Ties That Bind

Chapter 12. Daydreaming

When the group of four returned home, Stevie and Lindsey were obviously let off together and for the first time in two days, forced to part ways. It would actually do them well considering they clung to one another the entire time and though they were learning of each other, they're intenseness created a weird hunger and barrier for both of them.

But at this point in time, Stevie was a little relieved to be away from everybody since she was quite the homebody on an average day.

As she unpacked her things and put her clothing either away or in her hamper, she had a blank mind for the first time and it was interesting to not have feeling for the moment because she had been left in wonder for that last few days even if she had to admit she had a good time with Lindsey mingling with her family so easily.

She liked Lindsey a lot, but there were some aspects she was iffy on and it wasn't just having to do with his status even if she was a little insecure about that. It was because he brought a sort of yearning she had never felt and it was making her want to throw as many barriers as she could since she wasn't ready to invite somebody in so fully and he had a really good advantage from the beginning and she didn't know why that was at all. She was also afraid, especially since he somehow knew everything about her and that was alarming in a sense, because that never did happen to her and when it did, it was often Robin, Lori or her mother--- and if it were a man, her father---never a man she barely met.

By midnight, she was in bed and she was reading through one of her textbooks until she got tired because she actually completed all of her work and read through a lot of it, the trip home instead and she was wiped. She onlyhoped to get a few hours of sleep before getting up.

~

When the next morning arrived, she would be up and running around---trying to gather her already organized things for school. Having planned to work later in the day as well, she also had her turquoise waitress uniform ready to throw in the trunk of her car so she could quickly change at work and then just start a shift.

In her trunk, she always had a few garment bags that had different types of things; a spare blouse, dress, pants and even a couple pairs of shoes with an extra coat. She was always prepared for the worst because she believed with her luck---things would go south really fast and she wanted to be on the right track, even if things did happen to go south.

As she made her way out the front door---Mr. Jones was at the side door, waiting for her.

"Morning, Stevie," he greeted as soon as she turned around.

"Morning, what can I do?" as she lugged all of her belongings.

"I was looking for you yesterday, just wanted to check in since we haven't seen you... But then we noticed you were gone along with Lindsey," he sort of smirked.

"Alright, it's too early for this," she laughed a little as she scratched her forehead with her index finger. "And I'm also not having this conversation right now," she gestured to his place.

"Well, she was very happy to know you've made friends with him," he pointed back at his place, speaking of his wife.

"I'll see you guys later," she cut off the discussion only because it annoyed her to think she more or less had a second set of parents living with her.

"Do we earn any intel? It was her idea, after all..."

"I'll talk to you later, Mr. Jones..." she lingered in a sing-songy tone because irritation was right under the surface of that passive aggressive side of her.

He couldn't help but laugh as he passed her by to get back to his running vehicle that was out in the front while she made her way to the back, to her garage.