My All

Part 10

Half an hour later, Deborah arrived at a cabin in the woods, away from town. She saw Shawn's truck in the front with luggage in the back. She ran to the door and knocked. The door swung open. "Shawn?" She called as she ventured inside. "Is anybody here?"

She walked to the table where she saw a piece of paper. "Mom, if I'm not here when you come, I'm by the river. Shawn" She left the cabin and followed the river noise. After twenty minutes walking, she finally reached the river. She saw Shawn sitting leaning against a tree. She slowly walked towards him trying not to make any noise. She stepped on a branch and stood still as he slowly got up and turned around. "Desiree, is that you? What are you doing here? Are you lost?" He asked, turning back to watch the river.

"I came to see you."

"To see me?" He asked, surprised looking at her. "Want to throw me in the river?"

She was taken aback by his question. "I came to apologize. I know you are angry."

"I'm not angry, Desiree." He said walking towards her. He stood in front of her. She held her breath and looked up at him.

She gulped. "You aren't?"

"No, I was out of place. I shouldn't have done that. It was disrespectful."

"You just caught me off guard." She said looking down.

He grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes. Those eyes that made her forget about everything. "Really? So, you aren't mad at me?"

"No!" She said walking away from him but still maintaining eye contact. "And if you weren't mad at me either, why did you fire me?"

"I didn't fire you. What are you talking about? My mother said that you just quit."

"She fired me because you told her to do it. Or that's what she said."

"Come, let's go down to the diner and settle this."

"Your mother is not going to be happy to see me."

"Why?"

"I slapped her."

"Why would you do that?" He asked surprised.

"She said that my mother was a whore, and basically that I was one too."

"My mother can be insensitive sometimes. What have you been doing for money?"

"I had some money saved up."

"Well, come on. Let's go." He said, giving her his hand to take. She looked at the hand tentatively before finally taking it. As he pulled her towards him, everything started spinning and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Hours later, Deborah woke up in a comfortable bed. She stirred and sat up. She looked around the strange room. She got up and stared at a picture on the dresser. A young boy with an older man fishing down the river. It must be a young Shawn with his father. She heard noises coming from outside the door and walked out.

The noises were coming from the kitchen. She walked towards it. There she found Shawn cooking dinner. "Hi." She quietly said.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked, stopping what he was doing and walked towards her.

"Groggy, what happened?"

"You fainted. We were walking back and you just dropped."

"I haven't been eating right lately. Been worried about too many things."

"Come sit down. Dinner is almost ready." He said, motioning her to the table that was already set up.

"It smells delicious." She said sitting down.

"So what have you been worrying about?" He said, setting a plate in front of her and him, then sitting down.

"Well, I don't have a job. I can't seem to get one. Apparently your mother has made it impossible for me to do so elsewhere. And today, the motel owner is giving me two days to move out."

"I thought you had money saved up. You can't pay it any longer?"

"Sure, I can. She just doesn't want me staying there anymore. She worries it's not a safe place for a young woman."

"She's right, you know. Have you been looking for a place to live?"

"They all want proof of employment and I don't have that at the moment."

"Right. Well, that's going to change. You'll have your old job back. And I'll help you look for a place."

"I don't want your mother as an enemy. Are you sure she'll drop this?"

"She won't say no to me. Specially after she lied to you saying I asked her to fire you." They continued eating in silence.