𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝟏𝟖+

forty-one; snake

A U R O R A

"You, you two-timing, cheap lying, wannabe. You're a fool if you thought I'd just let this go. I see red, red, oh red. A gun to your head."

. . .

Now that mom knows about it, I feel like there's this pressure lifted off my chest. It feels good being honest with her.

I can only hope that dad will be as understanding as her.

I decide to leave mom with her friends so they can talk a bit more – after they've given me my much-needed pep-talk.

"I'm going to get a tea from town," I tell mom, remembering this coffee shop where they sold some good stuff.

"Okay honey, be careful," mom warns and kisses my cheek. I bid Chris and Lucy goodbye before heading out and getting into my car.

During the drive, my mind replays the events from today. I can't believe I talked about all that. It's insane.

Though I'm glad for the support I got and my mother's advice. Chris and Lucy were a lot of help too. I need to tell Laure about this all. She won't believe me.

I park my car and get out, heading into the little coffee shop. A man who's headed out isn't watching where he's going and bumps into me.

"Fuck!" I curse as the hot liquid gushes out of the cup, landing on the man's clothes but also on mine.

He looks up and his eyes widen when he sees what he's done.

"I'm so sorry! I should've watched where I was going..." he says, stumbling over his words. I exhale and shake my head, glad that the hot liquid didn't burn me.

"It's okay," I say with a light smile. It's too late now and it already happened. I can't do anything about it.

"Come on, let me buy you your drink. That's the least I can do," he says and ushers me inside. I wave it away.

"It's fine, honestly," I say and grab a napkin once I'm inside, softly patting it on the dirty spot on my dress.

"No, please. Let me do this," he chuckles and leads me to stand in line. I order my drink and after I've done that, I look up and see a man in his late forties. He seems exhausted and tired but has a friendly look on his face.

When he takes a good look at my face, his eyes widen. "You're Aurora Amoretto?" he asks.

I nod, now slowly furrowing my eyebrows. "Yes. Do I know you from somewhere?" I ask. He extends his hand.

"I'm Nate."

"The name doesn't ring a bell," I chuckle while shaking his hand. He shakes his head. "I used to work with your father..." he trails off. 

"That's where I know you from. I looked him up a few years ago to see how he's doing and saw that he had kids. Never imagined that the Vincenzo Amoretto would have settled down," he says and cracks a weak smile.

"No one did," I reply with a chuckle. They call my name, and I go to take my drink. "I'm glad to see that he's doing good," Nate says.

"Yeah, he is and I'm very grateful for that. Do you still work for him?" I ask. He shakes his head. 

"No, due to uh... complications, I had to leave the job."

I nod with a frown. Dad almost never fires someone, unless they managed to really piss him off or they're no good use for the company anymore. 

I wonder what Nate did. Or maybe he found a new job and quit.

"Thank you for the drink," I say and lift the cup, sending him a smile in gratitude.