Waiting for Him to Speak


    It seemed I had underestimated Ste, and she wasn’t as innocent as I thought. Those from ATL


    Empire were never what they seemed. I once again realized the inexplicable force that had sucked me


    in.


    I pinched my thigh to wake myself up.


    My mom had picked up Ava from kindergarten, who ran over to me “ou’re so early today, Mommy!


    Uncle Ryan bought me a new doll.”


    “Uncle Ryan?” I was puzzled.


    Ryan came out of the kitchen wearing an apron. “I was at the bank earlier and bumped into your mom.


    So,


    I apanied her to the kindergarten.


    My mom joined him from the kitchen and said, “He also took us to Parkside za, and we went


    shopping


    All text ? N?velD(r)a''ma.Org.


    at the supermarket.”


    I could tell she liked Ryan from how happy she looked.


    “I saw you leaving the office early. Why are you only back now?” Ryan asked.


    “Well, I was almost at the kindergarten, but Ste wanted to meet me,” I said, tired.


    Ava showed me a new Barbie doll from thetest release. I had a soft spot for Barbies, too. When I


    was a freshman, Ryan had given me one, though I wasn’t sure where it had ended up.


    Seeing Ryan in an apron made me feel embarrassed. “Mom, why are you making Ryan cook?”


    I reached out to take the apron off of him. “Allow me.”


    “Just take a nap, and I’ll call you when I’m done. I’m not a bad cook, you know,” Ryan said, stepping


    out of


    my reach. “Look at how tired you look. Go sleep.”


    “Uncle Ryan, I’ll nap with my Barbie with my mommy,” Ava said, looking adorable.


    I was indeed disoriented as countless images raced through my mind. My limbs were also weak.


    “Go take a nap,” my mother said, seeing my glum expression. “We’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”


    Fearing I might pass out, I didn’t insist on helping them. When I eventually woke up, it was already


    eight in


    the morning.


    chedzily and didn’t feel like getting up, but I was confused when I saw daylight through the


    Why wasn’t it dark yet? How long had I been asleep? I rested a while longer and wondered why dinner


    wasn’t ready. I was starving.


    I


    I rolled over and found that my phone was off. When I turned it on, it kept going off with multiple alerts.


    Picking it up, I was shocked to see it was already 8.25 a.m. What the hell?


    Then I checked the date. It was the 16th!


    I scrambled out of bed and quickly washed up. How long had I been asleep? It was the first time I’ve


    slept


    that much since discovering Matthew’s infidelity. After some mental math, I realized I’d been out for a


    whopping 17 hours!


    It seemed my mom had already taken Ava to kindergarten, and the house was quiet. My dad was the


    only


    one in the living room, reading the newspaper. I greeted him and went to the dining room, where


    breakfast was served.


    I was starving, so I devoured my meal. My dad walked over and sat across from me. I sensed that he


    had


    something to say, which made me feel a bit guilty for some reason.


    “Why are you so hungry?” he asked, gazing at me kindly.


    Well, I had only eaten a little yesterday afternoon. Of course I was hungry.


    However, I sensed that my dad was leading up to something. I started to feel anxious and waited for


    him


    to speak.