Deadly Obsessions

Chapter 6: Disapproval

Chapter 6: Disapproval

On the way to Nathan's house, I let a few tears escape. I still wasn't sure if I was ready to move in with him. We'd only been going out for a month, and it seemed pretty risky. But I didn't have a choice. I didn't want to lose him.

It took me a bit longer to find his house than I hoped it would. I'd only ever been there twice. I tried to remember the way, but got lost a few times. When I finally pulled up out the front of his house, I hesitated. What if Nathan's dad didn't like me? I had never met him before, and I'm sure he wouldn't want me staying at his house, even if it was only temporary.

I breathed in deeply, then grabbed my bags and got out of the car. At the front door, I knocked once, and Nathan was there in half a second.

"Audrey," he cried, as he pulled me into his arms. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied.

He must've seen the dishonesty in my eyes because he sighed and said, "Sorry. Stupid question." He took my hand, pulling me gently into his house. He led me to a small room - the lounge room - where his dad sat on a long brown couch watching a foot ball game. He was a bald, burly man with a short, brown beard. He didn't look anything like his son.

"Hey Dad," Nathan said timidly.

His dad looked up briefly and waved. He turned back to the TV without a word. There was silence for a few seconds, then, when he noticed me standing next to Nathan, he jumped up. He pointed at me and looked at Nathan with an angry look in his eyes.

"Why is she here?" He shouted. Then he lowered his arm and his voice. "Nathan. I want to speak to you in the kitchen, please," he said through his teeth. He looked as if he was about to explode.

Nathan glanced at me apologetically, and then quickly dropped my hand and followed his dad through a door at the other end of the lounge room.

I sighed embarrassed. I knew this wasn't going to go down well. I wasn't sure what to do with myself, so I just stood there. My hand tingled, and I looked down to realize I was clutching the handle of bag fairly tightly. I put the bag down carefully, stretching my fingers. My knuckles were still white.

I could hear low voices coming from the kitchen. They slowly rose until Nathan and his dad were shouting at each other at the top if the lungs. Then they went quiet again when they remembered I was still here. But they kept yelling at each other every now and then. I didn't catch a word they said, though they went on for about 15 minutes.

When they finally came back to the lounge room, Nathan looked distressed, and his dad still looked thunderously angry. He breathed in deeply, then let it out he seemed to be trying his hardest to calm down, but with no effect. Nathan walked over to me and grabbed my bag. He started walking to the door that led to the kitchen, beckoning for me to follow, but not waiting for me to catch up. I got to the door as he disappeared into the hallway. I followed him into another room at the end of the hallway, and he spun around as he placed my bag onto the bed.

"This is the spare room," he said. "You can stay here until I get-," he stopped suddenly and smiled. "I mean until we get an apartment.

I hugged him. "This is really nice of you to let me stay with you. But I won't stay if I'm causing any trouble. If your dad doesn't want me here I really shouldn't stick around."

"Don't worry about Dad. He just doesn't like the thought of having a girl in the house." I found that very hard to believe. It seemed like a lot more than that. But then I remembered about his mum. It would be hard for his dad after losing his wife. "Anyway we'll leave as soon as we find an apartment, so it doesn't matter. We won't be here for long."