After we decided to head back to the house, I took a lengthy nap followed by a long awaited shower in mine and Austin's bathroom before I was going to start my quest in sweeping our shared bedroom of any remnants of mine.
I allowed the hot soapy water to trickle down my exhausted body as I washed the remaining shampoo from my dark wavy hair.
I grabbed a white fluffy towel from the rack outside of stand up shower and carefully dried my wet locks before wrapping it around my torso.
I walked back into the bedroom, a heaviness sitting on my chest as I looked around the empty space. I sank down onto the unmade bed, the sheets still imprinted from our night of passion and our tease of a morning, just before the love of my life was stolen from me.
I felt the tears forming in my eyes but instead of letting them routinely fall down my cheeks, I inhaled a breath and shook my head. I needed to be strong, for myself and for Austin. And for my future with him. So instead, I swallowed the pain, pulled the towel from my body, and grabbed for my clothes that were laid on top of the bed.
I pulled on a pair of ripped black jeans and a black long sleeved lace top. I blow dried my hair straight and put a bit of makeup on my tired face, trying to make myself look more alive. I put on a pair of heeled ankle boots and took a look in the mirror before I gathered my small amount of belongings that had accumulated in the bedroom.
Thankfully I hadn't fully moved in yet and most of my things were still in the guest room down the hall.
I struggled to carry everything in my two arms while also I attempted to open the door knob at the same time. My heart nearly hurled out of my chest as I manged to make my way out and crash into the person on the other side of the door all at once. All of my belongings went flying to the ground as I gasped, muttering many apologies as I realized who I had bumped in.
"Mr. Post! I am so sorry. I didn't see you there. I'm extremely clumsy, I'm sorry again." I fretted as I frantically apologized to the father of the man that was the root of my frazzled mind.
"It's okay sweetheart, it's actually my fault. And call me Rich, please." He answered with the kindest smile, reminding me of Austin's as he blinked down at me.
"Rich." I said quietly with a small nod as he helped me as I picked up the scattered belongings from the ground.
"You must be the woman my son is madly in love with. Lena right?"
His words caught me by utter surprise as I had not a single clue that Austin had told his family about me.
"Oh- I- I guess I am." I tripped not so gracefully over my words as I hadn't imagined meeting Austin's parents under these circumstances, and so soon at that.
"He told you about me?" I couldn't help but ask as I picked up my hairbrush from the floor.
"He did. We text or FaceTime almost every single day, of course he told me about all about the girl he's completely smitten over." He chuckled.
"All good things I hope." I warmly smiled at the man, feeling much less nervous than I had anticipated.
"Trust me, he was much too busy rambling about how wonderful you are to say anything bad." He laughed as he reached down to pick up the box that housed my new watch, the word Rolex stamped across the front in thin cursive letters.
"Moving out so soon?" He raised his brow as he placed it carefully in my hands.
"I- um- I don't want to confuse him. I think it's best for him to remember me on his own. I don't want to tell him to have feelings for me. I want him to feel it on his own." I confessed as I shrugged my shoulders.
"That's very selfless of you Lena. To put him before yourself. I'm really sorry that he can't remember you. But he will eventually." He gave me a hopeful smile. "My son vents alot of his stresses and frustrations to me whenever he's feeling down. He loves what he does but there are days when he gets overwhelmed, feels as if this lifestyle is too much sometimes. But he's been grounded since he's met you. And he's been happy. You're good for him. He doesn't look as exhausted all the time, he smokes and drinks less. Or atleast he's trying." Rich chuckled. "He smiles more. Thank you for that. You're a beautiful young woman and I'm happy he's met you."
I swallowed the thickness in my throat as I fought to keep my tears at bay as Rich's words hit harder than expected.
"I really love your son. I never got a chance to tell him but I love him with all of my heart." I shook my head with regret as Rich looked back at me with a smile.
"You will get your chance, don't worry Lena."
His words gave me nothing but hope as we heard one of the guest bedroom doors swing open, Austin's mom coming into our view.
"Is this her Rich?" She asked as she curiously looked at me, making her way closer as she spoke.
"This is her." He chuckled, making my cheeks flush with nervousness as I felt unprepared to meet Austin's mom, especially considering the fact that he was not here with me.
"Oh honey it is so nice to meet you. Austin's told me all about you!" She exclaimed, pulling me into a hug, despite my overflowing arms unable to hug her back.
"It's wonderful to meet you too! I'm so sorry my hands are full." I said as she let go of me, holding the sides of my two arms as she studied my face.
"You're even prettier than he described." She beamed at me, her smile radiating the hallway as her expression was filled with joy.
"Thank you Ms.- "
"Call me Nicole honey." She cut in before she turned to face Austin's father.
"Did you you tell her not to give up hope on our boy Rich?" She asked as she let go of me, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Of course I did Nicole."
"And did you tell her that he will remember her?"
"Yes Nicole."
"Well what about-"
"I told her everything we talked about when we were leaving the hospital Nick, I'm not an idiot." He rolled his eyes, earning a chuckle from me as I watched them interact.
"Well you could have fooled me." She muttered before she turned her attention back to me.
"Are you going to see him sweetie? He was asking if you were coming back to visit him." She grinned, sparking my interest with her words of hope.
"He was? Y-yeah I'm actually going there right now. To be quite honest, I was hesitant about going back because I feel like I'm just a stranger to him." I expressed as Nicole's excitement suddenly dropped.
