THE PUZZLED PIECES: Broken Pieces [ON HOLD]

1|02♥ A Father, a daughter, and a crackhead sister. ♥

"There's nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more secure."- Jim Butcher

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Present day, Los Angeles, CALIFORNIA.

Charlie woke up with a start, his breathing ragged.

His gaze shifted quickly around the darkness in the room, partially illuminated. He turned sharply to his side, half expecting fire but was met with the bed side lamp instead.

He took steady breaths to calm the pounding in his chest. It was just another nightmare of his past he had every now and then, nothing more.

Taking in the littered papers of drawings on his desks, colors and pencils, he realized he had slept off on his desk while sketching last night. There was even a blanket around his body. His shoes and coat from yesterday were arranged by the side and laid on the bed respectively. There wasn't even a single crumpled sheet on the floor which was strange.

Someone must have come into his room last night. Was it Jessie? But Charlie highly doubted his little sister could ever be that endearing. Then was it his daughter? But Charlie was certain he put Mirabel to bed before heading to his room.

What happened last night? He was angry for some reason but couldn't remember. He gazed down at the papers on his desk again. There was a portrait sketch of a woman but the only colored part was her hair. Auburn. Elena Morales. Mother.

Now Charlie was certain that whatever reminded him of that woman was something he was glad not to remember and planned to leave it that way.

The morning alarm set off, making his phone light reflect from inside his coat on the bed. The blanket fell off from his body as he got up and removed the phone from the coat pocket. After putting the alarm off, the lock screen read 7:00 am.

He dropped down in a sitting position on the bed, throwing his phone to another side of it before burying his head in his hands. Pushing his fingers through the thick dark curls, he sighed. He needed a haircut.

He then began to feel a slight headache, and today was another day of long tedious work. He heaved another sigh. Just great!

Not that he didn't love his work, he loved absolutely everything about it. As a graphic designer for an ad agency, it was such a wonderful experience. The idea of creating ads for clients and having projects successful was what really kept pushing him forward. Hopefully one day, he'd have his own agency.

Though, of course it was easier said than done. Work could be really stressful, especially now that their previous client had already been settled. The agency was currently pitching ideas for some new clients but there was this one in particular which they were trying to gain their approval so much. This was the reason for his sleepless nights.

Stepping into his flip flops, he got out of bed before making his way to the bathroom. Reaching up to the cabinet on the wall, he opened it and brought out a tablet of painkillers before getting out and walking out of the room.

Jogging down the stairs, he started making his way to the kitchen to get water.

"-always thought being in a relationship was all about being happy and basking in the warmth from the love of your partner, but over the years, I learnt it..."

The female speaker on the radio went on as he walked in and saw his little sister- Jessica Riedes.

She was across the kitchen island munching on breakfast which comprised of sandwich and a glass of orange juice. She didn't even notice when he came in as her whole attention was focused on the radio.