She wants to escape it all. She runs from it. She gets a chance to leave it all behind. And she does, without thinking twice.
Gabrielle leaves France, her home country, when she finds an offer to babysit in London. She doesn't have a lot of ex...
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"Yes! That's it, you got it!" I encourage Amelia, smiling from ear to ear as she's balancing on the bike.
She was so happy when it arrived today, she almost jumped out of her skin. It was a true joy written on her face and it was amazing to see it. But teaching a child to ride a bike ... that was a hard task. It was way harder than I thought it would be because Amelia was fearless. Although the bike was mostly safe for her because it had training wheels on.
She was a quick and patient student, which made things easier. But I still feared anything would happen to her.
I was constantly looking around for cars, although I, of course, didn't teach her on the road, I showed her the basics in the driveway. It was big enough so she could get the feel of it and only then I took her on the street. It helps that at this hour, it's not busy with cars, but you can never be too careful.
Amelia giggles whole-heartedly. "I'm riding a bike, Gabby!" she squeals out in pure delight.
I return the happy smile she's giving me. "Yes, baby, you're riding a bike!" I say back, proud as ever. She still needs to learn how to ride in a straight line, though.
My smile quickly dies on my lips as I hear the distant sound of a motorcycle. It feels like everything inside of me tightens and my heart starts beating faster. It's too early, way too early for Alexander to be home already.
But as the sound is getting closer and closer, it gets harder for me to breathe. I seriously don't want to deal with him again after this morning. It takes all the energy in me to even be near him and be careful of what I'm doing. It's exhausting.
I see him then, dressed in a black leather jacket, black jeans and a helmet on his head, driving fast towards the house. What the hell is he doing home so early? It can't be more than a few hours since he left to go to school.
He slows down once as he gets near and I put my hand on Amelia's back so she stops, although she does it by herself as she watches her brother drive on that motorcycle.
He drives on the driveway and I quickly get myself moving, softly pushing Amelia on the back to indicate her to go forward. Just so I don't have to be anywhere near him and deal with his bullshit. I don't even dare to turn around, hoping there might be a miracle and he didn't see us.
"Look, Gabby! It's a cat!" Amelia says, staring at the cat crossing the street before us.
I don't have a chance to say anything, because something – or rather someone – grips my forearm tightly, making me turn around to meet the stone-cold look in Alexander's pair of dark brown eyes.
"What in the fuck do you think you're doing?" he seethes out lowly, only for my ears.
In my shock, I don't register at first what's going on, but then the pressure on my arm reminds me of what's happening and I try to move it away from Alexander's tight grip. He doesn't let go. "I'm teaching your little sister how to ride a bike. What does it look like I'm doing?" I snap at him, not even caring if it gets him mad or not. "Let go," I say as I try to move my arm away again.
