Cobie pushes the backseat door and turns to her mom without dragging her injured ankle down from the seat. She takes a sharp breath when the dull twinge hits her ankle.
"Mom! You shouldn't leave the house without telling Rose. Don't scare us like that! And check your phone for god sake!" she says in one breath. "What if something happened to you and we didn't know where you were?"
"Oh? I believed I said something to your sister before I left." Mom glances at the driving seat, but Cobie's next question forces her to shift her attention back to her daughter.
"And why didn't you pick up our calls whatsoever? Did you forget to charge it again?"
When her mom nods with a guilty wince, Cobie sighs, trying to contain her agitation. "Why did you come here out of all the places in the world?"
Her mom smiles meekly. "You forgot your lunch, Cobie. I wanted to bring it over to you."
"Mom..." Cobie trails off, her panic, fear, and fury dissipating all of a sudden. "I'm taking my day off, remember? And I told you I have a lunch appointment with um, someone."
Luke, who has been standing quietly behind her mom and following their convo, occasionally glances at her driver's tinted window, trying to make out the person who is sitting behind the steering wheel. His expression is stoic but his rigid gesture says enough that he's not in his usual state. Cobie forces herself to keep her gaze on her mom's face.
"I figured when I got here. But why didn't you tell me earlier?" her mom replies.
"I did tell you." When Cobie sees a frown on her mom's face, followed by a glimpse of confusion, she shakes her head and smiles. "You know what? Maybe I didn't. I was in a rush this morning. I'm sorry."
"How bad is your ankle? Let me see." Her mom bends over to examine Cobie's ankle but it's too dark to have a proper look.
"It's a tad bit better. Peter has bought an instant ice pack from a drugstore on the way here," Cobie replies. "Let's just go home first."
"Peter who?"
Peter uses this moment to jump out of the car as if he is getting a spotlight on the stage. "Good afternoon, Miss Evans. Long time no see," he greets. "I will be driving you two home. Let me help you with your bags."
Her mom turns her head and stares at Peter for a good ten seconds. Slowly, her eyes widen and her mouth opens in disbelief. Her stunned expression is soon replaced by pressed lips and narrowed eyes. "You!"
She takes a step forward. "What are you doing here with my daughter? How dare you come near her again?"
"Mom..."
"I-I was just helping," Peter stammers as he staggers back, keeping his distance from Cobie's angry mom.
"We don't need your help! All we need is for you to never show up in my daughter's life ever again! How did you find her? Have you been stalking her all these years? You creep! Leave her alone!" Her mom swings her bag at Peter as if she is attacking a random thief on the street. "You" — she smacks — "don't deserve to" — another smack — "even breathe the same air" — hard smack — "as my daughter!"
"Woah, aw, aw, ouch!" Peter manages to dodge the attacks at the beginning, but the last one hits his shoulder hard.
"Mom!" Cobie has never seen her mom this furious at anyone before given how forgiving her nature is. But since her Dementia symptoms progress faster this year, she notices how her mom gets easily triggered emotionally. Cobie needs to do something about this but she can't move fast enough.
Luckily, Luke, who has overcome his surprise, immediately jumps to her mother and holds her by the waist, preventing her from sending another attack. "Eliza, please, calm down."
"I will not calm down until this little shit leaves Cobie alone!" Her mom points her finger at Peter while trying to wriggle out of Luke's grip. "Go away now or I will call the police!"
"Mom, calm down!" Cobie finally manages to get out of the car, wincing while trudging ahead, using her car top for balance. "Peter did help me. He drove me here since I couldn't drive."
Her mom's gaze falls on her swollen ankle. She gasps. "Did he do that to you?"
"Fuck, no!" Peter replies. "She ran to her car and fell into the bushes to avoid a baby pram. I was just helping her."
Her mom turns to face Peter again. "And how on earth did you happen to be there? You stalked her, didn't you?"
"No! I didn't stalk Cobie. We've been talking on the internet for months, and today we planned to meet up." Peter rubs his shoulder, whining. "Man, you hit like a pro. That bag is harder than a baseball bat."
"What did you say? You've been talking to my daughter on the internet?" her mom shrieks. "I don't believe any single word coming from your mouth. To me, you're still that high school garbage. I knew it from the first day Cobie introduced you to us."
"Mom," Cobie says, starting to get affected by the tension, "he's not lying about the internet part. I've been talking to him online, but I swear I didn't know it was him."
"See? I'm not lyin'."
"Wait, wait," Luke interjects, "wait. Are you saying he's Breadpitt? The guy from the dating site? And he turned out to be your ex?"
Cobie nods, still trying to make sense of the creepy fact. "Yeah."
"Who is this guy?" Peter asks, glaring at Luke while keeping his eyes on Cobie's fidgety mom who is still being held by Luke.
"Please, Cobie needs support to stand. Can you hold her?" Luke says to her mom and takes a few steps towards Peter so that they are now face to face. "Who I am is none of your concern. You've done enough damage, and your presence is not welcome here. I would walk to that exit gate right now if I were you."
"What the fuck? I don't have business with you, man. I'm here for Cobie. Can any of you stop accusing me of doing something wrong?"
"Luke!" Cobie calls when Luke takes one step forward, almost nose to nose with Peter, but her mom holds her in place.
