Just Like That

Chapter Thirteen.

Corrie.

It had been days since Lauren and I had been dating, since I had introduced her to my mum but my mum seemed rather skeptical about it though she didn't mention why. She had even told me Mr. Parker had passed by that Friday claiming he had come to pay his last respects to my dad. She also mentioned how he claimed we were still so naive and believed everything my dad had said. I started loathing him even more cause he didn't respect my dad even after his death and still accused him of theft. He was so inept.

I had gotten so worked up lately and my room mates were starting to worry so I told them everything about my dad since I figured they were the only ones that were still out of the light. I was surprised by their facials when I mentioned Mr. Parker but they said it was nothing. They sympathized with me and said I couldcount on them with everything I ever needed. As usual, I attended school, worked at the diner, went out with Lauren. I remembered her birthday was coming up soon and I had to get something for her before it was too late. I asked Jess for ideas but all she told me was that she would love anything I got her. So I decided to go and visit my mum and Catie. It was a weekend. Lauren had told me she was going to see her parents so since I had nothing to do over the weekend, I went home. I drove asentmindedly which really confused me but I think it was because I felt something bad was about to occur.

"Why didn't you come with Lauren?" Catie's question is what welcomed me. I convinced her I would bring her the next time cause she was busy that weekend and couldn't come with me. I missed Lauren, I missed our time together. I had never felt alone again from the day we started dating so I decided I needed to get her something special and nice but also simple cause Jess had told me I should get anything simple. Her birthday was the coming Sunday so I didn't see time during the week. I asked Catie to help me pick out something for her and she was happy and excited about it.

"Can I be there on her birthday when you give it to her?" That's all she had asked me so I told her why not. We went for ice cream the next day and then to the jewellery store. Catie kept rejecting everything I selected until she spotted an emerald necklace that she told me would be the perfect gift for Lauren. It was worth a fortune but she deserved it, who better than her did, there was no one. It was her that I loved so much.

"Okay, now you're going to help me package it." I told Catie who said she had already planned to do so. We bought wrapping paper and it was not long after we got back home when she was through with it. I kept it away so I couldn't forget it as I went back later that evening. I moved to the kitchen to help my mum with lunch as Catie watched her animations. She had seemed so distant since my last visit with Lauren. I just wondered what her issue was but I didn't bug her about it.

"Do you really like that girl?" Her question surprised me so I put halt to the soup stirring and looked at her.

“Yes, why?”

"Nothing really, she is lovely I admit and you two look happy together. Catie also can't stop talking about her."

I listened to her expecting a "but" but it didn't come so I couldn't stop myself from asking her why she talked about her as if she meant so much trouble. She told me she was sorry and didn't mean it that way. I assured her it was alright but only skeptically. I set the table for lunch, we ate in silence. I think Catie had sensed the tension between us so she hadn't also said much for the first time. I told heer I had to leave and get some things done before school so I left after taking her out for another ice cream. I think she was always lonely whenever she had no school cause she had no people to play with. All the kids in this area had always stayed indoors unless it was a school day. I kissed her goodbye as I dropped her off and left as soon as she was inside. I didn't want to see my mum again cause we still had that tension between us so I hadn't even said goodbye to her. I decided I needed to clear my mind before going back to my apartment. So I went to the karaoke bar to cool off some steam.

The band I usually sang with always worked on Sundays which included Terry. From the night I had discovered he was Lauren's ex,

I couldn't stand him any longer but I hoped tonight I could stand out of his way. So I went for the stage cause they were set, they all looked at me with surprise but I also didn't expect to find myself here. So we sang karaoke for a while until I spotted a familiar face.

What was Lauren possibly doing here? I went off stage moving towards where she stood and on sighting me, her eyes lit up.

"What are you doing here this late?" I couldn't fail to ask.

“Ohh, I looked for you at your apartment cause I thought you would be back by now but only found Jess and from what she told

me, I guessed I would find you here. I wasn't wrong after all.”

I didn't know what Jess had told her but I figured she had now known matters concerning my father would normally put me down and remember telling her how I always sang karaoke when I was down. I was so glad she was here even if I didn't expect it.

"How did your visit to your parents go?" I asked her where she told me all had gone well and they were throwing a party for her birthday and they needed to know which people I wanted to attend and she asked me if I were going to be free on that day.

"Anything for smiley. You don't even need to ask."

