"Pigs!" Salene shouts in the kitchen, disgusted by the dishes left in the sink from last night and this morning.
Amber and I walk into the kitchen to see what's wrong, only for me to sigh in disappointment at the recurring sight.
"Look at this place! It's disgusting!" Sal continues, frustrated, to the point where she throws a plate on the ground, smashing it.
"Salene!" Amber exclaims, shocked at her outburst.
"They're all pigs, I hate them!" She yells in response, overwhelmed.
Both of us look at each other, very confused at the other reason for Salene's temper at the moment.
"Sal did something happen?" I question, placing a hand on her arm in an attempt of comfort.
She reaches past and shows us a large poster one of the kids scribbled on, reading 'Wanted desint motha', and the poster just happens to be the roster. I pinch the bridge of my nose, understanding the situation, but also the real purpose of the sign.
"I'm trying my best!" she exclaims, now more upset.
"Sal it's not about you..." We trail off as she storms past us. We give each other a look of exasperation and leave her be.
"What was that crash? Everything alright?" Bray calls to us, walking in after being bumped into by Salene. Amber hands him the poster and gives us an 'oh' face in understanding.
I give an exasperated sigh and begin cleaning dishes before cleaning the entire kitchen and café, because if I don't its unlikely anyone else will. Bray helps by drying and putting dishes away, until Trudy calls for him like a butler.
I huff and continue, finishing up and place chairs up on tables so that I can sweep and mop, when Martin comes up the stairs, offering to help me. He helps move the chairs and gets the mop ready while I sweep the kitchen, and once I finish he mops while I move to the café. Because of this we are able to finish much quicker and just have to wait for the floor to dry before we put the chairs back.
Because it's rainy outside, we don't go up to the roof and instead decide to go for a walk around the mall, ending up in the storage bays at the back. He decides he wants to play hide and seek, so I giggle and go along.
I count to 30 while he runs off, and then go to find him.
"Oh Martinnnnn, where are youuuu?" I call teasingly, but eventually I search the whole storage bay and can't find him, getting worried.
"Martin I'm serious, where are you? You're scaring m- Ahhh!" I say, screaming at the end in fright because he sneaks up on me and tickles me. I wriggle away and whack him on the arm.
"What the hell?! Don't do that!" I scold him, and he blushes before hugging me to try and calm me down. I sigh but accept the hug, nuzzling my face into his chest.
"I'm sorry babe, I promise I won't do it again," he mumbles into my hair, his voice sincere.
I nod into his chest, causing him to laugh softly before he pulls back, lifting my head up with a finger under the chin, kissing me softly. I sigh into the kiss, pulling him in closer, as the kiss becomes more passionate.
We end up against one of the shelves, my back pressed against them as we make out. My hands work their way up his chest and shoulders to the back of his neck, where they weave into his hair. He sighs at the feeling, nipping my lip gently before pulling away.
"I love you," he mutters, looking into my eyes as his forehead is pressed against mine.
"I love you too," I smile back, pecking him once more on the lips. I then come to a realisation.
"You just called me babe, for the first time," I mumble, looking up at him. He smiles back, pecking me on the head.
"Because you are mine, and I am yours, and I want the whole world to know it," Martin proclaims, making me smile wide.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" He then asks, slightly nervous all of a sudden.
"Of course silly, I'd love to," I respond, pulling him in for a cuddle. We stay that way for a moment, then wander back to the main part of the mall.
We see Trudy sitting on the steps, as Bray walks down to her. We decide to hang back and watch what happens, but also avoiding walking in front of Trudy right now, if its not necessary.
"You alright?" Bray asks concerned, as he sits down next to her.
"Oh yeah, perfect," she snarks back, uncalled for.
"Where's the baby?" He asks her, and Martin and I look at each other, now concerned for the baby's wellbeing.
"Dunno!" she shrugs, pissing me off and shocking the boys.
"Trudy?!" Bray scolds her.
"Salene's got her," she cracks and tells him, causing Martin and I to give a silent sigh of relief that she's being cared for.
"Good," Bray responds, getting a look from Trudy. "Without her, I don't know," Bray continues, sending a pang of hurt through my chest. What am I, chopped liver? Salene barely looks after her, I do most of the time when Trudy can't be bothered. A feeling of slight betrayal runs through me, and Martin can see it on my face. He grabs my hand, giving me a smile, showing he disagrees with his brother.
