Complete Me

Chapter 3

                                                  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

                                                                                    Copyright © 2021 Cassey9

PROF. LAKEWOOD

I hurry down the hallway and pass the Dean’s locked office, let’s just say he was very unpleased with me showing up late for the meeting earning me an earful from. I sat across from him taking in his tirade remarks. It was best to keep quiet when he was on this mode. But it didn’t unnerve me, my thoughts were elsewhere. On the other hand my class with the Master’s students went well despite the fact I had to cut it short by half an hour. I needed to get home and sought everything out.

Four long hours.

That’s long how I had left Ms. Stourton with my children. I was extremely wary leaving them that long with someone they barely knew but the circumstances dictated so.

Lots of questions swirl through my mind that only my husband could answer. With my phone broken getting in touch with him was impossible. I hadn’t gotten the time to call the house phone. I pick up the pace and reach my office door. The office was unusually quiet knowing Killan and Nillan they would have worn Ms. Stourton out. She was probably at her hair’s end with the twins. Even their nanny Marissa had a hard time handling them sometimes.

The only highlight I experience is that my dreadful day was coming to an end. I exhale and push the door open. The sight that greets me when I twist the knob nearly stops my heart. Stepping inside the room I close the door behind slowly not to startle them.

Seated on my desk chair is Ms. Stourton with the twins in her arms. They were all asleep, with empty containers of food on the table. Damn it! In my rush I had forgotten to find something for them to eat. They look content in Ms. Stourton’s arm and this lessens my worry. The twins were curled up in each side of Ms. Stourton arms, her blue jean jacket sheltering them from the night’s cold. Even Nillan seemed comfortable clutching a handful of Ms. Stourton’s top in his sleep.

Not making a sound I reach the table littered with boxes of food, tissues and an unfamiliar laptop. It was still playing some children tunes. They’d had a kid’s meal from MacDonald’s and some fruit juices. Besides the meal sat and untouched box, the scent making my stomach rumble with hunger. I gather the empty container and dumb them in my small dustbin.

Looking up I see Ms. Stourton shifting and groaning lowly, “Oh… you are back,” she groggily says pulling the twins closer, “Sorry we fell asleep.”

“It’s okay,” I reply. I reach for my phone in my pants but remember it was ruined and locked in my equally bust car. “You can leave, I’ll take it from here.”

“Will you be okay? With your car and your phone…”

“I’ll manage,” I reply shortly. I’d depended on her way too much for a single day it was uncomfortable. I was unused to accepting too much assistance from someone I barely knew. Approaching her I take Killan from her lap. He whimpers a little but goes right back to sleep again. I lean down to take Nillan but realize how impossible that would be.

“Let me drive you home,” she says sitting up holding onto Nillan draping her jacket over his frame. She easily stands up with him. I want argue but realize it wouldn’t get me anywhere. It was getting late and the boys had to be in bed before nine o’clock.

“Okay. Thank you. I know I’ve said this several times today but I do mean it Ms. Stourton. I’m truly grateful,” I say gazing intently at her brown eyes. Ms. Stourton falters gaze, her cheeks reddening which was bizarre as I hadn’t said anything that would stem that reaction. I clear my throat ending the sudden awkwardness enveloping us, “Let’s go.”

“Um…yeah let’s. We…we left something for you to eat,” she says groggily, pointing towards the MacDonald’s box. “I couldn’t think of anything to get them…but I made sure the meal was balanced and that they drank lots of water and juice too…”

“Thank you,” I say cutting her, “Knowing they are full is enough.”

Ms. Stourton’s hurriedly picks up her bag and heads towards the door. Sighing, I pick up the container and follow her out. The walk to the parking lot is quiet, she pulls her keys from her pocket making the doors open. If Killan was awake I’m sure he’d jumping up and down in bliss. The children get strapped in safely before we settle in the car.

I tell Ms. Stourton the address and she nods putting it in her fancy car GPS. We pull out of the parking lot. The silence in the car is uncomfortable so I decide having some small talk wouldn’t be as bad. I’d spent the majority of the afternoon with her.

“I…I really didn’t see you as a sport’s car kind of person…” I say out of the blue. My statement is true. Her personality was way different from the car she drove. Ms. Stourton was more the silent type like Nillan. Affectionate owing to her constant urge to be in contact with people around. Her confidence could be waning at times but she made it up with her captivating aura. Her pitch black matched her olive skin and was braided in different styles. Away from her youthful round face.

Ms. Stourton turns and looks at me. It’s then I notice I’ve been staring at her unabashed, “What?”

“What?”

“I…uh I mean what you just said?” she asks.

“I didn’t know you liked sports cars?” I repeat and she nods her head in understanding.

“Yeah. I don’t…this is was a new year’s gift from my brother,” she replies, “And also sort of bad joke from my friends.”

