Stupid knots in my stupid hair. Comb through, damn you.
There’s a knock at my door. “Come in,” I call, still trying to get the tangles out of my hair.
Nathan steps inside. “I’m sure I don’t have to remind you,” he begins and I look at his reflection in the mirror, “that anything that happens between us, anything you see that relates to me, is confidential.” Anything that happens between us? That could be misconstrued, so I choose to read into it in the safest possible way and assume he’s referring to conversations and other daily things.
“Duh.” I roll my eyes and place the brush handle in my mouth as I use both hands to pull my thick hair atop of my head.
“That’s disgusting. You’ve…” He clears his throat and looks away for a moment.
I quickly drop the brush from between my teeth and it lands softly on my thighs. “Better?”
“Yes.” He takes another step into the room and his brow quirks. “You’re very tidy.”
“Always have been. I like everything to have its place.”
“OCD?” He asks politely.
I shake my head. “No, I’m just organised. How are you feeling?”
He runs his tongue over his bottom lip, his face becoming a hard mask. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention yesterday.”
“Of course.” I stand and make my way back to my not even nearly finished jigsaw puzzle. Crossing my legs, I sit on a scatter cushion and finger the pieces until one jumps out at me.
He’s still here. Why’s he still here?
“I’m serious. If I hear whispers of it pass over even Jeanine’s lips, I won’t be happy,” he snaps, shocking me.
I blink up at him. “I won’t say a word.”
“Make sure you don’t.”
His eyes burn into mine for a moment longer, imploring me to soak up his words, before he turns on his heel and leaves my room.
I can’t believe how… cold he can be at times. I get that what happened isn’t something he wants to talk about, but can’t he at least speak to me with a little more respect? I feel like a naughty child.
He’s so back and forth with his demeanour towards me. I can’t tell if he hates me being here or not. If I’m such a burden, why not just rent me a place? From what I can tell he has enough money to house me somewhere else and at least then he wouldn’t have to deal with me on a daily basis. None of this makes sense.
Or maybe I’m just over-analysing it like I do everything.
Sitting back on the floor, I continue on with the jigsaw. It’s boring to say the least, but there’s nothing more to do around here. My eyes linger on the bed where I long to just curl up and forget everything in a world of darkness. It takes everything I have to stand and leave the room. The baby gives me a few kicks and I’m assuming it’s because he or she is grateful that I’ve chosen to be more active.
I can’t go outside; the rain and the wind are too strong. It looks tempting though. I want to run through the winds and the heavy droplets of water that fall from the sky. Imagine how freeing it would feel.
“I’m bored,” I say to my bump as I descend the stairs. “I can only imagine how you feel.”
The room is dark due to the thick grey clouds covering the sun and the shadow from the nearby trees cast over the bay window. I blow out a frustrated breath and switch on the TV. It’s new and so is the equipment beneath it, but there’s nothing on. DVDs are nowhere to be found either so I can’t even watch a movie.
I call Sasha but she doesn’t answer, neither does Tommy. I’ll try again later.
After twiddling my thumbs for all of twenty minutes, I enter the kitchen and decide to have a snack. I’m not feeling too hungry after a lonely breakfast this morning but I should eat, so I do.
At the table I sit with a persimmon fruit between my hands. I use a plate to catch the sticky juice and cringe when it begins to dry on my fingers. This is the highlight of my next hour. Eating fruit and washing my hands. I don’t remember ever being this lonely or bored at home, but that’s probably because I always knew Caleb would be home soon and I wasn’t forever trying to keep my mind busy.