Exposure

EX:37

Chapter 37

Tiana's Perspective

"The move that you're afraid to make could be the one that changes everything."-Unknown

•••••••

         I had been standing in the same spot for half an hour watching as water ran down my skinny brown legs. The nightmare that I had last night kept playing back and forth over and over again in my head no matter what I did. It was even distracting me from finishing up in the shower. I hadn't had a breakdown like the one in my nightmare since my freshman year of college in D.C.

I turned off the water falling from the showerhead pulling the curtains back and stepped out onto the floor rug to wrap a towel around my exposed and wet body.

I stood in front of the bathroom sink wiping away the fog from the mirror in front of me to view my reflection.

My eyes were still very puffy and my body felt sluggish, I hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon. It was clear to tell that I was feeling down.

       I let loose my naturally curly and kinky hair from the clip on top of my head letting my hair fall to the middle of my back. I combed through my scalp with my fingers deciding to keep my hair down today.

        I held the towel tighter around my body opening the bathroom door to exit. Cool air shot out at me as water droplets ran down my arms and legs. I quickly walked into Owen's bedroom across the hall before he could see me from the kitchen area of the apartment.

          I shut the door behind me starting to get myself together. Owen had given me one of his flannels to wear and a pair of sweats. The clothes were extremely too big for me, but at least it was something to put on.

        Once I was done getting dressed I made my way up to the kitchen and living room. The sweet smell of sugar hit me making my mouth water. Owen stood over the stove scrolling on his phone while simultaneously looking at the television in the living room to watch the morning news.

        I sat down in a chair at the kitchen table feeling awkward once again about last night. He turned his attention towards me greeting me with a small smile before grabbing a plate off of the kitchen counter and bringing it over to me.

"Goodmorning," I said as he placed a stack of pancakes in front of me.

"Oh, you didn't have to... I could've picked up something on my way home."

He ignored my comment handing me a bottle of syrup.

"Am I holding you up from getting to work on time?" I asked filling my mouth with the buttery pancakes.

"Nah you good, I got about an hour to spare anyway."

I nodded my head.

He pulled out the chair in front of me sitting in it as silence surrounded us.

"Are you sure you're good?" He asked regarding what had taken place last night.

"Yeah, I'm fine really... I just think the whole incident with meeting my dad and him wanting to get to know me is going to take a while for me to get used to."