Finding Solace

Chapter 1

She rang the bell and waited as she heard hurried footsteps approaching the door. Mason, her four year old darling son opened the door and threw himself in her arms.

She laughed, hugged him tightly while entering and said," Where's Grandma?"

The boy said," She went to Cassie's house. Her mother invited her. "

She frowned. She had tried to explain to her mother how dangerous big cities like New York could be and how she should never leave Mason alone at home. But her mother wasn't taking it seriously enough. She had to have a chat with her.

Bella looked at her little boy and his beautiful blue eyes so different from her own light brown coloured ones. There was a time when those eyes used to remind her of horrible memories but those were in the past. Now every time she looked at her son's beautiful face, it only filled her with affection and adoration.

She put him down and went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water as Mason followed her, telling her something about how Cassie was talking to another boy in the park today and didn't play with him.
She new that her son had a tiny crush on the blonde-haired girl from the seventh floor. She found it cute.

"....and she was only talking to him the whole time..."

Bella was amused and said," Okay, tomorrow you go and tell her that you want to play with her. I am sure she will."

The bell rang and as she opened the door, and found her mother, Grace, who was surprised to see her daughter back home earlier than usual.

" You are home early, Bell. Did that boss of yours finally realise that people need to go home after work after slaving all day?" She said.

Bella hesitated a little knowing she couldn't tell her the truth.
"No, there wasn't too much work in the office today and Steve decided to take everyone for dinner after locking the deal with those Canadian clients." She lied smoothly. She couldn't tell her mom that she was not even in her office. Her mind wandered to the argument that she had with a certain someone earlier today and she felt like crying again.

" And you didn't go? I thought secretaries were supposed to go with their bosses to parties and stuff? " Her mom asked.

"No , I didn't feel like going. Plus I've been so busy these past few weeks. I thought maybe I should come home early. Now we've got the whole weekend to ourselves." She tried to sound normal.

"Alright, go get changed . I am serving dinner. " Her mom went into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~

After having dinner , Bella tucked Mason in his bed , read him a story and after making sure he is sleeping, turned the lights off and went to her room. Suddenly , she remembered the talk that she was supposed to have with her mom.

Her mom was watching some show on TV.
"Mom?"

" Yes honey?" Her mom said still keeping her eyes on the TV screen.

"Mom, Mason was alone at home when I came back."

Her mom looked at her and said, " Yes, I met Mrs. Johnson in the park. We were chatting about the play at Mason's school. She invited me for a coffee. I couldn't say no. So, I went there for ten minutes."

Bella pressed the bridge of her nose and tried to explain to her naive, innocent mother for the fifth time.

"Mom, I've said this before and I am saying it again. When I am not at home, you need to be more cautious.
Mason was alone. Anyone could have come here."

" I didn't know my daughter was so cynical. We know everyone in this building. We live amongst good people. What do you think would happen? Who is going to come here and take Mason? "

The last sentence had Bella freeze out of fear. But she had to make her mom understand. Bella had lived half of her life being extra careful and always being on her guard. Her mom thought that it was her past with Mason's dad that had made her this way. While that was one of the reasons for Bella's extra careful nature, that wasn't the only reason. For some reason, Bella had been this way ever since she was a teenager. She had always loved watching crime shows as much as she loved watching romance.But those crime shows had somehow instilled in her this fear,that if she wasn't careful enough , something will go wrong.

" The watchman? Plumber? Delivery boy? Anyone. Look, let's not stretch this mom. If you want to go somewhere, just wait for me to come back home and then we can go together. Alright? "

Her mother sighed. No one stood a chance in front of her daughter's arguments. She was very persuasive, a quality she inherited from her father.

"Alright. I'll be more careful."

Bella was satisfied and went to her room. While she lied in bed and looked out of her window , the events of the day came back to her. A lone tear escaped her eye as she closed her eyes and saw a pair of green eyes burning with anger before she fell asleep.