|| 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬, 𝑫𝑬𝑨𝑻𝑯 & 𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑭𝑭𝑰𝑻𝑰 ||

15. Fraya

VALERIE

Time seems to have gone so fast today. It's already getting dark out here.

I'd been so distracted talking to Riley, I hadn't realised that the day was going, and that I also haven't eaten anything.

I didn't really have to leave. I didn't even have to get home early. I was dumb to cut our time together short, just so he couldn't see me cry even more. He made me feel terrible crying in front of him. He had been so apologetic. I forgot how that felt. To enjoy time with someone so much that it never seems like enough.

I wish I didn't have to leave him. Of course, my Mum never needed me home at a specific time. But I couldn't let him see me cry even more. It was humiliating. But I also wish he didn't have to bring up Fraya. No matter how hard I try, I can never seem to get rid of her.

As I approach the house, I remember that I forgot to take the key when I was kicked out earlier. So now I have to knock on the door. I don't think she'll answer, and to be honest I don't want her to. So I settle down on the front steps, wrapping my arms around myself once again.

I pull up my knees to contain more body warmth, and try not to think about how cold it is, or how hungry I am. I haven't eaten anything all day. Instead, I think about Riley.

Perhaps it's just my imagination, or the hunger talking, but...there is something otherworldly about him. It was a feeling I'd had in the back of my mind all day. It's like I'm speaking to him, but I can't feel his presence. He is right in front of me, but at the same time not really. He seems so down to earth, and yet so far away.

Wow, Valerie. You sure are getting poetic about some guy you just met. When did you become so creative?

Of course it's the hunger speaking. My mind has too big of an imagination. I laugh at myself, but the laugh comes out as a dry cough, stinging my throat. I'm probably coming down with a cold.

From inside, I can hear laughter. My Mum's and the laugh of another man. It doesn't sound like Timmy. Maybe I can guess who this one might be. Robert from the mechanic's? Or maybe Fred from across the street.

I hear the latch of the door click, and I'm illuminated by the dull light of the living room. I turn around to see Mum accompanying the man out the house. He's large and muscular, with a ginger beard that matches his hair. I know I've seen him somewhere before.

"So glad you could come round, again, Ben." She gives him a peck on his bearded cheek, and Ben holds the small of her waist, as he whispers something to her.

She smiles, and then her eyes dart in my direction. When they lock with mine, her smile immediately fades and she pulls Ben off of her. "You're back." She says to me.

Ben laughs in surprise. "You never told me you had a daughter."

My heart drops to my stomach as Mum rolls her eyes. "Do I need to tell you everything about me?"

"Well-"

"Go back to your wife. I'm sure she's wondering where you are right about now."

Ben frowns, before giving me a quick glance, and then striding down the street. We both watch him leave in silence, until he's less than a figure in the darkness.

I fold my arms, and look down at the ground, doing my best to avoid direct eye contact. "Another one?" I say, quietly.

"Really, Valerie? You're going to judge me now?"

"How many?"

"Go to your room." She replies dryly.

I look up at her, and feel the blood rushing to my face in anger. "You don't get to mother me right after you kick me out." I snap. "It's freezing out here. But you were too caught up trying to get laid you didn't even-"