🐞MTOABB🐞

"What time did he say he'll be back?" Holly asked me.

"Not sure, he didn't say." She nods with a hum. She moves to the cupboard and takes out a frying pan.

"You plan on cooking?' I asked, surprised.

"I usually do it when he goes out running. He'll say he will make breakfast but when he comes back from his run, he is beat - laying on the couch like literal dead meat." She chuckles as she speaks. She cracks four eggs in a bowl and moves to grab the oil.

"Do you need any help?" She didn't look like she needed it, but it did no harm in offering.

"No, I'm good. Maybe you could look after the baby for me - if you don't mind, that is."

"Sure, I can do that." I carried the baby with me to the living room.

"Hi?" I say, staring at the baby. I didn't know what else to say, but when she looked up at me with her doll face eyes, I fell in love. "Why are you so cute," I swoon.

She babbles with a toothy smile and I reach to pull her in. Gomes suddenly appears in the hallway, leaning against the wall. His face lit up as he saw me sitting there on the floor playing with his daughter.

"Hi. What's with that look?" I ask him.

"You look so beautiful right now," he says. He walks up to me, kneels down and drops a kiss on my lips. Holly walks in just in time to see as his lips touch mine.

She clears her throat, "Breakfast is ready."

We all move to the dining room and Holly takes the baby from my hold. "Thank you for holding her."

"How was your run?" I ask him. Everyone was seated with food on their plate.

"It was refreshing," he tells me.

"That's what he always says," Holly lightly chimes in.

The conversation soon enough shifted to them talking about Laurasia and I just sat there listening in. Gomes sounded like a great dad who loves his kid, but Holly - she is a super mom.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Holly you're such a great mom," I tell her. I'm not sure what made me say it, but I'm glad it did.

She looked up, our eyes met and for the first time I felt like she and I could be friends. "Thank you."

"You really are. I don't think I say that enough." He reaches out and grabs her hand. What the actual fuck, Gomes? That was not what I meant when I started gushing over her. I turn to look at my food and I feel his hand squeeze my thigh gently. I refrain from removing it and take a strip of bacon and stuff it in my mouth.

"You want dad to take you to the park today?" He asks Laurasia, who is sitting comfortably on her mom's lap. She nods in excitement as she extends her arms to him. He lifts her up and takes her in his arms.

I excused myself from the table with my empty plate. It felt as if I was intruding on a family moment.

I quickly leave the plate in the sink and run upset. This is so stupid, my behaviour is so stupid and now that I feel this way, I don't know how to stop.

I take out my phone and dial Chloe's number. "I don't know what I'm doing here," I say once she picks up.

"What's wrong?" She asks, concerned.

"In a month or so he will be back here and living his life as I never existed. What if I was the girl that was around to help him pass time?"

"Rossita, calm down. We both know Prinse isn't like that at all."

"What if he is?" I cry.

"Did he do something to make you feel this way?" She asks.

"He held her hand in front of me."

"Whose?"

Chloe can really be slow sometimes - usually on days that I want for her to keep up with the pace. Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have called.

"Holly, who else would it be?"

"Rossita! We are going to go down to the park. Do you want to join us?" Gomes yells from downstairs.

"Why is there shouting in the background? Rossita, are you okay?" Chloe asks, now startled, which had me rather confused.

"I'm not okay, but that was Gomes asking if I wanted to go to the park with them."

"Are you going to go?" She asks.

"I don't think I want to go, especially with this foul mood. I don't want to ruin it for the baby."

He knocks on the door and then opens it. "Are you coming?"

"You guys can go. I think I'll just stay here."

He closes the door behind him and walks towards me. "Did I do something?" He asks.

"It's nothing, Prinse."

"Well, you just called me Prinse and you didn't say 'no' to my question."

"It's nothing."

"I'm sorry," he says.

"For what?"

"For whatever the fuck I did," he clenches his jaw in annoyance.

"Why are you all so worked up?"

"You're making me angry," he says.

"I am making you angry? How funny is that, because you make me angry!" I shout.

"Right," he snickers. "How is that?" He asks.

"You make me feel like I don't matter to you. You disappear for days and don't even bother texting to let me know you are okay! How can you say you care for me when you don't show it." Tears start streaming down my cheeks like a puddle of water.

"You know why you're making me angry?" He looks straight past me and into my soul. "I always keep coming back to you like I have no shame." He takes a step towards me and I immediately take a step back.

"Tell me to leave and never come back, and this time I will go, making sure to erase anything that reminds me of you."

"Gomes don't do this to me," I whimper.

"You're leaving me with a broken heart, Rossita and it sucks going through this for the second time around. A boy's heart can break too." He laughs, not a speck of humour in the way that his eyes squinted and in the way that the corner of his lips curved.

"In another story, I would be your girl and we would make sure to never have any secrets." I use the back of my hand to wipe the snort away from my nose.

"Rossita..." he trails.

"Please just go," I sniff. He didn't hesitate, he turned around, opened the door and left with Holly and the baby.

I loved him like a fool - still do.

"Rossita...," Chloe whispers and I realise I never ended the call.

"I just need a moment Chloe," I say, ending the call.

Leave me a like and a comment because it's 2021...duhh
Insert: please 🙂