Violence (Sequel to Have Faith In Me)

21: Options

"Uh, what?" I asked.

"Mike said that he was going to spend some time alone in a hotel away from us for a bit so that we could calm down and he could sight-see!" He was devastated that Ashton had lied to him. His voice was full of fury, and I began to slightly shake.

"Well hello to you too, Luke." I whisper, and pull my hand away from my ear, hanging up.

When I looked to the others, Rose's jaw had dropped and Ashton was wide awake, biting his lip.

"I-I should've told you. I didn't tell him because I knew he'd be angry. He would've insisted that he would've come too." Ashton said, guilt laced in his voice.

"Why didn't you want him to come back here? Surely they could've had everything sorted by now?" Rose interjected.

"Because Kayla was freaking out, there was no way to tell if she would blank him in person or not. I just wanted to make sure she was okay." He explained.

We both nodded and there was an awkward silence for a minute. Luke tried phoning me back, but I just hung up on him and turned my phone off, not in the mood to hear about it.

"I'll go home now, it was nice to see you Ash." Rose said, a little flustered. She had only been here a tiny while but she obviously didn't want to get in the middle of anything, especially after that phone call.

Ash nodded and rose from his seat. He brushed himself down and wrapped her in a huge hug.

He then came over and gave me one, whispering a sincere apology about the Luke fiasco.

I waved Rose goodbye and then Ashton sat down in the kitchen with his laptop open.

He waved me over.

"Hey, I thought that I could help you with something? You know, like a proper guardian would. Not like drama wise, but like your life wise. Today I was thinking up a load of things that might interest you, and we could talk about your options for next year."

I nodded, my mood lifting at the thought of the kind and thoughtful gesture.

I sat down next to him and he turned his laptop of a large word document slightly away from me, wanting to talk through the options rather than just read them to me.

I giggled as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Okay, so first I have a list of careers that you might be interested in. We can't decide what you wanna do unless we figure out some of your interests."

I nodded. Career seemed like such a big word. I had been almost forced to grow up from a younger age than usual, much like Ashton had with his family.

But that was besides the point. This was different, this was nothing like the growing up that I had done. This was now coming to life, setting up the rest of my days. One day I would have to separate from my boys and live solely alone on my own property. I would have to set up my life, have a job and sustain myself. I couldn't babysit Olivia for the rest of my life, she will grow up.

"Okay, so, I wrote down what I know you enjoy. You love to skate, look after Olivia and mentor at the primary school. I know you love to cook, just from the little things you do, and I've picked up from. You love to solve puzzles and like riddles. You're very active, and you love to help other people, you always put others first. I've noticed that no matter how shit your day is, if someone says that they aren't happy or whatever, you forget about how you're feeling and concentrate on helping them. So here's what I've come up with."

My eyes widened in surprise, I didn't know he picked up on all of those little things.

He listed a load of jobs, ranging from a policewoman, who does a lot of detective work, and psychiatry. He had even thought about skating, suggesting that I become a steward or even teacher if I just did my grades. He even went into physiotherapy and suggested a chiropractor. But did I want my hobby to become my career?