Heartbreak At Motel 7!

Chapter 12

Opening my eyes and not immediately seeing my Polaroid covered wall was strange. Not strange in the way that you would think, either.

It wasn't uncomfortable. Just unfamiliar. I actually felt very at ease, despite this.

Vera's grip on me had diminished little by little throughout the course of the night, until she ended up laying with her back faced to me. She was still sound asleep.

Her breath was heavy and slow paced, as if she hadn't slept that tranquilly in months.

I later found out that the reason that she had slept so peacefully that night was because I made her feel safe.

  I̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h̶.̶

I picked up her watch that laid carelessly on her bedside table. It was really pretty. It didn't look expensive, but it wasn't cheap either.
I wonder if it was a gift?

Nevertheless, the time read 06:45AM.
I had to go home.
I gave Vera one last meaningful look before getting out of bed.

She really was so, so beautiful.
Even in her sleeping state, even when I couldn't see her face.
The silhouette of her body that the blanket created was gorgeous, and her hair looked so soft.

Maybe it was better that I couldn't get to stay.
I was getting more enamoured with this woman by the day...Is enamoured the right word?
Hm..

I got out of bed, trying my best not to wake the sleeping beauty.

Socks raised his head, watching me as I changed back into my clothes from the night before.
Neatly, I folded the clothes that she had so kindly offered me before putting it on her nightstand.

As I went into the kitchen, Socks got out of bed and followed alongside me as I prepared some necessities for his mother since she had been drugged the night before.

It all felt very domestic. Like I lived with her, and Socks was our pet and not just hers.
I'm only saying this because he rubbed his face against my leg, imprinting his scent on me.

I opened up her fridge and  poured her a glass of juice with ice. Ice, so that the drink would still be cold by the time she woke up.

The juice sat next to the milk, at a later stage I found that she didn't even use milk all that much. She didn't eat cereal often, and she didn't have it with tea. Apparently it just made pills easier to swallow.

So I made the wrong choice in getting the juice with the pills, but I didn't know that at the time.

I found paracetamol in the bathroom cabinet. I double checked the expiration date before putting everything down on her bedside table.

I tried not to look at her nor Socks before stepping foot out the door. My mission failed, as the kitty meowed after me as if asking where I was asking.

I looked at him and spoke meaningfully, as if he could understand me.
"I'm sorry, buddy. I don't belong here."

With that, alongside a guilty conscience, I left.
I didn't want her to wake up alone after what she went through the previous night, but I couldn't stay.

There were very few people out on the street as I left the building.
The sun was barely making an appearance, and the only people out were hard working individuals ready to start the day and make a living.

I made sure to keep my head down as I walked. They could probably tell that I wasn't from the neighbourhood, I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I heard a deep voice calling after me, saying "Hey, wait up!" but I ignored it as I sped up my pace.

I eventually called a cab as I got the main road, getting home safe and sound.
I snuck in through my window as quietly as possible.

Luckily it was a Saturday, so my family was busy.
My father had a conference, my mother would be dropping my brother off at a friend's house later before going to visit her ill mother.

I wonder what it's like to watch your mother grow old.

I heard my mother and father talk around 8AM. I couldn't fall asleep again, so I just listened.

"Make sure that Charlie eats tonight. She hasn't been home for dinner in a while." my father spoke, and my heart sunk ever so slightly.

He may have been harsh at times, but he really cared about me.

I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶m̶o̶r̶e̶.̶

A few hours went by, and the house was eventually empty.

I was sitting up straight on the couch, mindlessly and slowly eating popcorn as the events of the previous night filled my mind. Was I wrong for just leaving like that, without even saying goodbye?

Like clockwork, in alignment with my thoughts,
There was a knock on the door.

I tried to ignore it. It was probably a salesman, or some girl scouts. They had a tendency of invading my neighbourhood, since the people here always seemed to have hundreds of dollars worth of spare cash just laying around.

Another knock.
I tried to ignore it. Another.
Whoever was knocking, had found the doorbell because that started being rung instead.
I groaned, getting up and getting to answer.

When I opened the door, you could imagine the look of shock that was painted (or more so splattered) across my face when I saw Vera.

Her facial expression was tense, and I could tell that she was unimpressed.
Even though she seemed to be in the midst of confronting me about something, that still didn't excuse her for being on my doorstep.

"What are you doing here?!" I immediately grabbed her by her wrist, not too roughly, and pulled her inside.

My neighbours were nosy, and they would probably tell my father that there was someone at our home if they had seen her. Bare in mind, I wasn't allowed to have any people over.

Vera yanked her hand free from my grip, glaring at me. She was dressed comfortably, her figure showing as per usual.

"Why would you just leave like that?"
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Date Published: 29 April 2024

Oh my gosh I haven't updated this book in a fat minute. Thank you for still being here ily.

With everlasting love,
angelsclique
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