Tamina

Mum sets down a miniature plate of cookies in the centre of the table while the other hand places a cup of tea in front of me.

"Thank you for having me over," I earnestly say, earning a peck to my hair before she rounds to her seat, occupying her own brew.

"Of course, my darling." Her voice is soft but surprised. "When I heard your sniffles, there was no way I'd leave you alone." Offering a warm smile, she adds, "Drink, have a cookie, then tell me what's wrong."

Glancing out the rectangular window, dad is on his knees with a trowel in hand, and a smile tugs at my lips at the sight of him carefully shewing off a small sparrow. As if sensing my thoughts, she peers over her shoulder and humorously shakes her head. "Jack's back. He's been persistent with your father lately."

"Probably the seeds," I chuckle, and she hums in agreement.

After a sip from her cup, she settles it down before her eyes soften. "He'll be out there for a while, let's talk before he overhears and conjures a plan that's going to backfire on his sweet soul."

I'm unable to help the laugh. "There's no harm in imagining it though, and it's only because he cares."

Mum's eyes hold the understanding I'm feeling. We know dad won't harm a fly, but it doesn't stop him from throwing out an empty threat that means he's going to spray penises on their cars or leave a dog's turd on their driveway.

Mum's gaze startles me from my thoughts, and my fingers are quick to fiddle with one of the cookies. With a defeated sigh, I drop it next to my cup. "Mum. . . everything went so wrong," I whisper. "He wasn't really who I thought he was, and then I thought he was cheating on me—"

"What makes you say that?"

Her soft features harden, and it makes my heart swell at the thought of her scolding Brandon until the sun goes down and then some. Shaking my head, I pick up the cookie, dunking it in my tea while clarifying what exactly happened so she doesn't get the wrong idea before eating it.

"Would you have trusted him without the CCTV footage?" Mum asks afterword, hesitantly.

Thinking about it, my shoulders slump. "If this was before today, yes. . . now I'm not so sure."

"Darling, you can't live in doubt." Taking my hand softly in hers, she tries to smile for me. "If you can't trust the person you're meant to, then they're not the right one for you. On the other hand, I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't see because you're all grown up, but that doesn't mean I won't be there for you to offer some advice and an ear."

Squeezing her hand in a silent thank you, she proceeds to ask who the person was that showed me the picture, and it was a whole new complication to tell her altogether.

"Lucius Aventail, you've probably heard about him. He's been a pain ever since I met him, but it feels as if it's because he's been trying to tell me things I didn't really want to hear. He warned me about Brandon, and he even took care of me when I was sick. . ." I trail off, leaving mum to soak it in.

Rubbing her thumb over her lower lip, a small smile starts to play on her features. "My darling, it sounds as if this young man has caught some feelings for you."

I almost spit out my tea, which would have been better than swallowing since I'm wheezing. Mum simply laughs while I furiously shake my head. "No, mum, it's not like that. He just wants to warn me off, and then it's a mission complete. He wants to get back at Brandon, and I've made it clear that I'm not going to be caught up in their mess."

She sighs. "Tamina, it looks like you're in deep with these two. All I can say is that you find a way to resolve this, even if that means cutting them from your life."

Little does she know, I'm trying to do that, but it's hard.

Now that I'm thinking about it, Lucius has been acting odd lately, and he did stick up for me in front of Jasmine.

"I think you should have a chat with this Mr Aventail, it's always good to clear the air."

"What's good to clear the air?"

We both startle at dad's sudden appearance, and my cheeks flame in embarrassment. Flicking his eyes between us, he sets down the trowel at the back door. "Do I need to get my spray paint out?"

Laughing, I shake my head. "No dad, honestly, I'm fine."

A rough sigh comes from him as he takes the seat in between me and mum. "Tammy, I know I may look it, but nothing gets past me. If you don't want me to spray his car, I won't, but I'm your dad and you can tell me anything."

"I know," I sniffle, leaning over to give him a hug. "It's just going a bit topsy-turvy right now, but it will sort itself out."

He smiles, and that's what I need to get my spirits up.

"Sweetheart," he starts cautiously. "We don't want what happened last time to happen again, that's why we're so worried."

My eyes widen, and I'm too slow to play it off. "What do you mean?"

Mum offers a sympathetic smile. "We know something happened between you and David"—she looks at dad who nods his head— "we didn't want to press you, but it hurt us to see those hidden tears of yours, and the lack of eating. It was obvious something more happened than a mutual split, and we want you to know that whatever happened, we're here for you and always will be, sweetheart."

Tears cloud my sight, and they both get up and pull me into a warm embrace that easily mends enough of the hole that it's barely painful anymore. Maybe after some time, I'll be able to forget about Brandon if things truly aren't meant to be, but until then, I'll just get on with my life until his time runs out.

"Thank you, I've been so silly—"

"Not at all, but remember what we said, OK?"

I nod against dad's chest and pull away with a happy smile. "I will." Wiping my eyes, a small laugh comes out. "I'm going to grab some things from the shop, would you guys like anything? And before I forget, would you like to have a takeaway night soon?"

Mum gushes and nods her head excitedly while dad vocally confirms it to be a plan, and with that, the ache in my chest is better, and I'm only able to hope it's for a while.

On my way to the front door, I can hear dad beckoning mum to the garden to show her his handy work, and my heart swells with joy. As my hand contacts the handle, the letter box flaps open with a small letter. Confused, I flip it over, ready to call mum or dad until my name stares back at me. Furrowing my brows, my fingers work to unfold it, and my heart skips a beat and my breath lodges itself in my throat.

You should keep your distance from him, or we will have to use a bit of persuasion. Does your mum know her way around the kitchen? Don't forget, you're still going to have to pay for what you've done, don't make them suffer too.

Fear stabs at me when I poke my head through, only to find them both in the garden, laughing away without a clue in the world. My questions won't be answered, and I'm only going to have to keep guessing. Checking the kitchen, nothing looked out of the ordinary, and it gave me a piece of mind they're safe.

But what's going to happen to me?

Slipping out through the front door, my fingers fly across the screen to dial the police, but my thumb freezes over the call icon. I've got no proof of who's behind it, no sign as to who it could trace back to, and they haven't made any attempts to confront me. Aggravated, I cancel the number and search up Aventail Books, and punch in the only resource that may get me in touch with Lucius.

To: AventailBooks

From: TaminaRovers70

Subject: Important Contact

Hello, I'm sorry for the inconvenience and for such a silly matter. I'm a

The typer icon blinks at me after the 'a' as my mind conjures up words to fill in the gap to describe our relationship.

Acquaintances? Enemies? I'm his love interest? An annoyance?

Taking a deep breath, I continue.

. . .friend. We need to talk about urgent business, and I never got his number. If you could kindly let him know that Tamina Rovers needs to talk to him, that would be highly appreciated. My number will be attached to the bottom of this email.

Kind regards, Tamina Rovers.