My Breathless Mistress VI

Chapter Twenty-Five

                Chelsea sat on the couch watching an old movie that she hadn’t even heard of in Black and White.  Nadia was sleeping and everyone in the other house was too.  Day one with Nadia had been okay.  Alex came back dropped her stuff off but then he left.  She was hoping he would have stayed but when he left it just made her understand more what she had done, to him, to herself, to Nadia to everyone around her.  How could she have let herself get so out of control?  How could she let herself slip so far that she lost Alex. A tear started to fall and she wiped it away.  Her eyes drifted needing a break from the plan colours of the old movie.  They went towards the phone and she wondered if he would be up.  She looked back to the DVD player and the green neon clock read one fifteen.  He would most likely be up but she didn’t want to take the chance that if he wasn’t, she would wake him up and she knew he hadn’t been sleeping.

                 At first she was angry at him.  Angry at what he did, angry he wasn’t there for her but then as her head started to clear and she started to see through the fog,  she started to realize why he had done it.  She didn’t want to believe it at first.  Expecting him to call within the first day or the second day but the only time she heard that he had were after her appointments and even then he just talked to Kris or Kevin.  She asked Kevin if they were coming to the party and he said Nadia was but he didn’t think Alex was going to stay. 

Was he really that angry with her that he didn’t even want to stay for Brian’s Birthday? Wouldn’t he want to see her and see how she’s doing?  That was the moment she started missing him.  She started to wonder how long she would have to go without him.  Now she sat here with a clearer answer, it would be a while yet.  And not because he didn’t stay but because when she saw him, she didn’t know what to say.  How could she make up for what she put him through? How could she apologize for what he walked in on that night?  And how does she ask him for help now? Was it even fair for her to ask?

She sighed as she fixed her blanket and looked back to the TV.  The movie she was watching was over and the bad effects of credits faded in and out from the screen.  She shut the TV off and lifted up her blanket as she stood up.  Opening her door she walked into her bedroom and shut it behind her.  Chelsea crawled into bed and pulled her covers around her.  She looked around the strange room as she lied in the strange bed and looked over to the empty pillow beside her.  With a light sigh and a small frown she closed her eyes.

A shout woke her from her slumber at first she wasn’t sure what it was and then she heard the noise coming from the room beside her.  Quickly she climbed out of bed and hurried out of the bedroom.  She opened Nadia’s door and saw her Daughter sitting up on the bed crying. 

“Nadia?” Chelsea spoke as she walked over to the bedside.  As she sat down Nadia looked up at her and then wrapped her arms around her.

“Please don’t go” She sobbed.

“I’m not going anywhere” She said as she held her Daughter in her arms.

“I don’t want you to be here, I want you at home so I know where you are and that you’re okay.” She cried and Chelsea closed her eyes as she held her a little tighter.  “I-I don’t care if he doesn’t want to help you, I do.” She whined. “I want to take care of you, I want to help you.”

Chelsea slowly pulled Nadia away and looked her in the eyes.  “You’re Dad is helping me Nadia.”

“How?” Nadia asked with anger and hurt.

“By taking care of you.” She told her Daughter.  “I wasn’t a good person to be around, I was in my own little world and I just didn’t care. I was in a bad place and I need time to move on from it and while I’m doing that he’s making sure you’re okay.”

“Do you still love him?” Nadia asked.

Chelsea frowned; she reached up and placed her hand on her Daughters shoulder. “Of course I do, I will always love your Father.”

“Do you miss him?” She asked.

“Yeah”

“Maybe tomorrow I can call him and we can go do something, go out to eat or something.” Nadia said and Chelsea saw the hope and excitement in her eyes. 

“We’ll see okay?” Chelsea replied with an unsure smile.

“Okay” Nadia said with a nod.

Chelsea lightly smiled glad she dropped it.  “Alright let’s get back to bed.”  She helped Nadia get under the covers and tucked her in.

“Night Mom” Nadia yawned as she tucked her arms under her pillow and rolled over.

“Night hun” Chelsea replied as she walked to the door.  When she closed it she headed into her room and crawled back into bed.

Her eyes didn’t open back up until late in the morning.  She walked out of the room and went into the bathroom, she grabbed the glass that was sitting out and filled it with water.  Opening the medicine cabinet she pulled out the orange pill bottle and gave the lid a twist as she pushed down.  She dumped out two small pills and placed the cap back on.  Dumping the pills into her mouth she put the bottle down and grabbed the glass with her other hand.  Taking a sip she swallowed the pills and sighed as she breathed out.

Dumping the unused water out, she put her medication away and left the bathroom.  When she walked into the living room she realized Nadia’s door was open.  She peaked in and saw she wasn’t there.  Chelsea walked over to the intercom and buzzed the living room in Kevin’s house.

“Well it’s about damn time young lady.”

“Right, is Nadia with you?” She asked ignoring Kevin’s smart comment.

“Yes she’s playing with Mason.” He told her.

“Okay, I’m going to have a shower and I’ll be over.” She said and then waited for him to reply.

“Did you take your meds?” He asked

She rolled her eyes a little.  “Yes”

“Okay see ya when you get here” He replied and the intercom cut out.

As she headed to the bathroom the phone rang but she ignored it they were always for the other house.  She walked into the bathroom and reached for the water but the voice on the intercom in the living room stopped her.

“Chels, you still there?”

She stood up and walked out of the room and over to the small speaker on the living room wall.

“Yeah?”

“Alex is on the phone wants to talk to you.” He told her.

She replied “Okay” And then headed to the phone.  When she picked up the receiver she spoke. “Hello?”

“Hi” AJ’s voice said on the other end.  “Just calling to see how Nadia was yesterday.”

