“I-I-I…” Feeling like my body would go in an overheat, my vision swirled until a loud knocking on the door interrupted our conversation.

“Sir, I have packed everything in,” the store manager informed us as she opened the door wide enough for her to peek her head through it. There was a momentary pause as she gazed at our position, but she ignored it and spoke. “Is there something else that you would like, sir?”

With me still caged between Mark’s arms, Mark looked over his shoulder with a brooding expression and opened his mouth to respond. “No-”

Taking this opportunity now that he was distracted, I ducked under his arm and swiftly run past him to the store manager. “No, there’s nothing else that we need, so we will take our leave after paying for everything.” I said hastily between breaths before turning my head around to look at Mark. “Right Mark?”

Mark was still in the stance where I had left him, his hands placed against the mirror. He tched and removed his hands from the mirror as he exasperated; the disappointment lacing his voice. “Yeah.”

After paying for everything with his black credit card, he gave the woman another wad of cash for her service to have me question myself how rich Mark truly was. The drive back was also uneventful, with no to minimum words exchanged between us while the radio made up for the silence.

Mark parked his car in front of the café where I was supposed to meet my mother. The people outside all cast a curious eye towards us, wondering who was sitting in that expensive car. Flipping open the visor of the car, I checked myself in the mirror to see if everything was looking alright. My outfit was great, but the way my hair was looking didn’t sit me well as the mane of my curly hair was unbounded. I wanted to tie it up but didn’t have my tie with me.

Seeing me fumbling around with my hair, he pulled out a hair tie out of the compartment. “Turn your back towards me.” He spoke.

I shifted in my seat so that my back would face him; giving him better access to do whatever he wanted with my hair. Leaving a few of my front fringes out, he took half of the up section and tied it in a messy bun while leaving the down section loose to cascade down my back.

“There.” He patted my back to let me know he was done. I shifted back in my seat to glance in the mirror and was impressed at how well he had done with my hair. How does the messy bun not look messy but perfect? I wondered as I glanced around Mark’s handy work. “Thanks.” I muttered.

“I have some things that I have to take care of, so call me when you’re done. I’ll come pick you up.”

I furrowed my brows. “It’s literally five minutes walking from here to my house, Mark.”

“I don’t care if the distance is even one minute. I will not let you walk alone when you look so enticing.”

I rolled with my eyes. “Mark, come on, you’re being overdramatic.”

“Unless you want me to chop the head of the guy who dares to flirt with you, then go ahead and strut down the street while I dye it with blood. It would be a wonderful exercise for me anyway, since I feel like I have been getting rusty.” He smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, which sent only a chilling feeling down my spine, knowing that he would go on a vicious killing spree if I didn’t listen to him.

Glowering at him, I tightened my jaw and said, annoyed, “Fine.” I can’t retort back when he is threatening me with somebody’s life.

Mark clasped his hands together, pleased. “Great! That means that I don’t need this anymore.” A knife that was somehow now resting in his hand was shoved back in the compartment.

Was he planning to kill the first person that would even look at me funny? I thought, disturbed. “But don’t pick me up with the car.” I said.

Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “Why?” wanting to know the reason behind my request. With my thumb, I pointed at the window next to me where a small crowd of people have formed around the car, trying to catch a glimpse of the people inside of it. “Your car is too eye-catching. You may be used to all the attention, but I’m not.” I explained to have him nod. “Okay, then we will just have a romantic walk.” He said and was about to start the engine thinking that I was done, but I wasn’t.

“And could you please not listen in to my conversation with mom?” I requested to have Mark snap his eyes at me. Despite my phone being new, I know he had already done something with it. After all, there’s no way that he, my stalker, won’t have done that by now. Seeing how he still didn’t respond to my request only confirmed my suspicion that he had indeed already tempered with my phone. “Please Mark, I will not tell her about you. Like you said, I have to resolve this issue with my mom, but if I am going to do that, then I have to do that in private.” I want to tell her about all the pain and traumas that she has given me, but I am not sure if I will be upfront about it knowing that Mark will listen in.

Seeing the determination that had settled in my eyes, Mark released an elongated sigh as he raked his hair back with his fingers. “Alright, I won’t listen in.”

I smiled, relieved. “Thanks Mark!” I said, elated, and unbuckled my seatbelt, planning to exit the car, but a hand that was placed on my arm stopped me from doing that. “Wait, don’t forget your bag.” He said as he pulled out a white handbag from the backseat. The handbag was also purchased at that extravagant shop to really complete the outfit. “Oh, thanks.” I grabbed the bag and opened the door.

“Wait, you forgot something else.”

“Wha-?”

As I turned around to see what else I forgot to take with me, I was taken by surprise as a pair of supple lips pressed against mine. Mark let them linger longer before pulling back, flashing me with a wolfish grin that reached his eyes. “I wasn’t able to kiss you back at the shop, so I had to do it now before my kitten gets cranky from lack of affection.”

As if touched by fire I recoiled back, and like the bar of a thermometer, from the tip of my toe to the top of my head red enveloped my body at a slow pace as the tingling feeling on my lips finally got registered in my brain. Using the back of my hand, I covered my lips to hide my embarrassment.

My heart was running a mile and the gears in my head refused to work properly, stripping me of the ability to speak, as I could only produce a distorted speech. “You- this- what-!” In the end, I bit my tongue and released a sad yelp, causing tears to prickle behind my eyes.

Mark chuckles at my pain. “Shall I soothe the pain for you?” He said suggestively, and I shot him a tear-filled glare before stepping out of the car responding to him with a high squeaky voice, “No need!” and slammed the door shut. I saw how Mark threw his head back in a fit of laughter before speeding off down the street on his way to his business.

