On the edge of the street on the outskirts of town, I sat, clutching an empty bottle. I felt completely lost, incapable of taking another step. My foot throbbed with a numbing ache while my legs struggled beneath me. The bite of the cold gnawed at my senses. Every thought that graced my mind wore the face of anxiety, perpetuating a haunting unease.
Casting my gaze behind me, I beheld the building to which my aimless steps had carried me, the only place I could go. A faint glimmer emanated from her window, hinting at either a night resigned to insomnia or an unfinished evening. I didn't even know what time it was, and guilt feasted upon me like an insatiable predator. For the second time, the day of departure was marked by an unwelcome return, mocking my every desperate pursuit of escape from this strange dependency.
I was well aware that any alternatives were conspicuously absent, but I felt so stupid, so lost, so pathetic. Limping down the hallway of the apartment complex, anxiety surged with each footfall. My heart waged a riot within the cage of my ribs. An icy stillness had claimed my fingertips, resistant to any warmth I tried to gather up. Even my teeth were chattering.
Once the door yielded to my knocking, I slipped inside, the resounding thud echoing like a gunshot in my ears. The bags abandoned my grasp while I pressed my forehead against the polished wood. My vision blurred as unshed tears clung like fragile dewdrops upon my lashes. I wanted to collapse right then and there.
But I steeled myself against the tide of despair once more, resolute not to shatter under Alex's gaze. Until a gentle voice spoke my name. And it was not hers.
A new kind of queasiness surged within my chest, underlining the gravity of my mistake, making it worse. I had solemnly vowed to shield Benji from this part of my existence, those vices that gripped me, and the negativity that tended to haunt my every thought. Foolishly, I had entangled him in my web, him—such a sweet, innocent soul. I could not bear the thought of sullying his bright-eyed view of the world.
With a valiant effort, I tried to mold a smile upon my lips, though it felt as arduous as sculpting moonbeams. My eyes wandered across the room, settling on the coffee table with the puzzle that I had interrupted. And Alex's stare. Or more like a glare. Righteous anger had found its roost within her, and I knew I deserved every speck of it.
But a subtle shift occurred as her attention turned to her son, her expression softening into a gentle smile. "Can you go to your room for a bit, sweetheart? I need to have a talk with Kayla."
Confusion took hold of the boy, yet he obeyed her request, shuffling away under the guidance of Alex's hand upon his shoulder. But the moment the door closed shut, her smile faded, and the atmosphere enveloping our presence grew dense.
"What the fuck did you do?" she whisper-yelled at me.
Silent and paralyzed, I found my throat constricting, denying passage to even a single word. A strange sensation settled in my stomach, a hammering in my skull, and a tautness everywhere else, as if my insides were being pulled together. Heavy eyelids battled against the impending surrender while a throbbing ache resonated through my foot. It felt like I was in some phantasmagoric nightmare.
"You leave for one fucking day and come back drunk? While Benji is still awake?" Her words sliced through the charged atmosphere, each syllable dripping with resentment. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
I just closed my eyes. I did not want to face the reality unfolding mercilessly before me. Facing her seemed an insurmountable task, so shameful. "Please," I whispered, my voice barely audible, barely recognizable as my own. "I'll go away. Just let me warm up, and I'll leave you alone then."
Her eyes narrowed with a mixture of anger and disappointment as her voice turned into a blade of cutting words. "Get out of my apartment. When you bring my kid into your goddamn mess, that's where I draw the line."
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Miss, Do I Know You?
RomanceA stranger to her own existence, Kayla moves to a small town with the hope of finding comfort in fresh starts. But as she steps inside the unfamiliar classroom on the first day, standing in front of the class is a mysteriously familiar face, one tha...