"What?" Trudy gapes, shocked, "She barely looks after her, Alleia does. I'd much rather Alleia does it because at least I know she's not doing it to get to you!" Trudy continues, making me both happy that she realises what I do, but also saddened at the jealousy emanating from her.
At this moment, Salene wanders over to us with the baby in the pram. I hold her back from walking in front of them, shaking my head in response to her look of confusion, pointing up at the pair bickering on the stairs. She nods in understanding.
"But no! Salene's the 'perfect little mother'! A 'perfect little angel' isn't she?" Trudy exclaims.
"Hey that's not fair, don't take it out on her!" Bray scolds. Martin and I look at each other shocked at the turn the argument seems to be taking, and Salene just looks at her feet, embarrassed. The three of us turn back to the pair.
"Oh sorry, I forgot. Your 'precious Salene'," Trudy mocks.
"Thanks to her your baby is still alive," Bray begins, but I interject, having enough of his crap. Martin tries to stop me up I pull away, riled up.
"Is that so? Cos I seem to recall being the one to look after her for days while Trudy was sick. I recall being the one that helped Trudy to give birth and make sure that baby is ok. I recall being the one who gets up in the middle of the night to get her when she's hungry, or needs a diaper change, or needs to be resettled, not Salene. I'm the one who has a crib for her in my room for when Trudy needs help. Salene barely helped in comparison, and you are completely discrediting me and my help, and that is not fair!" I shout up to him. His face pales and he looks down at me in shame.
"You are supposed to be my best friend! But you can't seem to get Salene out of your head and if you're not careful you'll let it get between us. Stop being an ass!" I yell, before storming off to my room, holding back tears at the thought that my best friend couldn't seem to give a damn about me right now.
I can still hear Trudy yelling at Bray, the argument becoming about the baby, and that if 'I really want it, I should keep it', as she says, that she'd 'rather I have her than Salene since I'm the godmother. I begin to hear footsteps towards the room, and I hear Martin's voice behind me.
"Bray's just being a dick. Ignore him. You do so much for everyone including him, and he's been taking you for granted. No one else agrees with him, not even Salene, as much as she likes him," he tells me, laying me down on the bed and taking my shoes off for me, before he does the same for himself and lies down beside me, wiping my tears away and kissing my cheeks, making me smile a teary smile.
All of a sudden he pulls me on top of him, making me giggle, and places my head in the crook of his shoulder and neck and tangles our legs together, running his fingers along my arm and shoulder. He smiles at the sound of my giggle, happy to have succeeded in cheering me up.
We stay that way for a while, trying to block out the argument on the stairs. Soon we hear the creak of the pram as Salene quickly wheels it in and then walks back out in a huff. We look at each other confused, and I get up to pull the baby out of the pram.
I bounce her for a little bit to soothe her, causing her to start dozing. She does the cute thing of nodding in and out, trying to resist, as I sit in the armchair, Martin watching me from the bed, now sitting against the wall. I grab a blanket from the back of the chair, loosely wrapping her in it.
"It's ok, bub. Go to sleep," I whisper to her, stroking her cheek to make her sleepy.
Martin's POV
I watch her calm my daughter, as she slowly drifts off in Alleia's arms, until we can hear her soft snoring. The sound makes me smile, mixed with the sight of my girlfriend holding my daughter. She looks up at me to see me smiling.
"What?" she questions me, blushing adorably.
"You're amazing with her, I honestly just love watching you with her," I comment, causing her to blush deeper.
"Aww someone's blushing," I coo, teasing her, making her smile in amusement.
"But seriously, it honestly makes me look forward to the day where we could start our own family, get married, give her siblings, if you want?" I trail off, and she nods at me with a grin.
I move over to the armchair, sitting on the arm and placing my arm around her shoulders. We both look down at my sleeping daughter, smiling at the little grin she has on her face as she sleeps.
Alleia looks up at me and I lean down to kiss her softly, placing my hand on her cheek. She sighs happily, returning the kiss. We pull away, but I leave my hand on her cheek, stroking it gently for a second before I move it to her shoulder. We smile at each other before returning out gazes to the sleeping infant in my love's arms.
Episode 10 done! I don't think I'll really include the whole 'Lex becoming leader' thing because it doesn't really go with my vision for the story. I hope everyone enjoys, please make sure to vote, comment, share and add to your library's and reading lists to keep up. Quick shoutout to @ArianaCarter321 for all the love and support she has given this book, I really appreciate it and am glad you enjoy. For shoutout's make sure to vote, comment and show your support.
Liv.