I could hear snickers from behind me. The sound of the suppressed laughter of the crowd of people who had witnessed what had transpired between me and Mark only elevated the redness on my face. Taking a quick spin in my boots so that I was facing the café with my eyes cast down on the pavement, I marched awkwardly inside the shop, trying to block out the laughter that followed me.

The gold-colored bell that hung above the door of the shop rung as I entered the café, the clapper inside it hitting the wall from left to right, letting the workers of the café know another customer entered.

The sun that wasn’t covered by the clouds lit the café up nicely, brightening up the place. A lot of seats were already taken by people who were on a break from work and decided to get their lunch here, making it harder for me to spot my mother as I pivot around in search of her.

“April!” At the familiar voice, I twirled around to see my mom waving at me from her seat at the far end corner of the café, next to the window. The sight of the middle-aged woman caused my heart to stir as the uneasiness hit my body, causing my nerves to go errant.

Closing my eyes, I took in a big, shuddering breath and released it through my nose. “It will be alright April.” I told myself in a small whisper as I tightened my grip on my handbag, trying to still the turmoil passing through my body.

‘Just go to her and tell her your feelings. It doesn’t matter if she will listen to you. This will be the last day that you will ever speak to her again.’ After giving myself a pep talk, I took out my phone that was inside my handbag and turned it off in case Mark went back on his words, straightened my posture and held my head high as I strutted to where my mom was seated.

Mom’s eyes zeroed on me. Wrinkles at the corner of her lips were formed as she displayed a relieved smile, seeing that I had showed up. Watching how she was basking under the sun’s rays that revealed her skin that no longer seemed gaunt but has reclaimed its youthful vigor- her eyes that were vacant before were now brimming with hope for the future made me slow down my walking pace.

So that was going on, huh, I thought as something clicked inside the back of my mind and my mood dampened even more. With my eyes cast down, I took the seat opposite of her.

“Hi April, I am so glad to see you. Would you like something to drink or eat?” Raising her hand, she gestured at one of the waitresses to come and take our order. The waitress came with her notepad, ready to write my order. Without glancing at her as I only stared at mom with a blank expression, I spoke in a low voice, “Just water. I won’t be here for long.”

“Yes, I will be right back.” Leaving the table to get me water, the surrounding air became stale. My eyes never wavered from my mom’s face, who smiled at me nervously as she noticed a change in my mood.

The waitress soon came back, placing the glass filled with water in front of me to leave again to help another customer. As soon as she left, I opened my mouth and spoke, “So, who is he?”

“What?” Surprised by my direct question, mom stilled in her seat as her eyes widens slightly.

With a bored expression, my eyes shifted to look down at the glass of water before grabbing and swirling it in my hand. “I am asking who your new flame is, you know…” My eyes darted from the glass of water back at mom to see her flinch under my stony stare. “Your new man.”

“How did you-”

“How did I know?” I scoffed, cutting her off. “The last time you looked that alive was when you met that bastard few years after dad’s death.” I said, hinting at her appearance that was now brimming with life compared to the time she was like a walking corpse. Few years after living with that abusive man, you could see how he was sucking the life out of her, but she kept hanging on to him out of desperation. Now, that look of desperation was nowhere to be seen, and I knew what that meant. I don’t know when it happened, but she had found a new man.

Mom glanced down at her coffee filled mug that was settled between her hands. She simpered before she said with a calm voice which I hadn’t heard for in a longtime, “His name is Jeremy. I met him a year after I had left your stepdad, Greg.”

I hummed unamused, bringing the cup of water to my lips and said, “You sure work fast.” Not even one year and she already had found another man to feast on.

She frowned at that and brought her brown eyes up to meet mine. “April,” she said warningly, not liking my attitude. “Could you please listen?”

I shrugged before placing the cup back down. “I don’t know, could I?” I questioned her back. “You never listened to me back then, no matter how much I cried or bled, so I don’t see why I should listen to you.”

Mom drew her bottom lip between her teeth, sucking in a sharp breath before releasing it. Her eyes cast back down. “I deserved that one.” She whispered under her breath and then let her eyes scrutinize me from between under her eyelashes, scanning my new appearance.

“You look nice.” She commented with a small smile, trying to ease the tension, but I didn’t share the same sentiment and responded with a bitter smile, “I know, right? All of those scars on my body have healed up nicely.”    

Under my snide remark, I watched how mom pursed her lips into a thin line and tightened her hold on the coffee mug before releasing a breath. “I know you wouldn’t believe me no matter what I say at this point, but I’m being sincere when I say that I want to make amends with you, April. I want to apologize to you as I have been a horrible mom.”

“Uh-hu,” I said, pretending to be uninterested by looking out of the window while my heart has been hammering against my chest, almost breaking my ribcage.

“I-After you had run away from home- after some hooded man came to our house and had tortured us, I had a revelation. I couldn’t live like this anymore. I had realized the wrongdoings that I had done and knew that I needed to find you, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t find you. While searching for you, I met Jeremy,” Saying his name brought a smile to her face that irked me; increasing the frown on my face.

“Things just clicked with us and when I told him about my past, he didn’t pull away and instead accepted me. He pushed me to become a better person, helped me through rehab, and stayed by my side with every bitter step. He even encouraged me to continue my search for you.”

I felt a warm hand clasping around my hand that had been resting on the table, forcing me to drag my gaze from the outside back to the inside to meet my mother’s eyes. “You should come live with us. It would elate Jeremy to have you as his daughter.”