Sunshiny Days

Chapter Two

A dimly lit car pulled into the driveway. It was one in the morning, and the person inside was exhausted. She parked the car and slowly shuffled inside. "I'm home" she said to a house that was already asleep. She took off her shoes and walked down the hallway to her bedroom. On the way, she passed by a door. She stared up at the words "Alexandria" and sighed. "I'm sorry, kiddo, looks like I missed you again."

She put her hand on the doorknob and contemplated if she should go in. She decided not to and kept walking. Next, she came up to another door. The words were no longer there, but a faded name still retained its shallow color. "Claire..." she said as she rubbed her hand slowly against the faded name. She took a deep breath in as she remembered something from the past. Dark hallways were illuminated and the screams of a child filled her ears as her vision went black. She started to hyperventilate, but then it passed. She steadied her breathing and took one final look at the door. Still focused on the name, she turned around and finally walked to her room.

The door was open, and her husband was laying in their bed. "Long night huh?" he said as she closed the door.

"Yes, they needed me to stay because we didn't get a project done." she replied as she got into bed. She laid down and sighed. "I missed Dri again," she stared at the ceiling, "I wish my job wasn't so demanding."

"That's all right, honey, you can see her in the morning before you go to work."

She turned to face her husband. "Tomorrow is when I leave to go on a four day business trip. I tried to get out of it, but the company needs me. We've been having people step down a lot lately."

"Hmm" her husband replied.

She sighed again. "I'll get up early so I can see Dri before she goes to school in the morning. I'll apologize again for not being able to see her often." She laid on her back and closed her eyes. "Maybe things will get better...."

Morning came and the smell of breakfast filled the air. She woke up in a jolt and looked at the time. "CRAP" she screamed and quickly ran to the kitchen.

Her husband was waiting for her, cooking eggs and pancakes. "Hey, honey, I'm making breakfast."

She looked around "Where's Alexandria?"

Her husband flipped an egg before answering "I took her to school today. Remember that she goes at 7."

She looked down sadly, it was already past 8. She walked over to a chair and sat down. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought you needed the rest. You did come home pretty late last night" her husband responded.

She put her head in her hands "I'm a terrible mother..."

Her husband came over and served her a plate. "Don't say that. It's not like you won't ever see her again."

"But you don't understand, I'm going away for four days, I won't be able to see her." she pleaded, but her husband started massaging her shoulders.

"You'll get to see her again, Pris, just focus on your job for right now. She'll be here when you get back."

She started to cut into a pancake. "You're right, I need to stop worrying. When I get back from this trip, I'll try to get some more vacation days so I can see her more. I don't want her to think I'm abandoning her." she said as she took a bite.

"Atta girl." her husband said.

No more was said about it, and they finished their breakfast in peace. When it was time to leave, she got her stuff and gave her husband a kiss. "I'll see you in 4 days, Drew, and I'll call you every night to see how Dri is doing."