This Thing Called Love (ON HOLD INDEFINITELY)

chapter five

AFTER

"Mama, where's my lunch?" Olivia called from the kitchen.

"It's on the counter Olivia," I called back.

This was the second time I told her where her lunchbox was. I had too much on my mind. I didn't finish my work assignment I was supposed to finish a week ago, resulting in me completing it now. On top of that, Tobias wasn't answering my phone calls. If he didn't come home in the next five minutes I was going to have to take Olivia myself, leaving him behind.

"I don't see it!" She yelled, not even a second later.

I groaned, slamming my work laptop shut. I glanced at my phone again, seeing if there was any missed calls or texts. I wasn't surprised to find myself not disappointed when I saw no new alerts. Tobias's behavior was getting tiring now. It didn't disappoint me anymore, but it only fueled my anger for him. I swear if he was locked up again I wasn't going to bail him out this time.

"I'm coming Liv," I mumbled, mostly to myself.

Lucy began jumping around my legs as I walked out of my office and down the hallway. She was barking as I placed my laptop in my tote bag. I bent down and cradled her in my arms before I walked into the kitchen. I could hear the TV playing Frozen in the living room next door. I shook my head. I really needed to delete that from the DVR. I found Olivia's lunch box placed right where I told her it was. I huffed out loud before grabbing it, placing Lucy in her cage. In the living room, I could see her eating her bowl of cereal directly in front of the TV.

"Olivia! How many times have I told you to sit back when you're watching TV?" I scolded, turning the TV off with a remote.

Olivia pouted as the TV went black. She placed her backpack on her back before picking up her almost empty bowl of cereal. All that was left was the milk.

"Drink the milk too," I ordered. She was about to argue before I gave her a stern glare.

"Is daddy coming?" She asked, before drinking her milk from the bowl.

She looked up at from the bowl, her big chocolate eyes staring up at me innocently. I avoided eye contact with her. Instead, I wiped the milk that dripped down her chin, making sure it didn't fall on her uniform.

"We have to get going if you want to be on time for your first day of first grade!" I said, trying to fake my enthusiasm, even though I was highly annoyed.

Mentioning her first day made Olivia giddy. I could still tell she wanted to know where her father was, but that didn't stop her from leading me out the front door. I smiled as I followed her. That was my little girl, strong and unfazed by things.

As I pulled into Olivia's elementary school, in Tobias's Range Rover since he still had my keys, I could see many parents walking their own children inside the school. Some kids were crying, probably because they were going to miss their parents or simply because they didn't like school. Either way, they had to go to school. I've always loved school and was relieved to find Olivia shared that feeling.

"Look Mama! It's Aliyah!" Olivia called out from the back seat. From the rear view mirror, I could see her trying to sit up in her booster seat.

"Please sit down Liv. Once I find a parking you can find Aliyah," I mentioned. Olivia sat down, but that didn't stop her from sticking her face to the window.