Dark Love

Chapter Thirty

Six months later...

Her new job was...fun. The people were entertaining, and her boss was just like Sunny, a little less moody though. She interacted really well with her coworkers, and she loved the fact that she was starting fresh.

People here didn't know her dark past. They didn't give her judgemental eyes, and that was relieving. Here, she was the new Texan girl, that wanted to change, wanted something new, and she was okay with that.

South Carolina was a good place to start new. Quiet and all she needed to forget the past. She was long away from home, away from her traitorous family. Away from Lauren.

Away from the past.

Once it was five, she said goodbye to her coworker Letty and Tommy, a couple, and headed home. She didn't have an apartment anymore. She had a house this time. She had grown tired of apartments.

The minute she walked in, the smell of burned popcorn hit her. She dropped her purse and yelled, “Donald!"

“Yeah?" he mumbled from behind the couch. She walked over to him, and found him half asleep.

“What is the meaning of this? Donald, what did you do?" she stormed into the kitchen, opening the windows and trying her best to get rid of the smell.

“I tried making popcorn, didn't work. It burned twice." he groaned, and then stretched luxuriously.

“And you think that's okay?"

“Sorta."

“God." she said, and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. She had no choice but to take him with her when Todd went missing. She will never forget that day.

She was packing, and then there was a knock on the door. It was the caretaker, he gave her a letter. It was a little dirty, and had her name on it, her address and all, how a letter should be composed. It was weird, it wasn't from the bank or from Sunny's.

She ripped it open, and realized that it was from Todd. After she read it, her life changed completely. He had run off with another woman, and left Donald behind for her to take care of him. She was shocked, but she knew that it was a typical Todd move.

After that, she and Donald have lived happily ever after.

Well, not really.

Donald has never spoke of his dad after that. He never mentioned it. It wasn't lack of affection, really, he cared too much. Mia knew that. It must have been hard on him when Todd left.

After she was done, he was fast asleep. She got a blanket and covered him, he was way too heavy for her to pick him up. So, she left him there.

She ordered food, from her favourite Chinese restaurant. She loved the food there, it was balanced, and the ginger was never absent. She liked ginger.

By the time the food had arrived, Donald was awake and grumpy. He claimed that he had not eaten.

She placed the bags on the table.

“What's this?" he asked, sniffing the bags.

“Food."

“You ordered?"

“Yes."

“Thank God." he muttered under his breath. He took out some flatbread, and some paste from the bag, and dipped the bread in. As soon as he took a bite, he dropped it.

“What the fuck is this?" he asked, gagging. Mia raised an elegant brow at him.

“What's what?" she asked.

“This green shit." he pointed at the paste.

“Hummus."

“Fucking hell." he got up, and headed straight to the bathroom. Mia rolled her eyes at him. There were kebabs in one of the bags, she didn't understand why he went for something he wasn't familiar with. Greedy, greedy boy.

When he returned, he waved off the food. “No fucking thanks, shit almost made me puke my guts out." He was mad, really mad. Mia offered him a kebab, saying, “You like these, right?"

“They taste like dog."

She gave up. She savored the food, while Donald watched some old crappy movie. He kept glancing at the meat kebabs. He wanted them, so bad, but his pride wouldn't let him eat. He sighed. No problem, he would just sneak into the kitchen when she was asleep and steal them. No problem at all.

She placed the dishes in the dishwasher and went off to bed. Donald was still up, he slept when he wanted to, school wasn't a priority for him, school could fuck off for all he cared.

But, when it came to movies, yeah, movies were the shit. They created illusions, and entertained you. Movies like Friday the 13th and Evil Dead were very educational. Rule number one: never fuck off to a cabin in the woods. You're obviously not going to survive.

Well, that's what he thought.

*

Mia arrived just in time for work. She was energetic and ready to start the day. She was in a very good mood and her coworkers contributed to it.

“Good morning, Mia." her coworker Susan, greeted, walking with her to the main office.

“Morning Susan, what's going on?"

“Well, have you heard that Denver was fired?" she whispered. If you wanted some juicy office gossip, Susan was the one you could count with.

“Really?"

“Yes, and I think it's because if the replacement." she sighed, “Well, gotta go. Got some homework to do."

“Yeah, see you around."

In all honesty, Mia wasn't shocked. Denver was a moody and cocky sonofabitch. Disrespectful, and very irritating. Mia was actually glad.

Mia began straight away. Being an accountant was not easy. She had to create an entire file, reorganize the spread sheets and she had to balance all the books. Yes, end of the month was hard work.

She was so caught up in her work, she didn't acknowledge the person standing next to her. She was stressing already, and she wasn't even halfway done.

“Excuse me?"

Her head snapped up. She stared back at a magnificent pair of gray eyes. They sparkled. She gazed at him, his lips were pink, his nose was straight, his chin...

She quickly recovered, “Yes, how may I help you?"

“Do you mind telling me where the restrooms are? I'm kind of new, so..." he trailed off.

The replacement...

“Of course. It's on your left." she pointed at the visible sign on the wall.

“Oh, right. Thank you."

He walked off. Mia cursed under her breath. She almost had a meltdown, in front of the new replacement. She only hoped that he didn't notice. She was mortified.

Damn Susan for not telling her the man was attractive, she thought. Then again, what would you expect from a married mother of three? Maybe she didn't notice. She should have, though.

She organized her thoughts and went back to work. There was no space for new sexy coworkers in her agenda.

Maybe.

      _________________________________

Second update.

Enjoy!