Tell Me With Flowers

15. Home Sweet Home

MEGAN

The streets were shovelled, and a big heap of snow had accumulated on either side of the road. With mittens and a big woolen cap, I thought I was ready, but perhaps not. It took all of my will power to not take back the route to my shop.

I had to do this. It had been two years since I had gone back to the place that I once called home. Apart from the occasional nightmares, home was just a happy picture I had painted for myself after I had run away. Neither had the calls come from there, nor I had the guts to call back.

It was a win-win for all of us. Me getting out of the house that is. It was clear that I was just a dragging burden on my parents, and I wanted something that would boost my confidence level. It was just a break that I needed. But never had I thought that it would only push me away from the people with whom I shared my roots.

But the call two days ago from my mother had kept me stunned. She had asked me to come home to celebrate the holidays. If the call alone was a surprise, the invitation came in like a tidal shock.

I was never the one to be invited to anything that my family had a part in. Now, with my mother taking the initiative to have me around for Christmas, had bought tears to my face. So, when she repeated her question for the second time, I was giving her a shaky yes.

Now, all the logic was kicking in, making me analyze the situation better with no distractions on my mind. I had said yes in a moment of emotional volatility, not wanting to push her away when she had taken the first step towards me.

In all the two years, my family had never once contacted me, washing their hands off of me when I had left. With no money or food, I had spent horrible days in the town, crying myself over the harsh decision I had made.

What had changed to call me back? Even if it was only for two days?

My nightmares haunted me again, making my hands shiver. Though I had grown up to be stronger and self-reliant, the childhood tantrums had never left me alone, leaving me in the core of massive insecurities to last me for a lifetime.

Going back to the place where I had cried myself to sleep almost every night didn't seem like a good idea now. Laura's face came back to me again, begging me to go to her wedding rather than going to the terror house. It was tempting enough to turn around.

I had left the town around seven in the evening hoping to spend less time in the family home. I had decided to coop up in my room and stay there until it was time for me to leave. That way, I wouldn't be anyone's way, nor would it give anyone a chance to say that I had ignored a call from mother.

With the misperceptions swinging around me, I wasn't so convinced anymore. The weather was getting worser by the minute, leaving my hands freezing. I reached forward to increase the heat, but my beloved car huffed before shutting off the heater completely. I let out a frustrated groan.

Perhaps Miles was right about the car. It was high time I got a new one for my own luxury. I heaved a sigh. It would have been so much better if I had stayed back in the town. I imagined myself laughing and dancing around with a guy who had the most disheveled hair I had ever seen. Amber wouldn't be mad at me for leaving all the decorations on her when it was my job-description. Laura wouldn't have hated me for ditching her marriage.

Things would have been perfect if I hadn't said yes to her.

As I neared the corner where the road led to the place I dreaded, I seemed to hesitate to press on the gas. I took a deep breath and let it out through the mouth, watching the air twirl before disappearing.

"You can do this." I said out loud before heading down the road.

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Eleanor Taylor was a stout woman with perfect cheek bones and a long neck. She had the gentle smile which could make one piss in the pants if they got into her wrong books. With always a five-inch heel under her foot, she stood tall, often saying that it gave her the confidence that she lacked.