She sat down on the sofa chair.  “She was good, she hung out with everyone, came into the house when everyone started leaving, then we watched a movie and then she went to bed.”

“So she didn’t give you a hard time or anything?” He asked.

“No” She replied lightly shaking her head even though he couldn’t see her.

“Good, good” AJ replied.

“She did have a nightmare though.” She said.

“What happened?” AJ asked with concern.

“She woke up crying and I went in there, she was sitting in her bed and when she saw me…” She paused, she knew the next sentence would lead to a lot of talk she wasn’t sure she was ready for.

“Chels?” AJ replied into the phone.

With a quick deep breath she spoke. “She begged me not to go, she told me she didn’t want me to be here, she wanted me at home so she knew where I was and if I was okay.  That she didn’t care if you didn’t want to help me she did.” She told him and there was a silence on the other end.  “I told her you were helping me by taking care of her while I get better.” There was still silence on his end and she couldn’t tell how he was reacting.  “And she wants the three of us to go out together go get something to eat.”

“She does” AJ replied finally speaking.

“I told her we’ll see but…” She stopped.  She knew Nadia wanted them to go out but she could barely walk around the backyard without feeling disoriented and jumpy.

“But what?” AJ asked.

“I’m just…” She paused thinking of the right words.  “I’m just still trying to get through the day with at least one thought of him that doesn’t make me cry for an hour, if I go out and see a Mom and her…” She paused.  “I really want to do this for Nadia cause she seems really worried about…us.”

“It’s okay I’ll talk to her.” AJ said.

“Okay” Chelsea said not really sure what else to say.

“Kay, well I guess I’ll let you get back to you’re shower, I just wanted to see how she was.” AJ told her.

“Okay” She replied and she found herself feeling sad the conversation would be ending.  “I’ll page Kev and tell him to get Nadia.”

“Sweet, thanks.” AJ replied.  She pressed hold, put the phone down and walked over to the intercom.

“What?” Kevin voice broke from the speaker.

“Alex wants to talk to Nadia.” She told him.

“Nadia your Dad’s on the phone!” Chelsea heard Kevin shout and she rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Did you have to keep the button down to do that?” She asked annoyed.

“In the words of my youngest band mate…Yes” He replied.

“That’s Ex band mate.” Chelsea shot back and let go of the button.  Kevin said something to her but she ignored it as she walked back into the bathroom.  Reaching for the taps she turned them on and let the water run to the right temperature.  She pulled knob and the water blasted out from the shower head.  After she undressed she walked into the shower and with a sigh she let the water fall on her head.  Her mind thought about the conversation she had just had and how hard it was to get through it.  Everything was harder to do these days but at least now she wanted to do them.

After going through the normal routine, she shut the water off and grabbed the towel from the rack.  Wrapping it around her she stepped out of the shower and sat down on the edge of the tub.  Her hair was still soaked and it clung to her wet back.  Her mind drifted back to the conversation again.  She wasn’t sure why a part of her was disappointed AJ didn’t want to go out to eat because she really didn’t want to go.  Maybe it was more of a hope he would have shown some interest. 

This whole thing scared her.  Sure he said it was just for her to get better, but sometimes she would get a vibe from him or a feeling just out of the blue that this arrangement was something more.  She wondered why he hadn’t said I love you in a week or I miss you.

Chelsea sighed as she stood up and walked out of the bathroom.  She walked right into her room and over to her dresser.  Pulling out clothes for the day she laid them on top of her bed and began getting dress.  Flipping her hair over she wrapped the towel around her head and scrubbed as she dried her hair a little.  She gave it a quick brush and then walked out of the room.

“Hi” She said as she saw Nadia sitting on the couch.

“Hey” She said with a smile.

“What are you doing?” Chelsea asked as she sat down.  “Ugh, this movie again?”

“Yep” Nadia replied with a nod.  “You don’t complain like Dad does when I watch it so can I watch it?”

“I don’t care” Chelsea replied with a light laugh as she got up.

“Where you going?” Nadia asked as she sat up.

“Going to grab something to eat.” Chelsea replied.

“Why?” Nadia asked and Chelsea turned around.

“Cause I’m hungry?” she replied with a laugh.

“But Dad’s coming.” She said and Chelsea’s face fell in confusion.

“He is?”

“Yeah” Nadia nodded.  “Dad told me you weren’t feeling up to going out to eat so he’s gonna bring something here.”

“He is” Chelsea replied and couldn’t help but hide the stun tone in her voice.

“Yep, he should be here soon.” Nadia said as she looked back to the TV.

Chelsea stood there by the door for a minute not sure what to think about what had just transpired.  As she went to head back to the living room the door to the guest house opened and AJ walked in with bags in his hand.

“Sweet I’m starving” Nadia said as she jumped up.

“Kevin didn’t feed you?” Chelsea asked.

“Hello this is my kid we’re talking about.” AJ said as he walked past her.

Chelsea lightly smiled as he put the bags down on the counter. Nadia already sitting at one of the chairs.  “Cheeseburger and Onion rings.” AJ said as he pulled out the plastic container.

“That’s moi” Nadia said as she took the food from him.

“Kevin said you had just woken up so I grabbed you a fruit salad and a bagel.” AJ said as he looked up at her.

“Oh-Okay thanks.” She replied with a light smile.

She watched the two as they pulled away the lids to their food.  The two busily talked as she walked over and sat down where AJ had put down her food.   This she could do, just them, eating and talking.  She opened the lid to her plastic bowl and went to reach for a fork.

“Again? Seriously Nadia…” AJ moaned and Chelsea looked up.  She followed his eyes and lightly laughed. “How can you like this boring f-“

“Alex” Chelsea said stopping him.

“F-Friggin’ movie.”  He said correcting himself as Nadia rolled her eyes and looked back to the movie…Yeah she could do this.