CHAPTER THREE
1371 Words
WINTER'S POV
I stretched as I opened my eyes. Scared for a moment as to where I was, I jumped up from the bed. A splitting headache spread through me from the fast movement. When I realized where I was, I let out a sigh of relief, turning to where the stranger I had had a one night stand with was. Or rather, was supposed to be. He wasn't there.
My heart split in two as I got up, checking the bathroom to see if he was there, he wasn't. I didn't know why, but I was disappointed. He had left and had not dropped a note off or whatever, at least. Something to show or represent something. At least to leave a clue behind. Even if it was a note that said not to take our stand to heart. And that it was nothing but a thing of the moment. I would have accepted that.
At that point, I felt used. He had used me! I scoffed as I sat down back on the bed. What was I even saying? I made the move about wanting to sleep with him, and he took it without a second thought. I was the one that used him. But I felt sad, felt empty, felt... St*pid and useless and ashamed of myself. The bubble and life of the previous night had been gone and replaced with shame.
Without bothering to take a shower, I put on my clothes from the previous night, waking out of the hotel room, trying as much as possible to hide my face from the passerby’s without making them notice that I didn't want my face to be seen. Especially those that might have seen me, and... he had told me his name. Kenneth? Cameron? Ka... Made? Kaden! The name dropped.
Yes! That was his name.
I don't want to be seen for fear that those who had seen us enter together would now see me walking out alone, without him, will have something to gossip about. I took the bus, heading straight home. I knew what was waiting for me. I knew what insults were going to be hurled at me.
When I finally got to my doorstep, I opened the door, waking in as I prepared my mind for the vulgar words that would be my first breakfast before any other food. I knew he'd be waiting there, in my mother's seat. Not for any good reason, but to remind me of how useless I was to him. Even though I fed and took care of him. How I had ruined his life.
A clap stopped me in my tracks as I was about to go into my room. "You've grown so big to spend the night out without telling me."
"I was out with Jane." I replied him, with my back still turned to him.
"Jane..." he mused. "How many times do I need to tell you to break ties with that girl?"
"And then run mad?" I almost blurted. Jane was what kept me in check. Who kept me from losing my sanity.
"She's got no home training."
"She did nothing bad." I defended her.
"Of course she didn't." The seat tweak, indicating that he had gotten up from it and was strolling towards me. "I can't believe you're out there... Having fun with alcohol while your mother lays six feet because of you. Why do you have to be so useless?"
A jab appeared in my heart at those words, but I just turned to him. He had no right to call me useless. I wasn't! I never was. "I'm not useless." I said to him as calmly as possible.
"You now talk back." He commented, taking me in with his eyes with such a disgusted look in them. "The m*rderer now speaks for herself." He chuckled.
"I am not a m*rderer, nor am I useless." I said again. "Without me, you would not have had a roof over your head." His face hardened at those words, his eyes taking on a flame in them. "And without me, you would have likely been dead!" My face whipped to the side as his hand collided with my cheek.
"You piece of sh*t!" He barked, as predictable as ever. "I regret the day you walked into my life." He said to me the same words he had been saying to me since mom's death. "Regret that you're my daughter, and I'd rather burn in hell for eternity than have you with me as a daughter." Then he stomped off, out of the house, as tears pricked my eyes. This was the worst of all the vulgar words he had thrown at me in the past.
His words hurt more than ever as I watched him stumble and get his footing as he walked out of the house, a tear falling down my cheeks. I shook my head, clearing what had happened, before walking to my room to call Jane. When she picked up in the second ring, I played my jovial, happy sled into action mode.
"Hey." "She beamed. "I've been trying to reach you." I giggled, telling her the entirety of the story of Kaden leaving me to myself.
"Most times, it happens Winter." She said to me. "It was a one-night stand. Nothing serious and is not like it was your first encounter with a guy." Then why was I thinking of him, angry that he had left me without anything that could point me to him ever again?
"But he was supposed to leave something... maybe a note. It was rude to walk away like that long before I even woke up." I inhaled, pausing a little bit."And I only know his first name." I added before Jane spoke again.
"It happens Winter. Take it from a first-hand woman of experience. But one thing I've learned is to never get attached. That they were all strangers... He's a stranger." I could hear the shrug in her voice. "Don't fret over it."
"Okay," I replied, processing all that she had said. And she was right..
I climbed into bed, asking for the comfort of my pillow as I cried at not only the fact that I felt used but also at the words that had been hurled at me. People said you'd get used to it over time. Could I ever?
******
The week passed, with every passing day filled with thoughts of Kaden. His decent, his voice when he whispered things to me as we went at it.
Two weeks, as I couldn't even find him anywhere. I wasn't as far as going to the club Mallaw if I would bump into him, but he was nowhere to be found.
Three weeks, nothing. A month passed, and I was deep in frustration after my shift. I cracked my neck, took my bag, and headed straight for home.
I had barely crossed the road when a car out of nowhere zoomed at me, speeding in at a mighty speed. The light on the pedestrian crossing showed green. It was time for people to safely cross, but I just stood there, not knowing if to run forward or backward as the car approached, causing chaos. I blinked and missed as I was shot into the air by the car, who zoomed off as soon as it had hit me. It took me mere seconds before I lost consciousness.
When I opened my eyes, the beeping of a monitor met me. I looked up at it, squinting to see what was written when a nurse walked in with a smile on her face.
"You're awake." She said before coming over to check the monitor readings. "And your vitals are now normal." She added. The nurse exhaled, shifting from one foot to another.
"What's wrong?" I questioned.
"We have good news for you, ma'am." A doctor said. One I hadn't noticed when he walked in. "And also bad news. Which would you love to hear first?" Always the good. My mother always said.
"I want the good news."
"When you were brought in by paramedics, we found out that you were a few weeks pregnant." He announced.
- Writer
