In Exile

Chapter Nineteen

The night of the party, Loki didn't get back home until late and you were already in bed to rest for the busy work day ahead of you.

Saturdays were typically rather hectic in the lead up to Christmas.

Of course, during the rest of the year people expected retail workers to somehow work miracles and magically pull out something that wasn't in stock out of their magic back pocket of everything.

Christmas, however, made things like that a thousand times worse and a lot more headache inducing.

Typically, you would look forward to going home and resting, sitting in a darkened room either watching TV, surfing the internet or reading by the tall lamp that you had sitting beside your couch.

That Saturday, you were dreading going home and having to face Loki.

It was ridiculous that you were anxious about going to your own comfort zone, but confronting these bubbling emotions filled you with dread and confusion.

You were upset, you were pissed and you were confused, all of which you didn't know how to convey to Loki who rightfully didn't really do anything wrong or intentionally malicious.

It wasn't as if he knew of your affections towards him and he couldn't control if his feelings went towards another, but a spark of jealousy flared in you at the thought of them together and a pang of hurt jolted your heart when you thought of his flippant response.

Despite your best efforts, you couldn't stop your mind from concluding the worst scenario for your emotional state about why he had returned home late.

Yes, of course you knew rationally it's just that some office parties will run into the early morning, especially if they didn't have work the next day due to it being a weekend, which was how the company Loki worked for ran, but you couldn't stop yourself from imagining that it was a more lurid reason.

One that you didn't want to imagine, but couldn't stop yourself from thinking about.

That is until you threw yourself into work.

Using the day's work load as a deterrent for the mind was the perfect way to distract yourself from the thoughts, serving customers as best as you could, getting them in and out quickly with a friendly smile and helping them hunt down elusive books took your mind off everything.

You had a laugh with co-workers and genuinely enjoyed your day, until it was time to go home.

On the way home, you stalled yourself as much as you could by visiting the large supermarket that was on your journey home, one that you frequently would venture in to, sometimes to browse and other times to use as a shortcut through the building to save yourself the time of going around it.

Those precious two minutes could be used elsewhere.

As you wandered up and down the aisles, piling random things into the basket in your hand, you started to reason with yourself about why you were being ridiculous.

For starters, Loki may not even be at home, he could be out with Rachel for all you knew.

That thought instantly ruined your mood, so you turned your attention to music in the hopes of it being an ample distraction.

By the time you had finished picking out bits and pieces of fill your cupboards and your added comfort treats, barely an hour had passed and you had to accept the fact that you couldn't linger any longer.

You faced the fact that you had to go home and possibly sit in the same house as the man who had unknowingly upset you.

As you walked out of the shop, your messenger bag heavy with product with another bags handles digging into the skin of your hand, you turned left to head home only to have your step falter.

You turned towards the right, remembering that on the opposite side of your usual path was an ATM, the perfect opportunity to stall for a few more minutes as you waited in the short line and checked the damage in your bank account.

As you stood in line, you tried to mentally calculate how much you believed should be in there after your little shopping session, never a pleasant number but one you liked to be sure of all the same.

Stepped up to the front, you did the usual routine of popping the card in, putting in your pin, pressing the option you needed and waiting with baited breath to see just how wrongly you had calculated your guess.

The system seemed to take a little longer than usual and you were beginning to panic that it had malfunctioned and eaten your card, as another machine had almost done a few years prior after work, when the bank was closed and you wouldn't have known how to get it back had it not finally spit it back out after five agonizing minutes.

Much like that situation, the machine just appeared to be taking its time, unlike that situation it didn't spit your card out and stop working altogether.

This time, it flashed up with the amount in your account and options for you to progress with.

An amount that made you gawp.

Without knowing, you must have been paid a clumped amount of what that weird agency owed you, as you were more than the richest that you had ever been in your life.

As you gaped, open mouthed at the large number and waited for the receipt to print with your new, significantly richer bank balance, you remembered why Loki was even living with you in the first place.

You had agreed to this for money, not to get caught up in emotions.