To Have and To Hold

Chapter Four - New Beginnings

Two months ago

Andrea's POV

Tick, tock, tick, tock

I watch the clock ticking away and so is my patience. This is the last time I'm waiting on Neandra, that girl has no concept of time. She is always late, just like her father. I roll my eyes at the thought of him. Why did she have to pick this habit up, one of the many things I hated about her father.

"Nea!!" I yell, "if you don't come down the stairs now, I'm going to leave your ass!"

'Coming!" She shouts back.

I look at the clock again and then my watch. They are both saying the same time, half-past seven in the morning. My office opens at nine but with the Kingston traffic, I should have left 7:00 am on the dot if I want to get there by 8:00 am. I usually would be well on my way, but this little girl asked me to drop her off at Edna Manley on my way and now I'm half an hour behind.

I prefer to get to the office no later than 8 am to allow myself time to organize my day. Plus it is Monday, one of the busiest days for shipment.

"Mommy, I'm so sorry," Neandra says partially out of breath as she runs down the flight of stairs.

For a slim girl, she is unfit.

"Neandra, I don't have time for it this morning," I say as I grab my bag and keys from the kitchen counter.

I storm out of our two-bedroom apartment and down the short flight of stairs that leads to the car park. I get in the car and start it promptly, I do not care if she's in or not. I put on my seat belt and put the car in drive, that's when she gets in the car.

"As soon as your father comes back, we're going to sort out a vehicle for you because I can't deal with your tardiness. You throw off my whole morning." I suck my teeth to bring my ranting to an end.

I look over at her expecting a response and the little girl has her AirPods in, nodding away and totally ignoring me.

"What?" She pulls one of the AirPods from her right ear and looks over at me, "you finish?"

"Dyam disgusting," I suck my teeth and turn my attention to the pile-up of traffic before me.

"Mommy, stop being miserable, you're going to get to the office on time," she puts the AirPod back in and continues rocking.

I don't intend to stay behind all these cars so I start to weave in and out of the traffic. I'm trying to get in front of a white BMW so I blow my horn to get the drivers attention, the car isn't deeply tinted so I can see a young man behind the steering. I take down the front passenger window to signal my intention and add a winning smile to seal the deal, I need to get out of the way of the incoming traffic.

I can't see the full features of the driver but he smiles back at me. I relax a bit, waiting on the cars before him to move so I can squeeze in. I see that the light at the crossroad ahead is on green and the cars are slowly moving forward. I never get why people move so slow on the green light. The front of my Honda CRV was already positioned to join the line but I need to move the rear out of the way of the incoming traffic; they were moving too close for comfort.

I take my foot slowly off the gas pedal to allow the car to move forward when the BMW driver moves forward and blocks me out! The light then turns red, the traffic comes to a halt and I am still stuck in the road.

"That son of a bitch!" I exclaim in disbelief, "then dem seh woman nuh give bly. Ole waste man."

"Really mommy? If you stayed in the line you would not be in this position." She holds her right Airpod away from her ear as she reprimands me.