Fated Mate

Dave was on the rooftop opposite Lee’s building. He could see into her house. He had been at that spot since she moved into the building. Ash’s fight with Lee had him on night duty again. He sat there, contemplating Ash’s decision. He wasn’t ready to tell her, he was worried about her reaction. He was scared she would hate him for staying away, for letting her suffer foster care when he could have looked after her. How was he going to explain himself? There was no good excuse for abandoning her.

But he wanted to hold her again, talk to her, comfort her when she was sad, and laugh with her when she was happy. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to stop hiding. All he had to do was build up the courage to do it.

****

It had been a week since Ash left, since Lee’s visit from the mysterious woman. She felt embarrassed, angry. Ash had a girlfriend, that’s why he was never fully hers. The thought broke her heart all over again. She should have known. If Steve had a girl on the side why shouldn’t Ash. She was never enough, for either of them.

But what tormented her most was his girlfriend’s visit.

She had suffered her nightmares ever since. She woke up screaming and crying uncontrollably. Ann and Maria were always there to comfort her. Her nightmares had kept them all awake throughout the night, taking a toll on all of them. They were always exhausted; their studies were suffering because they now spent the day asleep and the nights awake with Lee’s nightmares. With their finals three days away, they needed to rest.

Lee felt guilty. She had even tried staying awake throughout the night to spare them, but she always ended nodding off, and woke up screaming a few hours after that.

It was in the afternoon. She made lunch for the girls to make up for the trouble she had put them through. They woke up and found the table set and full of food.

“What’s this?” Ann looked like a zombie. She had dark circles around her blood shot red eyes. Maria emerged from the hall way next. She was holding her head up with her hands. Her appearance mirrored that of Ann.

“It’s an apology lunch.” Lee smiled weakly, feeling guilty.

“You didn’t have too.” Maria was rubbing her temples with her fingers.

“Yes I did. I’ve put you through hell this last couple of weeks. So I’m making up for it. Look at the two of you, you look awful because of me.”

Ann and Maria turned and stared at each other, their faces drooped, and they didn’t like what they saw. Then they turned to face Lee.

“Honey, you don’t look so hot yourself. I’m just glad the guys aren’t here to see us like this.”

Lee looked down; it was a sure thing their guys would come, hers, there was a slim to no chance of that happening. Nice job, Lee!

“I’m so sorry!” Ann apologized and hugged her. “Don’t worry, we’ll get over him together, isn’t that right, Maria.”

“Yeah sure, once I get over this headache.” She turned and looked at the answering machine. “We have a message.” She moved to it and pressed play.

“Hey, honey, it’s Joe. We are getting a bit worried about you guys, so we’re coming over. Tell Lee, Ash is coming too. See you soon, love you.”

The girls stared at Lee. She got anxious. She longed to see Ash again, but she wasn’t so sure she should, especially after his girlfriend’s visit.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. They couldn’t be here already. Maria went to the door, and looked through the peephole. “It’s them!” She sounded alarmed.

Ann started to fix herself, but she needed a miracle and a few hours to get her ravishing-self back. She gave up and dropped her hands. “He should start getting used to seeing me like this. I won’t be my gorgeous-self all hours of the day. Maria, let them in.”

Maria let her hair down and combed through it with her fingers. They moved into the living room. They were looking pretty bad, in flannel shorts and vests; Maria however had a short T-shirt on. She opened the door and let them in.

“Hi guys. Come in and don’t say anything about how we look.”

They were wide eyed. They had never seen the girls look so terrible. Well there was a first time for everything.

“Come in, sit down, and eat.” Ann pointed to the table, still standing next to Lee.

“Hallo, Lee, how’s your shoulder?” Ash said, he looked awkward, uneasy, as if he was waiting for her to throw him out.

“Hi. It’s completely healed. No pain, no swelling. I’m going to take a shower.” Before she got far, Joe asked a question that strangely lightened the tension in the room.

“Where’s the TV?”

Maria moved to Ann and leaned her head on her shoulder. “Lee threw a chair into it. Missed Ash by a mile.” Everyone was laughing now, except for Ash who just smiled.

“Help yourself to something to eat, who’s coming in after me?” Lee tensed when Ash’s eyes rested on her. They felt empty, sad.

“I am,” Maria and Ann said at the same time.

“Or you could both go, right now,” Billy said taking his seat.

“Watch it.” Ann gave him a curt look. They had all moved to the kitchen table.

“So why do you girls look so…beautiful, not?” Joe said with a smile, taking a seat next to Maria.

Lee froze, and turned in their direction. Maria and Ann had their eyes on her, the boys were distracted by the food, but Ash’s eyes were still on her, questioning their reaction. She really didn’t want them to know about her nightmares.

Maria spoke up when the room went quiet. “We pulled an all-nighter, finals in two days.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

Lee exhaled, but Ash was still looking at her. He hadn’t bought Maria’s explanation. She pretended not to have seen the big question mark on his face, walked down the hallway into the bathroom. She needed a soothing shower, a long one.