Page 34 of Shattered Sinner
Mom and I had just gotten started on the dishes when Dad walked back into the room and took the dish towel that I had on my shoulder off.
"I can take over from here."
I couldn't help but smirk as I moved out of the way so that Dad could take my place. Although we had a dishwasher and had people who would help around the house, I remembered that my mom and dad would do dishes after dinner and talk about their day as a way to connect with one another.
I didn't want to intrude on their alone time, but based on how long Dad was in his office, I wasn’t sure he'd gotten an opportunity to talk to Van. "Did you get a chance to talk to Van?"
Dad nodded. "I did. He gave me the contact information of his scheduler to give to you so that you can work it out around your college stuff."
"Awesome. Thanks for doing that. I hope he can help me out." I didn't elaborate though the urge to do so was there. I didn't want either one of them to try to talk me out of what I wanted to do. "Did he mention anything about the commercial?"
Dad shook his head. “He didn’t say a word about it, but he sounded stressed. I wonder if it was because of that.”
Suspicion crept into my mind. Was there more to it than meets the eye?
19
BIANCA
Due to the silence in the room, my sigh sounded louder than normal. I wanted to cringe, but that would admit how awkward my actions had been. My eyelids fluttered closed for a brief moment as I took in another deep breath. It was a temporary break from the reality I was facing, a small escape from the unrest that currently disturbed my life. I let the world fade for a moment, choosing to get lost in my own thoughts. When I opened my eyes back up, nothing had changed, and I was greeted by the pastel colored walls of Eta Sigma Nu’s meeting room.
I sat up straighter in an effort to not show how bored I felt. Normally I would have tried to be more active in the meeting, to provide more support for my sisters, but for some reason, I couldn’t concentrate on much of anything. My fingers drummed against the cold plastic cup I held that contained a non-alcoholic fruit punch, making it shake. The ice cubes clinked lightly against one another as I tried to pay attention to the report being given in front of me. It didn’t work, and my mind was still a million miles away from Eta Sigma Nu sorority house.
“Are you okay?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin at the whispered question. It was Taylor, one of my sisters, and my co-star in one of the scandalous photos that was leaked to my father. I should probably tell her about what happened, but I wasn’t sure exactly what to say.
“I’m good. Just tired.” At least that wasn’t a lie. I was exhausted from having to keep up appearances and thinking of ways to get out of the prison my parents wanted to force me into.
“Aren’t we all? It’ll get better and we are here for you if we can do anything to help,” she whispered back, and all I could do was nod because I didn’t want to elaborate.
Her words were lovely but did little to stop the storm raging in me. I nodded, acknowledging that I understood, but I didn’t say anything else. I really wanted to, but the words died in my throat. Instead, I turned to focus my attention back to the front of the room.
All I could think about was maintaining my body positioning, so I didn’t let on to anyone else that something was terribly wrong.It had gotten to the point that my head was spinning from the conflicting emotions crashing inside of me. The mask that I wore was doing its job because so far, no one else had tried to ask me what was wrong.
My gaze drifted and noticed that my other sisters were listening intently to the speech. While I’m sure they had their problems, either they were way better at hiding them or they truly felt carefree. If I had to admit, I was jealous because here I was, tangled up in a mess that wasn’t completely my fault.
My thoughts landed on Easton, as they had over the last few days. No matter how much I tried to distract myself with things such as this, he was still at the forefront. Him fucking me again was supposed to be a distraction, but instead, it became the main attraction.
I jumped slightly, almost spilling the drink I was clutching in my hand, when my phone vibrated in my lap. I counted my lucky stars that I ended up turning the volume off, or I would have drawn more attention to myself.
I pulled out the phone and saw that it was a text from my mother.
Mom: Call me now.
I rolled my eyes at her demand to call her right this second. My instincts usually wanted me to do the opposite of whatever my mom wanted me to do, and I tended to listen to my gut. I had no intention of reaching out to her right now. Then I debated about whether I should call her back when I got to my place or if I would wait until tomorrow. I was leaning toward the latter.
After what felt like an eternity, the meeting ended, and we all started to make our way out of the room. I hung around the house for a bit, making sure that I did my best to appear to be social. I didn't feel my phone vibrate any more, indicating that my mom hadn’t tried to call me back. That made me wonder how important her call was.
I left our meeting and drove back to my apartment in complete silence. My mother's text message was weighing heavy on me, but I wasn't ready to talk to her.
I walked into the lobby of my building, my mind so focused on the text message and getting to the elevators. Because I was operating on autopilot and my attention was drawn to getting up to my place that I almost didn't hear the voice behind me call out my name.
"Ms. Henson?"
I turned to look in the direction I heard my last name being called and found the front desk attendant standing there with a small smile. Next to him was a stunning bouquet of pink roses sitting at the front desk. My mouth dropped open slightly as I walked up to the vase. I thanked the attendant as I looked around to see if there was a card with it but found none. Who had sent them?
The roses were blooming, and their color was vibrant. They smelled like freshness and heaven. A smile tugged at my lips as I leaned down to smell them once more before picking them up and walking toward the elevator.
