Professional Disaster

Chapter 19

As the sun rose the morning after the party, the house was filled with people who had started their day early, or who were so hungover they hadn't even considered getting out of bed yet. It was 8 AM and The Mitchell's wanted to seize the opportunity to sit with their daughter as she opened her smaller gifts from her parents. They wanted to make sure they got to spent the most amount of quality time with their daughter surrounding her birthday, especially since her relatives would be taking up most of her time for the next week.

Last night Dale and Jenkin had spoken about doing some fishing together in the early afternoon. Jenkin woke up earlier than the rest so he could get down to the dock and gather up some fishing gear before he could join his parents in Ari'sroom. He enjoyed being prepared, and he planned to be extra prepared after seeing how much more fragile Dale was now that he was older. Though he couldn't stop himself from wondering how that was. His grandmother, Katherine was older than Dale and yet she was still kicking about as if she were her Son's age. What had Dale done to himself?

Robert on the other hand was cooking some breakfast for his little family of four to eat while Arabella opened her gifts. And finally, Kimberly was on her way up to her daughter's bedroom to wake her and give her time to fully come around before she was bombarded with conversations, food and gifts.

She walked down the hall presuming most of her family would still be asleep so tried to be as quiet as she could. She heard a bang. Then another. Muffled noises grew louder with each step she took. Something in her stomach dropped.

She kicked her pace up into a sprint and burst through her daughter's bedroom door. "Parker, please." She hadn't realised she was already crying before even seeing what was happening. She could feel it in her bones, it was him.

Parker jumped up, feigning innocence. "I-"

"Mumma," Arabella cried. She dragged her sheets up to cover her bare chest. Kimberly stared at her daughter. In over twenty years of being a parent, she always had to appear strong in front of her kids. Every single day. But her heart was being ripped from her chest, and it was her former best friend's hand that encased it.

The room was frozen. Kimberly had been standing there for what felt like hours examining her little girl. How her pyjama shirt was nowhere to be seen, faint red lines around her mouth where Parker had kept her quiet. Her bedside table was knocked over from her struggle. Though, she could see a peek of her trousers from the edge of her comforter. They were still on.

Arabella watched as her Mother began to laugh like a maniac. "I'm such a fool." She sounded breathless as she stood in the doorway, now facing Parker, her eyes glued to him, watching his every move. He was fully clothed, another lucky star to count.

"You're insane." She spat. "You realise you have signed your own death certificate."

"Shut up! Just shut up, Kim!" Parker yelled. He was shaking, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He reached for Arabella, dragging her up so that she was against his chest.

"Touch her again and I'll put you down like a dog."

"Thought I was dead anyway?" Parker spat, pushing Arabella in Kim's direction. Kimberly pulled her daughter close. She reached into her daughter's laundry basket and found a t-shirt and pulled it over Arabella's head, hiding her body from Parker.

Too scared to let her daughter go, she held her tight as she sobbed. Kim smoothing down her hair, trying her best to hide her from such a man. "Parker, what happened? I looked past what you did to me, foolishly believing it was a drug ridden mistake. Just yesterday you fed me that excuse! God! How fucking stupid of me! Parker! Oh my God!" She began yelling. Her chest felt tight. breathless. Spinning. She wanted to rip her hair out.