The Brightest Stars ✨

Chapter 1

Natalia snacked on some frozen grapes absentmindedly, as she graded papers. She was on a diet where she deprived herself of carbs and annoyed everyone around her with her hangry antics.

She hadn't been herself since her last chip two Sundays ago at precisely 6.07 in the pm; that she remembered the time was yet another testament to the voluntary bondage she was in with carbohydrates.

She wanted to eat healthier, and have a relationship with food that didn't consist of cycles of guilt and deprivation. Also she needed to shift that relationship weight. She had never been this round before. Her arse deserved its own postcode, and like a separate seat when she sat down. She needed to get a grip and fast. It didn't help that Gabe was her enabler. His hands never left her behind when they were in the same vicinity, and as her behind grew so did his attentions.

She had recently started going to therapy too. She hadn't planned on it, but she was waiting for Gabe at his appointment and then the counsellor had popped his head out and asked her to step in for a few minutes.

She had enjoyed the discussion, and if Gabe was going to benefit from it then she was all for it. He was really her favourite topic of discussion, she could talk about him for hours. But it had gotten her thinking.

If Gabe was doing all this work to deal with this past, then she too could also do some work. Some days in therapy were monotonous, some days a breakthrough smacked her in the face and made her sit up and other days, she dug deep into a mine of feelings she hadn't addressed since she had felt them and compartmentalised them somewhere dark and far.

And on the days that they struck gold, everything bubbled to the surface, and it was like she was feeling for the first time, after years of unfeeling. She was working on being more in tune with herself, vocalising out loud instead of having a malicious internal monologue, that resentfully stored everything and never forgot. She was learning how to love, most importantly how to love herself and allow others to love her.

Gabe was in the kitchen, rustling up a guilt free dinner. He didn't see the necessity in her diet but had largely been very helpful in making healthy, and filling meals for them both.

Her attention flitted to the television, CNN was serving as background noise. There was a segment on local elections, Natalia hadn't been paying any attention to them since she couldn't vote herself and also because this country still didn't make any sense to her.

She had been there for almost two school terms now. They were deep into the spring term. It was around February. The weather was starting to get warmer after the surprisingly chilly winter.

Things were starting to settle down a little bit after the Christmas that she had. Gabe was recovering from his gunshot wound to the shoulder nicely, he was regaining more of his strength in physiotherapy as the weeks went on and he was back at work.

Which Natalia loved. Being able to see him however briefly in the middle of the work day instead of obsessively worrying about him was a nice reprieve and brightened up her day.

She had one niggling issue though. She still didn't have a solution for her visa problem. It hung over her like a cloud. She didn't want to bother Gabe with it, since he was doing so well both physically and mentally and he hadn't been for a long time. He was mostly sleeping through the night nowadays and she didn't want to bring up a new issue that could derail his sleep hygiene. She still had time to fix the situation.

There was an older man being interviewed, with salt and pepper hair and firm jawline. His eyes were bright blue despite his advancing age and he spoke with a slow, firm drawl that was strangely familiar to her.

Natalia grew even more puzzled when she saw the caption under the interview, "John Mercier probed on past court judgements ahead of Texas Senate Elections."

"Gabe, come here quick."

"What?" he shouted from the kitchen.

"I said come here please!"

Gabe appeared wearing an apron, with a dishrag thrown over his shoulder with a put out expression on his face. "Yeah?"

"Do you know that man?"

Gabe regarded the screen coolly, she could see his jaw flexing under the grim expression he wore on his face. "Baby, that's my father."

"Your father is a Republican Senate nominee and judge?"

"Yes."

"Christ, strike me down. I mean I should have gotten an inkling when I saw your mum but, I had no idea. You're really...white white."

She could see that angry tick in his jaw, as he went back to the kitchen without another word. Had she somehow offended him? He was going to have to get over it because they had a lot to discuss, especially when it was came to their families.