One night with Mr Blackwell

Chapter 9

I tossed on my bed, replaying every second of the night until anger swallowed me whole. Adrian had been watching me. Adrian just had to watch me while he destroyed me! I was furious with myself for not confronting him, for not demanding to hear from his own mouth why he fired me. But no, I’d let him distract me. His warmth. His closeness. Those kisses that burned right into my soul. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he used it to his advantage. What do I do now?

“Why can’t you just believe me? I had nothing to do with him!” my mum’s voice echoed through the house.

I sighed. Dad was at it again. Why does this woman still love him despite all these accusations and everything? I just don't get this woman honestly.

“What's going on this time?” I murmured to myself, dragging myself out of bed. I went over to Lily’s room and after making sure it was locked, I picked up the broom that was beside me and walked into the living room where my parents were. I saw my mum crying on the floor trying to explain something she obviously didn't do. Normally, I would have just ignored everything, but today, I was in a great mood to confront my dad.

“Hey Mr Collins, what's the problem here?” I said, leaning on the wall and putting the broom on my shoulder pretending to be something I wasn't.

“It's nothing Ava, just go to sleep,” my mum said, standing up and swiping her tears. Wasn't she just screaming for me to hear it? When I knew she must have thought that we were asleep, she wouldn’t want anything to happen to her darling husband.

Were married women always so blindly in love with their husband? I mean he just introduced another woman to us just a few hours ago, and now he's back in this house acting like a fool. I was so disgusted.

“You heard her, just go to sleep, this is between adults,” he smirked.

“Last time I checked, Mr Collins, as long as you are above the age of 16, you are an adult, and I am way past that age,” I said, swinging my broom just to scare him.

“You are such a disrespectful child, that exactly how a child that grew up with a woman like this should react?” he scoffed.

I laughed. I laughed so hard that I started crying.

“You should be thankful this woman gave me good home training otherwise, your head would be rolling on the floor of this house and anytime I think of it in jail, it's going to make me smile.” My hands were trembling, but I held my ground. I was only trying to be tough, my body was shaking, and I was angry. My dad hadn't been the best father, but he hadn't been the type to physically abuse us either. But emotionally and verbally, my mum should be at her limit now, but seeing as she was standing in front of me and pushing me back into my room, I could tell she wasn't at her limit one bit.

“I forgot, this is exactly why I hated coming home!” I said, laughing again. “A mother who is never tired of the abuse she goes through every single day and a father who would rather die for a woman and alcohol than his own family.” I was already fed up. Every emotion came crashing in at the same time.

“Don't you remember! He introduced another woman today as his new wife. Isn't that enough to just let him go! He doesn't want you. Why can't you just accept that? This house isn’t even his but yours, yet you still let him into your house to do this to you! I promise you, mum, look outside, and you will see other men who will throw themselves at you fit and not this trash bag,” I screamed, tears coming out of my eyes.

I have gotten used to my father’s character, so I have never cried because of the way he has treated us since I was a kid, but maybe it's because of everything that has been going on in my life lately, I just couldn't keep my emotions in check. I pushed open the door and walked away into the dead of the night. I heard my mum calling out to me, but I didn't look back, I was too tired to listen to them fight again.

I ended up at the park, the stars mocking me with their calm. I wanted to live a happy life, but my life was far from being happy. I missed Sarah so much.

“Ava?” I heard someone call my name.

“Oh hey Max!” I said, not bothering to look up at him.

“When you returned, you could have told me you were back, and I would have come to see you right away,” Max exclaimed, really happy to see me. Max and I grew up in this neighborhood. We have been really close since we were kids, so he knew almost everything that had been going on in my life except with Adrian though.

“Is it your dad again?” he asked when he saw the look on my face.

“How do you know?” I asked.

“You always have that look on your face whenever that was the issue, like you were tired of your life and needed to swap!”

I laughed and turned to him. “Maybe I need a swap at the moment.”

“How about going to a party? My girlfriend and I were going to meet there, but you can tag along. She was going on about how she missed you that I started to wonder if she was dating me or you,” Max said, pretending to be sad, which made me laugh.

“Sure, let's go and tell your sister I will be borrowing her clothes for this event and the worst she can do is kill me,” I said laughing.

“I will fight for you till my last breath,” he said, pretending to be weak already.

“She's just going to kill both of us and ditch our bodies on the streets.”

“No way! My girlfriend will come to my aid. You know how scary she can be when she's mad,” he said with pride.

“You are not the only one who has a backup, I have Sarah,” I said, sticking out my tongue to him and running into his house.

“Ava!!!” Laura, Max's friend, screamed when she saw me.

“Finally, my girlfriend is back!” She screamed, jumping on my body.

“Hey Ava, could you stay away from my girlfriend?” Max said jokingly while separating the both of us.

“Oh great, Laura, you've hurt his feelings, and now he's sulking” I said, mimicking Max and laughing.

“He will be fine. I will attend to him later. It's been ages since I saw you”.

“Ava!” I heard someone scream despite the loud music.

“Everyone, look, Ava is back,” I heard her shout, and I saw my school friend. Looks like this was a popular club for them to be here.

“I am sorry Laura, but I have to run!” I have no strength to greet old friends,” I said to her, pretending to cry.

“You are still an introvert I see,” she said, laughing.

I went to a corner and sat there alone. Maybe dancing would help me feel a bit better today, but it's so sad that I have no partner.

“Care to dance?” I heard a voice say beside me. What perfect timing. Let's dance away this feeling. This stranger was definitely God sent. Hold on, there was something familiar about this voice.

“Victor!” I screamed, surprised

“Did you follow me here?” I asked as my gaze shifted from surprise to disgust.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I had a meeting nearby. What a coincidence running into you here,” he said, laughing.

“So this is where you came to hide yourself,” he said, laughing. “ It's not going to work. Try finding a job here and tell me if it will work,” he said, dragging me to himself, and then he whispered in my ear.

“There’s only one way out”

Before I could push him off, a hand grabbed Victor’s collar and flung him aside like he weighed nothing. Gasps rippled through the crowd.

Adrian.

What's all these now? Are these guys following me around?

​​“What brings you here, brother-in-law?” Victor sneered.

Brother-in-law.

The words didn’t compute. Then they did, and my stomach dropped.

No. No, that couldn’t be right. My chest tightened, my vision swam. The puzzle pieces, the coincidences, the tension, the firings, the whispers, slammed together in one violent click.

I was right all along.

They weren’t strangers. They were family.

And I had walked straight into their trap.

My world hadn’t shattered before, this was shattering now.