“Oh…”

“Yeah. But I have to say I’m starting to like it,” she says smiling, her hand hold her steering wheel firmly and she turns to look at Killan.

“It’s a good car,” I reply not reading much into her action.

“Now I know. And I’ll start appreciating it just as much,” she says and concentrates on the road. Her smile remains. I can’t help but wonder if her jaw hurt from smiling too much because that’s all she’d done around me. I bet a thousand dollars she woke up smiling and went to bed with the same grin plastered on her face.

She’s actually the one person I’ve seen smile so much in a day. Despite my bad mood and unreceptiveness she never lost her radiant smile. I recall snippets the conversation she’d had with Killan and Nillan making them laugh and joke around. Unaware I feel my own grin coming along. It was good being around such people, they rub on you in a positive way.

Ms. Stourton arrives at my driveway and pulls up. The entire house was dark an indication no one was home or maybe they were asleep. Highly unlikely. My heart beats strike up as I get off heading to the door first. The front door was unlocked so I push it open. I walk back to the car and get Killan fast. Without asking she helps me with the Nillan.

The house is as silent as a graveyard. The usual greeting and kissing that came with my arrival amiss. We make it inside and I place Killan on the sofa Ms. Stourton following my action. She also places their school bags down beside them.

“I’ll get going,” she says stepping away from the boys though her eyes never leave them. "Can….Can I say goodbye to them professor?" she asks nervously her hands still against her legs. Not understanding her request I only nod.

Ms. Stourton slowly bends down planting a lingering kiss on each of their foreheads brushing the stray hairs from Killan’s head, “Goodnight Champs.” When she gets up she smiles and points towards the door making a beeline for it.

“Wait Ms. Stourton,” I call walking past her I click the lights on in the kitchen. Heading towards the snack drawer I take out a small tin I use to put petty cash. Taking out a handful of ten dollar bills I straighten them coming up with a hundred and forty dollars in total.

“Here,” I say handing her the bills, Ms. Stourton stares at the hand in cash before pushing it back to me. “I don’t know how to repay your kindness Ms. Stourton. Take it.”

“No. Thank you really. It’s not necessary Prof. Lakewood.”

“Just take the money Ms. Stourton you’ve done more than enough,” I insist but she doesn’t budge refusing to take the money from my hand.

“Just look at my help as a good deed. You can pay it forward. To a different person. Make the world a better place,” she says smiling widely at me, “Meeting and spending time with Killan and Nillan is p*****t enough. They made my day Prof. Lakewood. You are lucky to have them.”

“I know,” I reply looking back at my sleeping sons.

“Goodnight then Prof. Lakewood.”

“Goodnight,” I reply in a low voice watching her walk out the front door. Seconds later her car pulls away leaving me standing in amazement at the turn out of things.

Locking the front and covering the twins I make my way towards Lawrence’s office I find it empty and cold as the rest of the house. Our bedroom, empty, the bed untouched. My mind reels with anxieties unsure of what to make of the situation. Maybe Marissa could answer but I hadn’t caught her presence in the house. It felt deserted

Marissa room was empty too but untidy, the bed unmade and a shirt and socks on the floor. Touching the bedding it feels cold, not having been inhabited for house. My feet lead me to check Lawrence’s car that too wasn’t in the garage.

Calling them proves futile again, both phones unreachable. It’s like the both of them had disappeared off the face of the earth. A sinking feeling pools at my stomach uneasiness overwhelming me. What if something wrong had happened to the both of them?

What if they hadn’t gotten into an accident, what if they were lying dead in some morgue? Everything bad floods my mind to the point of having a panic attack. I call Peter and Derik my husband’s close friends but neither have news on him.

Apparently they hadn’t talked in weeks. Which begs the question were did Lawrence disappear to when he said he was meeting them for drinks Sunday afternoon. The same day Marissa got the day off.

I withhold on calling my mother-in-law, god knows the scene she’d cause. On Marissa’s part I’m limited restricted. I barely knew anyone from her side. She had been working for us for so long, she was part of the family. Had been with the boys since they were two years old. Despite the years I hardly knew more her family. Her vagueness on the issue evident whenever the topic came up. On my part I never liked pushing a person, backing them up against the wall.  

My head pounds from the all the thinking, I needed ice cold water to calm the fury inside me. Walking to the kitchen I get a glass from the cabinet and set it in the counter.

It is then my eyes catch something on the fridge. A note from Lawrence. He’d stuck it over the picture of Killan and Nillan. Grabbing it hastily relief floods me. The instant relief is down lived when I read the words scribbled on the post it note.

I can’t do this anymore Karey.

I try to make sense of the words. Lawrence couldn’t do any of what? But as I reread the words over and over, they begin to make meaning for me. Like a sledge hammer, the weight of those words weigh me done. I crumble to my knees tightly clutching the note. For the first time in years I feel ungrounded and lost, the tears come as I sit on the cold floor.

I was done for. Literally.