"Morning, Kayla," Kate greets as she comes downstairs. I'm seated at the barstool shovelling Cheerios into my mouth. "Morning John," she kisses him in the cheek. He sets his coffee cup down and looks up from his newspaper.
"Morning Hun," he watches as she pours her own coffee into a travel mug. He stares at her intently before speaking again. "Are you sure you want to wear that to work?"
Kate looks down at her outfit. She's wearing a clean navy dress that hugs her body down to her knees. She has paired it with a blazer over top creating a professional attire. She looks fine to me.
"What's wrong with it?"
"It looks like you're trying to give off the wrong idea. If you were my accountant I would think you wanted more than just my money, if you know what I mean," he shames. "Of course wear what you like."
"Maybe you're right," she says after a moment of consideration. Then she scurries upstairs to change.
"How has school been?" John asks. I'm shocked at first because he usually doesn't make an effort not to talk to me.
"Oh, it's been pretty good. Everyone has been really nice," I offer him a smile. I go back to eating my breakfast.
"You don't need to inhale your food. If you don't fit into your clothes because you're eating a pound of sugary cereal, I'm not buying you new ones. Eventually all that food is going to catch up to you."
I nearly choke on the O's. Nobody has ever mentioned my weight before. I have always been really thin even though I eat as of my stomach is a bottomless pit. It's never been a concern of mine since I've been given the gift of a fast metabolism. I never felt ashamed of how much food I could shovel in my mouth. Dad would always teased I should enter pie eating competitions because then we would be rich. He never said anything negative about it. I stare at him as he turns to his newspaper.
"Kayla, are you almost ready to go? Olivia should be here soon," Kate returns wearing black slacks and a white long sleeve blouse that goes up to her neck and ties in a big bow. "I would like to go out for lunch this weekend by the way."
I dump the remains on my cereal into the organics bin and put my bowl in the dish washer.
"Kayla, I'm talking to you."
Wait... me? I stand up straight and turn to her. She wants me to go for lunch with her?
"Uh, okay," I respond hesitantly. Her face drops in disappointment at my lack of interest. I quickly try to hide it by immediately initiating damage control. "That sounds fun."
"Great!" She flashes her smile that would make any man's insides melt. "I think we could use some bonding time. You should come too John, since we are all a family now."
"I don't have time to do lunches, dear," he pulls himself up from the table adjusting his tie. "I'm a very busy man. People depend on me to save their lives." John kisses her on her cheek before grabbing his jacket and heading off to the hospital. John is a cardiovascular surgeon. He thinks he's better than everyone else In other words, he thinks he's one hot tamale. John is just exhausting to be around sometimes. Kate grabs her Prada handbag off the counter slinging it over her shoulder. "Are you sure you want to go? You don't seem very excited."
I'm extremely grateful for the familiar sound of a horn that is exactly on time. I don't want to pretend I'm excited to endure what I presume will be an incredibly painful lunch experience.
"Sorry, I have to go."
~*~
"Ouch! That hurt!" I rub my forehead trying to sooth the pain of the cherry pit that has nearly penetrated my skull. I use my sleeve to scrub away the red stain I know it there.
YOU ARE READING
Rock Bottom
Romance"I pray that the last time I said goodbye was not meant forever." *** Growing up with a single parent with not much money to spare wasn't particularly easy, but Kayla never felt like her life was anything less than amazing. Her father loves her dear...
