The Way of Fate (Book 1)

31. Presents

Chapter Thirty-One: Presents

Mika

I sat on the edge of the bed, playing with the envelope in my hands that seemed to weigh a thousands pounds. Sam was sitting next to me, happily banging his stuffed bear into the mattress, because apparently that was fun.

I could still hear Allen's and Sarah's voices from downstairs, although I couldn't make out any words. I had I feeling I knew what he was saying though, and I didn't really want to be around to see her reaction.

It's bad enough that I had to figure out how to tell Allen about this. It came in the mail last week and I still hadn't decided whether or not to even tell him. It's going to ruin everything, but maybe this is the only option for us right now.

"Mika?" Allen called up after a little while. "She's gone."

"I'm upstairs," I called back.

Moments later, Allen was in the room, taking a seat next to me and pulling Sam into his lap.

"It's not too bad," I said softly when Allen started looking at the bruises on Sam's cheeks. "She wasn't holding too tight. They'll start fading by tomorrow, probably."

"Yeah, I can't help but worry, though." Then he looked over at me and noticed the envelope in my hands. "What's that?"

I turned it over in my hands one more time. "Something I need to talk to you about." I sighed. "You know how I applied to the cooking school here in town?"

"Yeah. Did you get in?"

I shook my head slowly. "No, I didn't. But it wasn't the only cooking school I applied to. This one-" I held up the envelope. "This one I did get into. Except it's on the other side of the state." I paused, trying to figure out my next words. "This is my dream, Allen. I finally got a chance at it. I need to go. I know you have your job and your parents just moved here because of you. So I can get a small apartment over there or something. I have enough money saved up, plus all that money you've been sneaking into my-"

"How do you know I've-"

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice an extra thousand dollars? Seriously, Allen, that's way too much and you're getting some of it back."

He shook his head, chuckling. "We'll discuss that some other time. But Mika, about you going to this school-"

"No. Please, just let me finish, okay?" He nodded. "I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but I could take Sam with me. Just for a little bit, until this whole Sarah thing blows over. She won't be able to find him there. He'll be safe. I'll bring him home to you, every weekend."

"I love you."

It was all he said, which left me very confused. Why was he telling me this now? I was hoping for some sort of reaction about the bomb I just dropped on him, not him telling me that he loves me.

But then he grabbed the envelope out of my hands and looked it over and pulled out the acceptance letter inside and read that. Finally, he looked at me. "This is in the same city of the new branch I was planning on opening up."

"What? Since when were you opening a new branch?"

He smiled. "Since right now."

Well that would explain why I didn't know. But he can't just do that. He can't just decide to go to a completely different city just because I was going. I would be fine on my own. I have been for years.

"Mika, you're right. Getting Sammy out of here is the best idea right now. But you're not going alone. It has nothing to do with me not trusting you or anything - believe me, I trust you completely. It's me worrying about our son's safety and needing to protect him; needing to constantly see that he's safe. We'll find a nice house together. If we end up keeping both houses, we keep both. It's not a problem, financially. All I have to do is make sure there's office space available - which I'm sure there will be. I was expanding anyway, I just hadn't decided on a location yet. Okay?"