Misfortune

Chapter 36

The bed creaks as he gets up.

He doesn't say anything to me as he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.

I let out a breath of relief now that he's gone.

I close my eyes once more, letting the heat of the room consume me. Only a few hours pass before I'm awaken by the sound of laughter. My heavy eyelids slowly start to lift. The sun was mostly down by now, but light streaks still beamed through the curtains. I twist my body, letting the bones in my back crack as I sit up. My fingers rub over my tired eyes. As I was still processing everything around me, I hear more laughter.

I scan around the room until I realize that the sound is coming from outside. While still rubbing my eyes, I make my way over to the window. I peek through the curtains only to see Little James running around with a ball in his hand. The sight made me smile to myself until I spotted James from the corner of my eye. He was leaning against the back patio wall, watching little James as he smoked.

"Now throw it back," he says to the younger boy. Little James throws the ball perfectly at him. As he looks up to where the ball is heading, he catches a glimpse of me. The short glimpse was enough to make my heart quiver. I step back away from the curtains, biting my lip.

A hand runs through my hair as I let out a breath.

The doorknob to the room starts to turn. I freeze in place thinking its him but I'm reluctant to see Angus. He peeks his head through the door and looks to the bed. Once he sees I'm not in it, he lets himself in while scanning the room. As our eyes meet, he smiles while letting out a breath of relief.

"There you are," he walks over to me with a grin.

I scratch the back of my head as I say," Did you need something?"

His mouth parts open like he's about to say something else but stops once he hears laughter coming from outside. He brushes past me as he looks through the curtains. I follow him but stay hidden behind the curtains, not revealing myself for James to see again.

"Seeing him like this really makes me think differently of him. Maybe he really is a decent person behind closed doors," Angus says with a warm smile spread across his face. I believe that too but after what happened earlier, I'm not so sure anymore. I know that I love him still, but I'm hesitant on believing that he feels the same way.

Angus watches both James's play for another ten seconds before he turns back to me.

"I came in here to ask if the maintenance man you called earlier swung by."

My eyes widen a bit as I tense up.

"Why do you ask?" I ask nervously.

"The bathroom pipes downstairs is still a bit messed up, but I can tell that someone did work on it. I thought a Maintenance man must've done it but if that were the case, he'd still be here since the pipes are still busted. I would've asked James, but he seemed a little upset earlier, you guys okay?"

My shoulders drop in relief, realizing we didn't leave behind a trace of Chris or his belongings. A part of me is relieved but the other is ashamed that I feel relieved. Though I know it's wrong, I still want to protect James.

I blink a few times before finally giving Angus an answer," I called him over, but he never showed so James tried fixing it a bit then gave up."

He nods his head slowly as he takes in everything," mhm, okay then."

I turn to leave the room but stop when Angus tugs on the sleeve of my shirt," But what about you guys? I got really uncomfortable vibes in here earlier from the way he was looking at you."