into the ward and insisted on speaking with Dylan in his office.
Dylan was puzzled, but he followed the doctor to his office. Shortly afterward, he stormed back into Vanessa’s ward, where all his relatives and Vanessa’s parents had gathered to take her and the baby home.
“YOU LIAR!” Dylan burst into the room and confronted Vanessa. “THIS IS NOT MY BABY!”
Everyone gasped when Dylan revealed what the doctor just said. A weird feeling crawled up Vanessa’s gut when she realized she had a lot of explaining to do.
“Shame on you for doing this to me,” Dylan fumed. “How could you even think I would father someone else’s child? Was it your plan…or were your parents involved in the scheme too? How sick! Mom…Dad…let’s leave. I want nothing to do with her or the child anymore.”
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Vanessa begged and cried. But Dylan stormed out of the room and out of her life that day. She returned home and pleaded with her dad to forgive her, but Alan was enraged and bitterly embarrassed.
“You’re a shame to my family,” Alan yelled.
“You disgust me. I don’t even want to see you. How can I face everyone in town…and in church? What will I tell them if they ask me who the father of this child is?”
Those words hurt Vanessa like daggers. She realized she’d never regain her father’s trust and would never lead a normal life in that town since people were already gossiping about her.
“…So I made a heartrending decision. I kissed my beautiful baby one last time before placing him for adoption and leaving town,” Vanessa finished her story in tears.
“Six months later, I accidentally met you again in an art exhibition in the new city I moved to, Richard. You know everything that happened after that!”
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“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” Richard asked, shock rippling through him. “We could’ve taken Simon back and raised him. Our son was out there…and you kept it a secret all these years? How could you, Vanessa? Is this why you never wanted children?”
“I wanted to confess everything when we rekindled our relationship. I went to the shelter…” Vanessa replied disappointedly. “But it was too late. A family had already adopted him and taken him abroad. I couldn’t bring myself to have another child.”
Richard was overwhelmed by how things unfolded. “And how did you find us, Simon?”
“My dad told me I was adopted before his death,” Simon replied. “He gave me details of my biological mother. I later checked the orphanage’s records. I searched for Mom for over six months. Two days ago, I met her for the first time!”
“Well…I never thought at 75, I would teach my 53-year-old son his first lesson!” Richard said. “I hope you now know it’s better to be truthful…and give people a second chance! This applies to your mother and me as well!”
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The former owner of my car called, desperately asking to recover something he had left under the seat — when I found it, I turned pale
When Samira buys a secondhand car at a dealership, she thinks it a victory because it was something she had done all by herself. But the next morning, the mysterious previous owner of the car calls her, claiming that he left something “alive” under the seat of the car. Will Samira meet him or uncover the secret package by herself?
When I first bought my car, it was supposed to be a small victory. I had left my corporate job to take time off to write my collection of short stories. So, I didn’t want to splurge my savings until something big came my way financially.
It was nothing fancy, just a used Toyota Corolla from the local dealership. The thrill of owning it was enough to make me overlook any thoughts about its previous owner. Whoever they were, they were in my past, and I was cruising straight into my future.
Or so I thought.
But then came that random phone call which changed everything.
It was early, around 7 a.m., and I was in the middle of making my morning coffee when my phone buzzed with an unknown number.
Normally, I’d ignore it, but something about early morning and late-night unknown calls made me answer. I didn’t know if someone needed me.
“Hello?” I said, yawning.
“Hi, is this the new owner of the Toyota Corolla?” a man asked, anxiety in his voice.
“Yes, this is her. Who’s speaking?” I asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.
He took a deep breath.
“Oh, thank goodness! I’m so sorry to bother you, but I need your help. I was the previous owner of the car, and I left something under the seat of the car when I gave it in yesterday morning. You picked it up yesterday, yes?”
“Yes,” I replied, confused about what he was getting at.
“Okay. Good,” he paused. “I need to get my hands on what I left behind. It’s really important. It’s urgent, really.”
What on earth could be so important that he would track me down like this? Was the dealership even allowed to give out personal information?
“What did you leave?” I asked, trying to stay calm.
“It’s something… alive,” he stammered. “Please, ma’am, I need to come and get it as soon as possible. I promise you, I’ll explain when I see you.”
I remained silent for a moment.
Alive? The word echoed loudly in my mind. Was this man serious? What alive thing could possibly be in the car? My mind raced between a baby to a dog to even a package of narcotics that he was brushing off as something alive.
But I knew that I would have noticed something like that.
