Through His Eyes

Through His Eyes [10]

{{Dedicated to @-sethdusky for being the sweetest}}

CHAPTER TEN

 

To say that Rhea was in a frenzy, would be an understatement. Floyd had showed up unannounced, she was still wearing a towel on her head and she couldn't for the life of her remember where she'd discarded her purse last night, her room was such a mess.

She decided to tackle things one at a time, and the first thing to do would be blow-drying her hair. She wished she could be one of those people who let their hair dry on their own, but that always resulted in massive headaches with her, which wasn't something that she'd find welcome in her first date in decades. Well, maybe not decades, but it had certainly been a while and she wanted things to go as smoothly as she could.

So dry her hair, she did. After that, she decided that sweatpants would be making too little an effort, so she changed into a sundress, thanking the gods above for having shaved her legs the previous day for the party. She didn't bother with makeup. That ship had sailed when she'd answered the door in her sweatpants with her face looking all puffy because she slept well into the afternoon.

She spotted her purse lying by her bedroom door, and she got the distinct flashback of throwing it there the night before. Well, that was settled, too. She gave herself a onceover in the mirror and stepped out of her room.

All she needed to do now was ask for her mother's permission, and she was pretty sure she wouldn't have a hard time acquiring it once she'd thrown in the S-word in there. Her father wasn't back from the grocery store yet, so that was one less thing to deal with. Unless, he came back before she and Floyd could dash out of here. In that case, the "What are your intentions with my daughter?" interrogation was inevitable, and she was sure she couldn't handle that sort of mortification today.

When she entered the living room, she saw that her mother was sprawled on the couch, watching reruns of House. That was the one show they enjoyed watching together, and it made her want to snuggle in her side for a moment or two. However, the threat of her father arriving was imminent, so she needed to vacate the premises quickly.

"Mom?" she called for her mother's attention.

"Yes dear?" she said without tearing her eyes from the screen. She could see House picking on Kutner on screen. That poor guy.

"Can I go out?" she asked, which earned her her mother's full attention.

"Aren't you worn out from the party last night?" she asked.

"I actually kinda am," Rhea admitted. "But Floyd came to see if I wanted to hang out. Which I do."

"Floyd? As in..." her mother trailed off, the name surely sounding unfamiliar to her ears. In the little conversation they'd had about the whole soulmate thing, Rhea hadn't thrown in a name.

"As in my soulmate," she said with an air of nonchalance.

"Oh, Rhea," her mother breathed out, getting misty eyed in an instant. Rhea had never pegged her mother to be one for the dramatics, so this was very interesting to witness. However, she didn't have time to stand around for it.

"Mom," she said, effectively breaking her out of her reverie. "Can I go?"

"Sure, dear," her mother said.

"Okay, thanks."

Just as Rhea was about to turn around and leave, she heard her mother shuffle up the couch. In an instant, she was standing next to her and wrapping her in a bone-crushing hug. At first, she was too surprised to respond; her mother wasn't one to give attack-hugs. But then, she returned the hug with equal fervor.