"Lena you're not a stranger. Austin has been talking about you non stop to us. Everytime he calls me, he always tells me how lucky is he to have met you and how he's fallen for you. You're the person he loves. Whether he remembers you or not, I'm sure he would really like to see you." Nicole reassured me, causing me to genuinely smile in relief.
I felt so thankful that even though this was the first time his parents were meeting me, they trusted their sons opinion of me and treated me as if they had known me for a very long time.
"Thank you both for being so nice to me. Today has been really tough but your kind words make it feel as if things will get better. I'm just happy he's okay and he's alive and well. That's the most important thing. I can only hope for the best." I said as my eyes shifted between them.
"Of course Lena. Now go to him." Nicole smiled, causing me to give her a short nod before I turned away to the guest room I had been staying in to put away all of my things.
I leaned against the already ajar door, pushing it open with my body as I walked into the dark room. I used my elbow to flicker the light switch, kicked the door halfway closed, and placed everything down onto the neatly made bed. I let out a small sigh as I wasn't exactly thrilled about going back to sleeping on my own. And what made things worse was that Austin was going to be coming home tomorrow and would sleeping right down the hall from me, in what was suppose to be our room.
I walked over to the dresser that some of my makeup still sat on top of, picking up my baby pink lip gloss and slowly twisted it open.
"You can put your lip gloss on now."
I closed my eyes as I thought back to the last time Austin and I had sex in this room, a much simpler time compared to the unfortunate scenario that I now found myself in.
I snapped myself out of my past world as I applied the shiny gloss against my lips, my ears perking up as I heard hushed voices traveling in hallway just a few feet away.
"She's the one for him Rich, I can tell."
I couldn't help the smile from creeping its way to my lips as I seemed to have won the approval from his parents within a miniscule amount of time, thanks to Austin and whatever it is that he told them about me.
I felt butterflies swim in my stomach as I began to feel apprehensive about seeing him again. The fact that he was meeting me for the first time all over again put a certain pressure on me. What if I didn't give the same feelings as I did before?
But there was only one way for me to find out and that was to go and see him.
Vanessa, Smitty and Dre already left for the hospital an hour prior, as I was undecided at the time if I should visit again for the day.
But since I had made up my mind to go, I had no choice but to order an Uber to get me there, as I felt beyond terrified at even the thought of driving one of Austin's expensive cars.
I made my way down the staircase, my nose buried in my phone as I typed in his address, not realizing the lurking eyes of hatred that were following my every move.
"So you've finally pulled yourself together and quit your crocodile tears." Like nails on chalk board, I didn't even have to lift my head to know who the high pitched screech belonged to.
I rolled my eyes to the back of my head before I raised my gaze from the brightness of my screen to the unpleasant view of Natalie's basic ass face.
"I'm sorry did you say something?" I cocked my brow, in no mood what so ever for her nonsense.
"You fucking heard me. You're pretending like you give a shit about Austin. But you're just upset cause your precious fuck buddy forgot all about the fact that you're his little slut that he uses when he has nothing better to do." She shot me an evil grin as she thrived at Austin not having a single clue of who I was.
I couldn't help but shake my head at her pathetic attempt of a jab towards me, that I refused to let bother me.
"Fuck buddy? You can keep telling yourself that, but you and I both know Austin and I are way more than that."
"What you mean is you were. Austin doesn't have the slightest idea who you are Lena. I hope that he never gets his memory back. And I hope you know that this now means Austin is fair game. May the best player win." She shrugged, her nasty attitude still in full affect as she spoke to me.
I was unable to stop my laughter at her over the top desperation, her smirk dropping instantly as she probably expected to stir up the anger inside of me.
But I remained unphased because after the much needed reassurance from Austin's parents, they reminded me that our love was powerful enough to fuel my strength.
"I think it's adorable that you think for even a second that you stand a chance with Austin." I took a step closer to her. "Do you know when was the first time he kissed me?"
Natalie just stared at me, a cold glare in her irises as she grinded her teeth but said nothing in response to my question.
"A week after we met. A week." I chuckled. "Can you believe that? Haven't you been working for him for two years now?" I innocently asked, once again getting no response from her.
"Anyway, after that one kiss, forget it. He couldn't keep his fucking hands off of me. We were constantly sneaking around, and he was in between my legs every chance he got. Do you know how difficult it is to stay quiet when that beautiful man is fucking your brains out? It's really quite a struggle. And not to mention he eats pussy like an absolute God." I just barely rolled my eyes upwards in blissful reminiscence as I watched Natalie look as if she were almost physically sick, her face becoming pale before my eyes.
"Let me be real clear with you bitch, he chose me once and he will choose me again. He will keep fucking choosing me because he is in love with me. Nothing you say or do will ever change that, so keep that in your fucking head before you even think about coming between us. He is mine. He will remember exactly who he belongs to, and if he doesn't, then that's okay. Because he's going to fall in love with me all over again. Unlike you, I don't have to try when it comes to him."
I pulled my gaze from her shocked expression to look down at my buzzing phone in my hand, unlocking it to read my notification.
"My Uber is here. Have a good night Natalie." I smiled at her as I turned away, making my way towards the front door, leaving her with her jaw hung to ground as my heels clicked against the hardwood floor. I turned my head, looking back at her as I couldn't stop myself from getting in one last word.
"Oh and by the way, I like being his little slut."