This Unconventional Kind of Love

Chapter 5: A Sense of Normalcy

Copyright © 2020, Nikki B. Lourie if you are reading this work on any other domain than Wattpad, it has been plagiarized. 

Once and then twice her eyelids fluttered before she was staring up at the ceiling. This wasn't her room. She sat up looking around for her father. Her new room in Leslie's house was still bare save for the tasteful furniture holding up the walls. She had more furniture than she had clothes to fill them. She needed to go shopping, but she was tired of online shopping. She wanted to know what it felt like to be in a real clothing store. She wanted to be able to feel the material through her fingers and to change in a fitting room.

Her parents had kept her away from the mall because of her narcolepsy. She had never had the experience of even frequenting a movie theater. There was so much she wanted to do. Her fingers touched her wet cheeks and she sniffled, wiping away the warm liquid before it could reach her chin. She was happy. Her father had actually listened to her for once. She was so happy she couldn't stop herself from crying.

"I thought I heard you." Leaning against the wall, Leslie awkwardly searched for something funny to say to stop her from crying. He gave up, deciding to remain quiet until she was ready to talk. He didn't even know why he was here. He wanted to say that his mom was responsible for him wanting to check up on his new assistant, but before she could even think to tell him, his feet were already walking towards her room. He muttered to himself, angry that he even cared whether or not she was crying alone by herself. He still wanted his solitude and seclusion. He was willingly falling into his mother's trap.

Grouchily, he shoved away from the wall retreating back to his room. So what she might need someone to talk to. He didn't want to be that listening ear. Every time he had opened up to someone, they only left him or betrayed him. Bianca was the last straw. She proved that people couldn't be trusted. As much as he felt bad for Janessa's situation, especially after hearing her desperate pleas to her father, he didn't want to start sympathizing with her. For all he knew, she was now his mother's spy. Who knows what they had talked about while she was on the other side of the house.

"Thank you," Janessa quietly called after him.

He stopped, his heart fluttering in his chest as he debated whether he should engage her or continue his retreat. "For what?"

"For checking on me." Janessa watched his back tense before he quietly walked away, his hand trailing against the wall to guide his steps. She sighed, her feet touching the soft oversized rug under the bed. She wondered how long the quiet would last before the storm. What was her father planning if he decided to let her stay? For all she knew, this was temporary. Maybe he was in the living room waiting for her to wake up. That made sense. She might as well go out there before he came to drag her out.

Nervous tingles ran amuck in her body as she slowly exited her room. Her talking stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten dinner as of yet. Well, since she was about to be dragged back home, she might as well mentally ransack the refrigerator at home. "You're awake?"

She smiled at Lana although she was distractedly looking for her father. "Where is—"

"He went home. I told him he and your mother could come back one day and check out the place," she smiled.

"What?" Disbelief was written all over her face causing Lana to laugh, steam from the bubbling pot wafted about her face, rising up toward the fan above the stove.

"You heard it the first time, she quipped with a smirk. "Now, I'm not the world's best chef, but I managed to whip up some homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese. To be honest, I'm nothing without a recipe, but these bones aren't holding up like they used to even with one."