"Get out now." Luke's voice is dangerously low, almost growling.
Peter doesn't budge from his spot. If anything, Luke's advance must have poked his pride to the maximum alert. "Look. I don't know what your problem is. Cobie is my friend, and I will need to drive her and her mom home. So, get out of my face."
"She's not your friend."
"She is...she was. But we're talking again now. We're working on our problem now."
"There is nothing to work on. Just leave her alone, and leave this place. Now."
"And who are you again? How does our situation even concern you? It's none of your business for all I know."
"It is my business now. And if you ever lay a hand on her again, I swear I will rearrange your face."
Cobie groans. "Guys, please. You two, step back from each other. This is unnecessary."
"Lay a hand on her? What the hell are you talking about? Ah, you like her. Wait," Peter says, ignoring Cobie's plea, "are you" — he cocks his head to Cobie — "is he that guy? The asshole at work who ditches women after leading them on?"
"Peter, stop talking. And I think he's right. You should leave now," Cobie replies, inwardly smacking herself for oversharing her opinion about the hot guy at work with BreadPitt.
"Ha!" Peter smirks at Luke. "I know what you're doing now. You wanna play the hero to impress Cobie, huh? And tricking her to fall into your playboy game? Been there, done that. Man, that is so old-fashioned to get a girl."
"Last chance. Leave or I'll make you," Luke says, his jaws clenching, his hands curling into fists.
"Peter, please. Don't make this harder for everyone," Cobie begs. In all honesty, the only person she's worried about is her mom who is hugging her tightly right now, shivering against her.
"Fine, fine! I'll go. Geez! I don't fucking get why I'm treated like this while all I did is bring you here." He takes a few steps away from Luke, waving his hands in the air. "I need my backpack. It's in your car."
"I'll go get it," Cobie's mom says before jumping to the backseat door, pulling it open, and crawling inside.
"Have no luck yet with her, huh?" Peter murmurs but it was loud enough for Cobie to hear. "Need some tips?"
"That's it." Luke pulls Peter's shirt by the neckline. "Shut your fucking mouth! I'll break your jaw if you dare to talk about her as if she's your used toy."
"Get off me!" Peter shoves Luke with full force, causing Luke to stagger back. Luke might have a well-shaped body from his exercise routine, but Peter is always the physical one.
"No, no, no, no, no." Cobie creeps to the open door where her mom is. "Stay there, Mom. Don't get out until I say so," she instructs as she closes the door.
When Cobie turns her gaze back to Luke and Peter, the two men are already busy sending punches at each other, making a stance before pouncing on, pushing back, yanking each other's clothes, and swinging their legs to kick each other's legs. Unable to move, Cobie stays rooted on her spot, leaning on the door, not knowing what to do. She whimpers when a cracking sound fills the empty basement air.
"Fuck! You broke my nose!" Peter shrieks, caressing his bloody nose before pouncing on Luke and sending another blow to his face, urging Cobie to close her eyes.
Luke groans at the sound of a dull thud, followed by a loud boom of a body crashing on the ground. Cobie opens her eyes in horror just to find Peter jumping on Luke, and the pair collide on the basement floor. Once again, they aim punch after punch at each other's faces.
"Stop!" Cobie shouts. "Please! Just stop!" Without thinking twice, she hops using one leg to move toward the fighting scene. Screeching from her throbbing ankle, she forces herself to keep moving before she loses her balance. She trips over, and before her knee can hold her weight, her ankle hits the concrete floor.
"Aargh!" Cobie sees stars, but every fiber of her body is now focusing on blocking the pain coming from her ankle.
"Cobie," Luke calls, and in the next second, he's already squatting next to her. She feels a hand carefully brush her hair off her face, and she's met with Luke's petrified eyes, his hair disheveled and his lower cheek coated with blood. "Are you alright?"
"Please stop fighting," she replies, ignoring his question.
"Okay. I'll stop." Luke shifts his gaze to her injured ankle. "How do you feel?"
"I don't know yet. Help me up."
While Luke carefully supports her back to help her up, Peter glares at them but he doesn't move from his spot, his face as ruined as Luke's. He winces when her mom tells him to leave and shoves his backpack to his chest.
"You're alright there, Cobie?" he asks.
Cobie nods. "This ends here, right, Peter?"
Peter scoffs and spits blood to the side. "With you? Yes. But not with him. I will sue his fucking ass for attacking me out of the blue."
"Peter, no."
"I look forward to receiving your lawyer's letter," Luke replies.
It's when the elevator doors slide open, and two building security run in their direction. "Has anyone got hurt?" asks one of them.
"All good," Luke says, fastening his hold around Cobie's waist. "This gentleman is about to leave."
Peter glances at the two bulgy men in the blue uniform before taking some steps backward. He glances at Cobie and says, "I'm done here."
Cobie nods, holding her breath. "Goodbye, Peter."
Peter turns around and waves a hand at her as he trudges to the exit gate. His shirt is barely white now, and it looks uneven from being pulled from all directions during the fight. Cobie's eyes follow the man who once became the center of her world, the man who had her in the palm of his hand until his figure finally disappears behind the gate. She knows that something inside her is disappearing too. The part of her that she no longer needs.
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