The Perfect Fix (Perfect Kisses #5) - Miley Maine Page 0,7

able to tell that I am really actually okay. I definitely need to go and see him, to show him face to face. Maybe if he can see me living my best life he won’t panic anymore. He won’t keep insisting that I need a wife to make my life complete. Of course, it would be nice to have the whole wife and family thing, but it isn’t essential to me. I just need to let Dad see that too.

“I love you too. Speak soon, Son.”

As I hang up the phone, a ball of emotion is lodged in my throat. I feel a bit choked up after that conversation and I’m not sure why. I don’t know if it’s the festive season, the fact that my family are so far away, or the conversation that we just had. I don’t know what the problem is but it’s hard for me to get my head back on straight. I feel a bit dizzy and weird about everything like I just need a moment to catch my breath properly.

What the...? I suddenly hear a strange noise that drags me from my thoughts. I head immediately over to the window to try and locate the noise. It’s coming from the school bus, or from the small boy coming from the school bus. Travis, Aisha’s son, is sobbing like crazy as he runs from the bus to his house. I don’t know what’s going on with him, he looks devastated, and I immediately feel awful for him. He isn’t the sort of boy who cries a lot, so this must be really bad...

My instinct of reaction is to go outside and to try and comfort him, to see what his issue is and to try and fix it for him, but I can’t. I’m certainly not the boy’s father and I don’t think his mother would approve. I don’t want it to come across as me just trying to get further into her life, to try and grab that elusive date, because it wouldn’t be that at all. It would just be me trying to be a nice guy, but I don’t think it will come across like that. I’m sure it will come across really badly.

I can’t interfere. I just have to stand here by the window like an idiot.

Aisha follows him off the bus looking just as devastated as her son. Now I really want to interfere, but I definitely can’t. She will kick my ass for even trying it. I might not know Aisha well, but I understand her well enough to know how she would react to me.

“Fuck,” I whisper as I watch them enter the house. “Fuck, that sucks.”

I don’t like this hopeless feeling. I’m a problem solver, and this is a something beyond my control. “Fuck, stop it, Marc,” I want to stop myself because I can feel myself about to do something crazy. “Don’t go over there. You will not be welcome. Just carry on with your life... you have plenty of things that you need to do.”

I grab the paperwork that I brought home with me, because it doesn’t matter how hard I try, I always end up bringing stuff back and that might be my own fault really because I like to reach home at a certain time. I have worked hard to get to where I am, but I also like to maintain life balance as much as I can. I lay the papers out on the table and try to focus on what needs to be done, but my head is next door the whole time. There is a magnetic pull taking me over there, even if I know I shouldn’t...

4

Aisha

December 20th

“Why can’t I go to school, Mommy?” Travis moans at me for what feels like the hundredth time this week. “I want to go to school. I miss my friends. I’m not having any fun here.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I don’t think Travis understands that I’m not having much fun either. This is impossible for me. I can’t home school him and work full time at the same time. If I can’t get this data entry done, me and Travis are going to find ourselves in an even bigger financial hole. But the hole we are already in is the reason why he is out of school. I just can’t afford it anymore, it’s such a good school, so lovely, and I know that Travis absolutely loves it