“Do you want to meet me somewhere or give me your address?” he continued.
I should have probably said no to all of the above. But there was something about him and the panic in his voice that made me hesitate to say no.
“Okay,” I finally said, my voice more firm than I felt. “Come over to my neighborhood. There’s a park not too far away from where I live. I’ll meet you there. I’ll send the address to this number.”
“That’s perfect,” he said, sighing in relief. “Don’t worry, it’s contained for now.”
I hung up and stared at my phone.
“What are you doing, Samira?” I asked myself. “Are you really going to meet a random person?”
But, what would be alive under my seat? My thoughts darted to worse-case scenarios again. What if it was a dangerous animal?
I had no idea what to expect, and that’s what made me nervous.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing next to the Corolla in the cool morning air, waiting for the mysterious stranger to show up.
The neighborhood was still quiet, and I imagined everyone in their homes slowly waking up or making breakfast for their families.
Finally, a man pulled up in an old pickup truck, just as he had texted me to say he would. His eyes scanned the area nervously before landing on me.
“I’m Ben,” he said. “Thank you for letting me come.”
He was younger than I imagined, and probably in his late twenties like myself, with dark hair that looked like he’d run his hands through it one too many times.
There was something endearing about his disheveled appearance, though I could tell he was genuinely worried.
Stop it, Samira, I told myself. This isn’t one of your romantic comedy stories. This isn’t a meet-cute.
“No problem,” I replied. “I’m Samira. So, what exactly did you leave under the seat?”
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he opened the driver’s door and dropped to his knees beside the car and reached under the seat. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, Ben pulled out a small, sealed box with tiny air holes punched into the top. My stomach did a flip as I imagined a tarantula inside the box.
“I’m really sorry to bother you like this,” he said, standing up and holding the box.
“What’s in there?” I asked, almost amused.
“I have a pet gecko at home, and I feed it live insects every day. Yesterday, I stopped at the pet store to pick up some food, including mealworms and roaches, but I must have left the box under the seat when I was unloading the car.”
It took a moment for his words to register with me.
“You left a box of live insects under the seat?” I asked.
“Not by choice,” he replied sheepishly. “I was late to hand over the car as well. So the moment I unloaded everything else at home, I rushed over to the dealership to leave the car… for you.”
“You’re lucky that they didn’t escape,” I said.
Suddenly, a laugh bubbled up inside me before I could stop it, and once it started, it was hard to stop.
He looked at me, confused for a second, before a grin spread across his face.
“I know, it’s ridiculous, right?” he said. “I was so freaked out that I couldn’t even sleep. I kept imagining them crawling around your car, and I just…”
“My goodness,” I exclaimed. “That would have been quite the surprise.”
The thought of driving around with a box full of escaped bugs lurking somewhere under the seat was both horrifying and hilarious.
“I’m really sorry, Samira,” he said, his grin fading into something more genuine. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just didn’t know what else to do. The gecko, Samson, is actually my little brother’s pet. And as wacky as it is, that kid loves it.”
“No judgment here,” I replied. “I had a pet frog for a solid two weeks as a kid until my mother found it bouncing around my room.”
That was enough to set us both off again. We laughed until tears ran down our faces.
“Let me make it up to you,” he blurted out suddenly. “How about I take you out for a coffee? As an apology for the… bug thing?”
I stared at him, caught off guard by the sudden offer. I hadn’t expected any of this. But at the same time, I felt like I was in one of the romance stories that I wrote.
There was just something about the way he asked, something genuine and a little bit hopeful.
“I… um,” I started to say. “Sure, why not?”
“Great!” he said, his face lighting up. “I know a place not too far away from here. Would you like to go now?”
I laughed at his enthusiasm.
“How about you take me to a car wash to wash away any bugs and my paranoia, and then we can grab a coffee?” I asked, half-joking, half-serious.
“Actually, that’s the least I can do,” he said. “Come on.”
Ben put the box of insects in his truck and locked the door. I threw my keys at him, which he caught perfectly.
As we drove to the car wash, Ben told me all about his little brother, who was living with him.
“There’s a big age gap between us,” he said. “But there’s a really good school two roads away from me. So he’s enrolled there.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said, watching his hands on the steering wheel. “I wish I had a younger sibling to keep me on the straight and narrow.”
When we got to the car wash, Ben ensured that we would take the full package.
“Give her a good wash, guys,” he said.
We went for coffee while the car was being attended to.
And I wondered what was going to happen next…
What would you have done?
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