The Single Mother

Chapter 13- Talla Knight: Coffee and Sugar Cookies

I think when Phoenix and I sat down at that little park bench for lunch, we were both expecting a semi-awkward conversation, with lots of silence and the occasional laugh. However, instead I became an emotional mess and told him my embarrassing life story, after he opened up about his deceased brother, who I've already accidentally forgotten the name of.

If Phoenix had previously thought that marrying me was pointless- then after this afternoon, he definitely thinks that marrying me will be a waste of his time. I have way too much baggage for an already busy man. Plus, he knows that I have a child... wouldn't that make him change his mind? If I were him, I'd probably be ringing my parents and begging them to get me out of the marriage.

A frustrated sigh escapes my lips as my head drops against the car's steering wheel. Why am I still overturning the events of lunch, when we've both gone our separate ways? Right now, Phoenix is probably working his ass of trying to help his parents put away criminals, meanwhile I've been sitting in my car for the last 10 minutes fretting over his opinions on me.

Deciding that I've finally wasted enough time in the parking lot, I turned on the ignition to my car and slowly crept out of the parking lot.

I should probably go to my parents to pick up Sienna and get ready for dinner, but that was currently the least of my worries. Instead, of going to typical way to my parent's mansion, I took the scenic route and cranked the radio, which was something I hadn't done since giving birth to Sienna.

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On the way back to my parents' mansion, I needed to fuel up my car and use the restroom. However, while in the gas station bathroom, I noticed that my cheeks were not only tear-stained, but also smeared with my mascara. My eyes were no longer puffy from crying, but my skin was still noticeably blotchy- and it didn't help that my foundation wasn't full coverage.

I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding onto, and yanked out a couple of hand towels, slightly dampening them and beginning to remove any of the left over make-up stuck to my face. I now understood why the man standing in front of me in the line to get the key to the bathroom kept glancing over his shoulder to give me a sympathetic look.

When my face was make-up free once more, I exited the bathroom and clambered back into my car, taking off for my parents' house once again.

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Typically when I stepped inside my parents' home, I'm greeted with silence. However, today I entered and was greeting with Disney's 'Under the Sea' being blared from the lounge room area. Considering that I've arrived a little over four hours after I dropped Sienna off, I knew that my parents would have questions- ones that would be inappropriate and that I wouldn't want to answer. 

Even though I no longer looked like a heartbroken teenage girl, I still felt like absolute shit and was craving a rich chocolate ice-cream and red wine drank from a sippy cup. Maybe tonight, while Sienna slept, I could binge watch a couple of episodes of The Office and eat and drink my day's problems away.

"UNDER THE SEA... UNDER THE SEA... DARLING IT'S BETTER DOWN WHERE IT'S WETTER TAKE IT FROM ME!" The sound of off-key singing still rung out from the lounge room area, and I knew that the singing wasn't coming from my toddler or just one of my parents.

Squaring my shoulders and raising my chin a little, I rounded the corner and prepared for the onslaught of questions and demands that my parents would require me to answer. However, when I was standing in the entrance to the lounge room, I was shocked to see the condition of the living room.

My parents have a very militaristic decor for their house, and the lounge room was no exception. As if my parents minimalist decorating wasn't enough, they also always kept the house impeccably clean. Normally, there was never a speck of dust in sight or an ornament out of place.