Chapter 24- In which things start to go downhill.
Walking up was beyond difficult. My legs felt as heavy as stones and wobbly as I walked out into the hallway in just my underwear. Thankfully, nothing was torn or things would get awkward if I had to go back to city with an underwear missing.
I wouldn’t have been this tired if last night had been the only love-making we had done, but Nate had woken me up sometime early this morning, when the sun wasn’t up yet but I could hear birds chirping on my windowsill. And then we had made sweet love once again as I had lost myself in his embrace. Well…I wasn’t complaining about the awesome night I had but I was complaining about being sore all over. Damn it! It had been a while.
The sun streaming through the glass windows lit the entire hallway and living area. I found our discarded clothes lying on the floor not far from the bedroom door. I picked up both our clothes, but instead of wearing my own dress, I put on Nate's black shirt. As I had expected, the shirt reached to my mid thigh and fit me snugly enough that I didn’t want to return it.
The maid must have cleaned the house recently since it was still clean with only a faint smell of dust for being locked up for so long. Last night I didn't have time to feel nostalgic, but today the memories hit me like a tidal wave, as if they were waiting just around the corner to drown me in sentimentality.
*
"Savannah! Savannah, slow down! Mommy can't keep up with you sweetie, if you run this fast!"
*
"Why are you breaking eggs mommy? Birdy die if you crack them!"
"Dear God! Who told you that? Anyway, don't worry, this egg doesn't have a birdie inside. See? Its yellow and white jelly."
"But mommy...jelly sweet! Egg salty!"
"That's because I add salt to it. You want to eat sweet eggs, Savannah?"
"Yup!"
"Then let's make sweet eggs today!"
*
"Happy birthday Savannah! You finally turned 7! What do you want today honey?"
"Will you give me anything I want?"
"Well...it has to be something I can give."
"Can you bring daddy and big brother back?"
" Oh honey. Don't worry, big brother will come back very soon. I promise you."
"And daddy?"
*
"Savannah, can you promise me something, honey?"
"Anything mommy! I'll promise you anything! Please don't go away! I promise I won't be a bad girl anymore; I will drink my milk on time! I will do my homework! I will listen to anything you say!"
"I know you will honey, but I want you to promise me that you'll be a kind person, that you'll never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it. Promise me Savannah, please."
"I promise mommy! Please don't go! I promise!"
*
"I promise..."
"Savannah?" Nathan's voice snapped me out of my memories.
I didn't know that I had closed my eyes, with my hands extended to the bed that now lay empty like it had been for the past fifteen years. I didn't even know when I'd entered mom's room. My memories were too strong, too real. For an instant it had felt like I was back in that dreadful hospital room where mom had spent the final month of her life, her cancer too far developed for treatment, and we, too poor to afford an emergency surgery. All that we had left was this house from my grandfather and she didn't want to waste money on herself by selling it. Instead she'd left all her savings and this house to me, for me to inherit once I came of legal age.
"Savannah? Are you okay? I've been calling you for the last five minutes- are you crying?" Nate rushed over to me to wipe away the tears that had fallen down my cheek unknowingly.
"I'm okay," I laid my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around my waist. "This place just...it brings back old memories."
"It's your mother's house.” He whispered to my surprise. “I guess I figured it out just now when I was calling you. This place has your presence everywhere.”
"Really? So, the pictures of me and mom in that room weren't clue enough?" I teased him, was rewarded by a guilty smile and a blush.
"Awww! He blushes!" I laughed.
"And here I thought the morning after would be awkward.” It was my turn to blush this time as he turned me to face him and lifted up the shirt I was wearing to caress my waist.
Nathan was like a magnet that just pulled me in as I found myself going on my tippy toes to bring my face closer to his. But before the mood heated up any further, the door bell rang unexpectedly.
"Buzz kill,” Nate groaned as I fixed my clothes and headed to the door to check who would visit me here, at the same time praying to God that it was not Samuel.
"Florence?" I stared at the black haired, brown eyed girl at my front porch with a heap load of bags in her hand.
"Savvy, baby!" She screamed and wrapped me in a bear hug, bags and all.
"Flo, I love you, but get off! I can't breathe!" I pushed her away and took a deep breath. God, why isn't this girl in the wrestling team yet?
"Savannah? Who's it?"
"Holy Cow! Is that Nathan Synclair behind you!" Oh shit!
"Yes...and you are?" Nate came to stand behind me.
"Flo, I mean, Florence! I’m Savannah’s best friend. And you are her high school bully." She held out her hand to Nate while tossing the bags to me. "That's your breakfast. I would like to join you, if you don’t mind. Savvy hardly brings friends over nowadays." She said eying Nate up in only his jeans.
But before I could say anything at her outrageous manner, Nate beat me to it. "Hello Florence, I'm Nathan Synclair, Savannah's boyfriend. And I'm afraid you’ll have to excuse me while I get dressed. Please, wait till I get ready.”
"Oh..." she had the audacity to look ashamed.
"Come in, Flo, let’s have breakfast," I brought the bags to the dining room while Nate went to the bedroom. "How did you know I was here anyway?"
"I was passing by this morning and saw a car parked up front, so I thought you might have either bought a new car or borrowed one. And being the great friend that I am, I brought breakfast." She told me cheerfully.
I excused myself for a few seconds and Nate and I both got dressed properly before joining Flo for breakfast. The rest of the morning passed by with Nate, who had donned on a light blue tee from an extra he'd kept in his car, me and Flo having breakfast and then Nate left us girls to gossip alone while he dealt with business over the phone with Tina.
Meanwhile, I told Flo about my relationship with Nate. To say that she was surprised at me dating my former bully was an understatement, but being the good friend that she was, she supported me throughout. Aside from that, she also asked about Samuel's progress in the McKenna Corporate. She was with me on the fact that my so called biological father needed to be punished for his crimes.
But soon enough, it was time to leave since Nate couldn't take another whole day off, though he gave me the rest of the day off, and I...having a meeting with my brother dearest, accepted the offer gladly.
"You're not doing anything wrong Savannah," Florence told me just before we left. "...but I think it'd be better to tell Nathan about what's going on before someone else gets a chance to sugar coat it, and I don't mean that in a good way. Especially now that you've gotten emotionally attached to him."
Florence was right, I thought to myself as I watched Nate drive us back home. I have to tell him everything before he hears it from someone else and thinks that I was taking advantage of him. But would he still feel the same about me if I told now? Especially since he had already signed the deal with Samuel?
It looked like I was really trapped between a rock and a very hard place. No matter what I did from here on out, someone was bound to get hurt. And I didn’t want either Samuel or Nathan to get hurt.
"Almost there." Nate reassurance me when he found me looking at the time.
I simply smiled and nodded my head as Nate drove on. Looks like it's time to face another family drama.
When did things started getting downhill?