Together From the Start

TWENTY-SEVEN

Chapter Twenty-Seven| Destiny

Two weeks after my birthday, a quiet two weeks. Which I have been dearly grateful for. It is cold as ever outside, apparently, a snow storm is headed toward us. 

Even though nobody is bothering me anymore, I still question my safety. Walking through the quad, with my headphones sightly turned down. I constantly, check my surroundings every couple of minutes. 

Walking into my favorite coffee shop, The Coffee Bean, for my weekly study session, I only do it because this place has the best iced green tea. Entering the sitting area, others occupy different booths. Nobody focused on anything but their laptops in front of them. 

The heavy scent of heated coffee beans and blueberry muffins surrounds the space, as I sit in my booth in the corner of the room. Technically, it's not my booth, but it's the one I sit in every time I come here.

"Welcome to Coffee Bean, what can I get you today?" a waitress approaches me, just as I pull out my laptop.

After I tell her my order, I watch out the window. I like to people watch sometimes, it calms me. I try not to look like a creep while I'm doing it, I go for the observer from a distance, type of look.

"Here's your drink, miss," The waitress brought me out of my dazed state. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you," I respond, taking a sip of my iced tea.

Lifting the top of my laptop quickly dimmed the screen's brightness. With the cafe lighting being low, it looks like I'm being flashed by God.

Placing headphones on and turning on my studying playlist.

Just as I got a nice momentum going with my work, I notice someone standing over my table. I remove my headphones from my ears. "We need to talk," she spoke.

Lord, please take the wheel.

"What could we possibly need to talk about?"

She sits on the other side of the booth.  "Look, I already don't want to be here." Flipping her blonde hair, "It's about Brandon, he's been messing with you."

"Girl, what are you talking about? I really don't have time right now, I have an exam to study for."

She sighs, "Just listen to me, all of them threats you've been recieving, the feeling that someone is watching you. That was all, Brandon, not your father."

I'm confusion.

"How do you know about my father?"

"Because Brandon told me, frankly that's all he ever talks to me about. You and your family, and how he wants you back." There's a pregnant pause, "He thinks that if you weren't close with your family again, you would come back to him. Just the way you guys were last year."

She continued to tell me how he was the person to bail my father out of jail, tried to convince him to help with his plan. But, my father wasn't buying it, he didn't want anything to do with me or my family, rare W for my father. So, he staged the entire thing.

I would have never thought I would be talking to the girl that my ex cheated on me with, but here we are now.

"Look I know that I would be the last person you would like to be talking to. But, I should've never came between your relationship like that. But, he was just feeding me all of these lies about you and how y'all were going to break up and I believed him. But that still doesn't excuse my actions, so I'm sorry for what I've done."

"Its fine, I'm over it, you weren't the only person to fall for his charms." We laughed, "And thank you...for telling me everything."

"Of course," she starts to slide out of the booth.

"Before you go, I have to ask, how did you know I would be here."

She sighs, "Well after listening to Brandon go on for hours about you, and the things you like to do. It was a pretty easy guess that you would be here or at home. And I don't know were you live, so this was my best guess."

...

"He did what?" my mother yelled through the phone.

I just gave her the whole rundown of the conversation I just had.

"Well, how do you know that this girl is telling the truth?"

Scratching the back of my head, "I don't know for sure, but I belive her, ma."

She sighs, "Well, it all adds up, Eric has been keeping a look out at your fathers house. Apparently he never leaves the house, according to Eric."

Classic Eric, always considers me as his own daughter, since he technically doesn't have any. Super over protective of me, he has a lot of friends in police force. So, when my 21st birthday happened, he made her they booked his ass that night.

"Oh, babygirl, you've been through hell and back," she spoke.

"Tell me about it."

She pauses, "I'm really sorry for my part in this..."

"Ma, you already apologized and I already forgave you. You don't have to apologize anymore."

"Its..." I cut her off.

"Its fine, we can finally put this to bed, okay?"

She sighs, "Okay."

...

I know, this chapter is a bit short, but it is for a reason. Next chapter is going to have a time jump, nothing to crazy, but it is needed for the story to make sense.

<3