Chapter 7 #2
“Don’t you dare talk to her like that!” Shannon warns, seething.
“Oh, but she can talk to me like she just did?” I counter, standing so I’m not sitting while she’s leaning over me.
“Mom?” Tally asks, and I nod slightly but don’t look over to her, my eyes not leaving Shannon’s.
“She’s pregnant, she has mood swings. You have no idea how hard the last few days of a pregnancy are.
She could have the baby any day now. Cut her some slack.
All she’s doing is being there and helping you.
Helping you see reason. And you can’t even handle some hormonal spikes for her?
” Shannon’s voice is stern, making me feel bad.
But that’s nothing new lately. “I’m sorry that happened to you, girl.
But it’s over. You can stop fighting for your life and start to live.
Start being a friend to the one that is yours. ”
Her words make me pause. I’ve been in fight-or-flight mode since it happened.
Survival mode.
Just trying to make it to the next day somehow. Trying not to drown in grief, loneliness, and pain. Making it to the shore, not knowing what waits there for me.
I glance at Tally.
Maybe a friend is what was waiting, and I can finally stop treading water.
“What did she say?” Tally asks, standing beside me, reaching out to grab my hand.
I look down at our hands and back at Tally, who looks at me with big, hope-filled eyes.
“She just yelled at me for yelling at you.” I smile, squeezing her hand.
Tally chuckles. “Sounds like her. I’ve got this, Mom,” she tells Shannon, but she’s facing in the wrong direction.
Shannon smiles and nods, heading back to the wall she was leaning against before emotions ran too high.
When Tally looks at me again, she motions for us to sit once more.
“Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out, explain. ”
I fidget in my chair.
That’s not how I wanted to tell her.
I didn’t want to tell her at all if I’m honest.
“I just told you everything. I helped people, stepped on someone’s toes, and that someone got me locked up in a mental institution for my mental illness. My craziness. And let’s just say it was not nice there,” I share, shuddering.
There are a few beats of silence, Tally’s lips forming a small pout while she tilts her head, her eyes filling with concern. “That must have been hard. When did it happen?”
I wring my hands, having to take a deep breath before I can answer, my voice just above a whisper, “I got out a little over a year ago.”
“That’s pretty fresh, no wonder you’re still so… scared.” She nods, reaching out to put her hand on my knee. “Was this someone who wanted your help?”
“No,” I say slowly.
Mayor Thomson definitely didn’t want any help from me.
“See? People who seek your help would never do that to you. They want your help and are happy about your gift. I’m not pressuring you, but think about it. We would be so selective about whom we let talk to you. Make background checks. Things like that.”
“We?” My eyebrows rise, and she giggles like the cute woman she is. Nothing left from the prickly persona that just exploded on me. “As if I would let you do that alone. If we’re doing it, we’re doing it together.”
Together.
Doing this together.
“I haven’t agreed to anything,” I warn because I’m not planning to do any readings if I can help it, but I don’t want to agitate her again.
“I know, but—” she starts, just when the door to the café opens, and Nash comes rushing in.
No, please.
Just behind him is Tim, trying to grip Nash by the shoulder. “I fucking told you to wait outside!”
“And I told you I needed to tell her myself!” Nash barks back, shrugging Tim’s hand off before he turns to me. His angry face falls, and he softens, his eyes burning into mine. “Siren.”
“What do you want?” I ask, standing from the chair, mentally taking notes on how I can step around him to leave.
“I want to apologize, okay? I’m sorry if you feel like I let you down.
” He takes a step closer, and Tim tenses up as if he’s preparing to jump between us.
“I’m sorry about everything that happened and how it played out.
But you have to see, North makes the shots, and if you had told me sooner—” I let out a sarcastic laugh, cutting him off.
I shake my head, looking to the ground. “Pretty girl, I’m so, so damn sorry. I just need you to listen to me.”
Stupid, pretty boy.
"I heard what you said. You can leave now," I say with a flat tone, clenching my hands so tightly that my fingernails press into my palms, using the sharp pain as a means to prevent myself from crying.
“But I said I’m sorry.” Nash frowns, looking at me like he can’t believe his apology doesn’t make me run into his open arms.
“Yeah, wrapped up in the same breath as saying it’s my fault. Any I’m sorry followed up by if or but isn’t an apology.”
He furrows his brows as if he has to think hard about what he just said. I use his confusion to step around him, giving Tally a quick hug. “See you tomorrow,” I whisper before I leave the café.
On my way to the van, I promise myself that no matter how much my heart breaks or I want to run back into their arms, I’ll never go back to the men who pushed me away the second I was forced to show them the real me, or who can’t even apologize properly since they don’t understand what they did wrong in the first place.
They didn’t want what I had to offer. So what if I’m more than they could see? I still deserve to be treated with respect.
Screw them.
I can take care of myself and be by myself. I always have.
Tally was right. I found my home here.
And I won’t let them drive me away from it.