She smiled at my answer which smile varnished after I think she spotted someone or rather something. I looked towards the direction of her eyes and found it was Terry. So I decided maybe it was better off we left.

"What do you say we go somewhere else?" She told me it was a good idea so we finally decided to get to her apartment for a movie

since it was already getting late. We watched now you see me which she had chosen claiming she had never watched it after even buying it. We had bought popcorn on our way back which we ate during the movie. After the movie was done, she didn't let go of me where I noticed she had slept off. I tried getting up so I could lift her to her room but she whispered something in her sleep which I got to know was "don't go" after she had repeated it the third time.

So I stayed the night in her bed where she didn't go off my chest the whole night. I got a strong feeling something else was up and it

seemed she wanted me around even more. I kept thinking of what had really happened during her visit but I didn't what to make her

feel uncomfortable by asking so I just let it be hoping she would open up when she wanted to.

Lauren.

After school on Friday, I had received a call from my mum and she wanted to find out if I could make it home for the weekend saying it was very important. I had no plans so I told her I would be there Saturday morning. I told Corrie and he was fine with it so he decided to go to his mum's as well since Catie had been pleading for him to go. I felt bad I wasn't going to spend time with her but I promised her I would get time for the two of us. When I asked my mum what it was that was urgent, she told me I had to first wait for my dad to arrive cause it was very important. After he had arrived, they all just looked at me with a lot disgust where I eventually realized it was all because of Corrie. They had regarded him as the son of the company thief. That's when everything became clear.

The man I had seen in the pictures hanging up in Corrie's house was the one my mum had told me my dad fired from the company when I was young. She had showed him to me last year when he had come over to have a meeting with my dad and they were locked up

in his office for a while. From what I recalled from Corrie's side of the story, it meant my dad was the one responsible for their homelessness. So it was my dad that he loathed that much. Myparents had asked me to stay away from Corrie that he may have turned out like his father and Corrie had assured me it had been an accusation which meant his dad hadn't really opened up to his

family. His dad had really stolen from the company and he had begged my dad not to tell him out and he would pay him back every single penny. My dad had given him time but he never once paid even a single cent for starters. But on the other hand, I thought Corrie wasn't like his father so I told my dad and mum that I wouldn't stop seeing him for any reason. They had shouted at me and before I had left, my dad had told me he was canceling his name from the attendees for my birthday party. When I told them if that were the case then they would have to cancel the party, they let it be since they considered parties to be a big deal. That's when I left home and headed to Corrie's apartment. I just needed to hold onto him cause I felt the happiness I had just regained was about to

be taken away from me again. It even hurt me just in thought so I didn't want to live the moment. I hoped not. When I had found Jess,

she told me she had had something very important to tell me about and when I asked her if it was about Corrie hating my dad, she

agreed and said she didn't know I had had an idea about it. I told her I had just found out from my dad and I needed to see him but I wasn't going to tell him anything cause it didn't matter to me who his father was. What mattered to me was him, nothing else. Jess

also told me he had been stressed out lately since my dad had visited Corrie's mum and said to her that he couldn't believe how strong her naivety was that she didn't notice who her husband was in actuality. I told Jess how his dad had actually taken money from my dad's company and she was speechless. She told me to go on and find Corrie cause he had not yet returned from his mum's and she assured me he would be drinking himself up or something since that's what he usually did lately whenever he wasn't hanging out with me. I admitted he was really good at masking up all his problems. I decided to head to the karaoke bar to find him of which my instincts had really been right cause I found him there. Coming across Terry was an idea that hadn't struck me earlier on before I had come until I spotted him looking at me from the stage. Corrie and I decided to go back to my apartment for a movie where I think I slept off during the movie cause that was the last thing I recalled until this morning when I found myself on Corrie's chest. He stared sown at me when I looked up and it seemed he had been awake for quite some time.

"Good morning, smiley." He said with a smile while rubbing his hand in my hair. I whispered a good morning back and that's when it hit him, he was still around. I kissed his chest upwards until I reached his mouth, he kissed me back and I made him promise he would never leave me which he did in a questioning tone. I continued kissing him and stopped when he mentioned something.

"We shall not make it to school in time if we keep this up."

That's when reality struck me, it was a school day again. I hated Monday. I wished for it to be a weekend but it was really Monday. So just like that we had to leave bed.

Just Like That ©2020 by Laurie Lae.