A Little Death

XXVII

Skyler's POV

My head is aching, my entire body hurts, and everything is too loud and too bright, I feel cold, and my covers are everywhere. I reach for Joshua to soak in his warmth.

But he's not there.

Oh, right.

I get up and take a cold shower. I'm going to talk to Dad after this. 

I cook breakfast, for two people. 

Oh, right.

I bite down on my grilled cheese and burn my palate.

I get dressed and go out into the hallway. As I lock the door, I hear Joshua's unlocking. He comes out. I ignore him and walk to the elevator as I feel his gaze on me. He enters the elevator with me. I press the 94th floor, but he doesn't press anything. The doors open and I run to the door of my father's apartment. Joshua comes behind me.

'Don't follow me.' I tell him, but he just looks at me. As I reach my hand out to knock on the door, Joshua grabs it.

'I need to talk to you, Skye.' I free my hand.

'I don't want to talk to you.' I knock on the door and he leaves. Victory.

Dad opens the door, looking stressed. 'Hey Kylie, come in.' He rubs his forehead.

'What happened, Dad?'

'Milos is coming over for dinner. He says he wants to meet you guys.'

'Uncle Milos? That's great! Wait- you GUYS?'

'You and Joshua.'

'Dad- We aren't- We aren't tog-'

'He's coming in the evening.' He cuts me off. 'He's gonna bring his girlfriend.'

'Didn't he just get a divorce?'

'Oh, yeah, he already has a new girlfriend. See, his new girlfriend, she's, a bit- problematic. She's vegan, and she doesn't know she's dating a member of the mafia.'

'Uncle Milos is going crazy- How much younger is she than him? You said this evening?'

'She's 21, he's turning 36.'

'15 years! He's outdone himself this time- He really needs to stop doing that.'

'They're coming at 7 this evening.'

'Dad- I don't know if I can-'

'Yes, you can. You can do it, honey.' He pats me on the back and leaves me alone in his apartment, leaving for work, but he stops mid way.

'Also, I was hoping you could start doing missions in about half an year, you're a grown up now.'

I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. I've dreamed of it since I could walk, assisting my dad on his missions. Or doing my own. I would've been screaming with joy if I wasn't about to cry any second. I hug him and thank him. 

'You need to take Joshua with you, though. I know you can do it on your own, but it couldn't hurt to have a little help.'

'Dad-' I want to give him a piece of my mind, but he's just trying to do what he thinks is best for me, so I don't.

'Ok, thanks.' He nods at me and leaves.

I WILL go do these missions, but I won't do them with Joshua. How's he gonna know anyway? For now, I need to deal with the problem with Uncle Milos. I need to go tell Joshua- No, I should just bear with it for one night. Neither me nor my dad can afford the questions Uncle Milos hurls at me. Dad doesn't even know about it, I can't just reveal that we broke up randomly like that during dinner.

Joshua's POV

It's 6:52 already. Only Frank is at the dinner table, quizzing me on his daughter's preferences, her favourite color, brand, car.

I got them all correct.

Skyler shows up at 6:57. She sits opposite to me, next to her dad, but he tells her to sit next to me. She gets up and sits next to me, hesitantly.

Around 7:30, the doorbell rings. Frank gets up to open the door. 

'You need to act like we're still together. I don't want to cause a ruckus right now. I'm going to break the news to Dad calmly.' She tells me. Act like we're still together?

A man walks in, wearing a loud checkered black and white suit. And his girlfriend is someone I know too well.

'Everyone, this is my new girlfriend, Celia.'

What sort of fucked up connection is this? She looks at me, and her eyes widen. I can smell her nervousness.

'Joshua?' she asks, eyebrows furrowed together. Skyler turns her head towards me slowly, her frustration clear because her face is going red. 

'You two know each other? Great!' Frank says. Not great. I don't want to have dinner with my ex, especially in front of my girlfriend that's already mad at me.

'Are you acquainted with my girlfriend?' the man asks.

'Yes. I'm Joshua.'

'Milos. You can call me that.' It doesn't feel like he really means it, but I'm sure as hell not calling him "sir". I nod and shake his hand.

He sits opposite me and Celia sits opposite Skyler. Skyler is giving her the fakest smile I've ever seen. Celia smiles back. Now that I look at her, I don't know why I ever dated her. Next to Skyler, she looks like wet cement. But I'm not going to tell her that.

I can't get over the fact that she's dating a man 15 years older than her for the money. I knew she was like that, but I didn't think she'd go that low. It's creepy and disgusting.

'So, you're dating?' Celia asks, pointing at me and Skyler.

'How do you two know each other?' Milos asks.

'We... we used to date. He's my ex.' Celia responds, and looks down at her plate. Milos and Frank look at me questionably. Skyler scratches the table with her nail, pushing her food around the plate with her fork.  

I finish the last bite of my food over awkward silence. The room is filled with nothing but the sound of forks and knives scraping against the plates and the faint chewing. 

People take the plates to the kitchen after we're done, we sit in silence on our phones for a while until Milos starts talking to Skyler.

'So, Kylie, I hear you beat up Tomer? I guess you BEAT me to it!' He starts laughing. Skyler looks up, clearly unamused, but she smiles at him. Celia looks confused. 'Who's Tomer?'

'Oh, uh, just a friend.' 

'You beat up your friends?' She laughs, glancing at Skyler. 'You should come with a warning label.' She ugly-laughs. Skyler glares at her and she shuts up and starts scrolling again.

-----------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: Hey guys! I've noticed more readers ob my story, thanks for all the support <3

Also, please don't forget to vote, small writers like me really appreciate it.

Much love and keep reading pookies <3