Chasing Elliott - Published

chapter thirty ... bath time

Redamancy (n.)
the act of loving in return.
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"I love you, mom," Kingsley said as she hugged her mother outside the restaurant. The rest of lunch had gone rather well and thankfully neither of them had spotted my mother.

"I love you, too, sweetie," her mother said before she turned to me. Accepting her hug, I tried to make it brief as the guilt from my earlier encounter was weighing heavily on me.

"It was good to see you again," I told her as I pulled back and threw on a fake smile. She nodded her head and gave Kingsley one last kiss to the cheek before she disappeared down the street into the crowd.

Releasing the breath I was holding, I turned to look at Kingsley and saw her standing there with her arms folded over her chest and an eyebrow cocked.

"Where the hell did you run off to earlier?" She questioned as her eyes instinctively narrowed in on me.

"I just wanted to give you two some privacy," I lied as we started walking toward her car. "Thought it was a mother daughter moment."

"Well, you are practically her daughter, El. You didn't have to vanish like that," Kingsley informed me which only made me feel more guilty.

Sliding into the car, I kept my eyes trained out the window as I felt them start to well up. I could feel the pressure of the lies starting to weigh me down but there was no one who could help pull me up for air.

We drove in silence back to the apartment and when we pulled into the lot, I noticed Cooper's car was still there. Biting my lip, I tried to reign in my disappointment before sliding out of the car. At this moment, all I wanted was some time alone but it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

Following Kingsley up the stairs, we stopped outside the door when she noticed the note tapped there. Peeling it off, a large smile came to her face before she turned to look at me with an apologetic look.

"Looks like I've got someplace to be," she said as she showed me the paper with an instruction on it. "You two have fun. We'll see you tonight."

Not giving me an opportunity to respond, she took off down the stairs. Sighing as I closed my eyes tightly, I tried to relax before I threw on my fake smile and opened the door. What I saw there caused a genuine laugh to escape my lips.

Cooper was standing in the kitchen in front of the stove, shirtless, covered in flour. Mia laid on the floor by his feet with flour in her fur as she stared up at him intently. The kitchen looked like a tornado had hit it and Cooper turned around once he heard me but Mia was more interested in the possibility of food falling to the floor.