The Housemaid [in edit]

The Housemaid - Chapter Twenty-Nine

NOTE: Surpriseeee! Another update after three days from the last one? I am on a roll. 

Unfortunately, though, classes start again this week (nooo, so we'll see how updates will go...).

In the meantime!! Savor every moment with this one. I think this clears up what has happened in the last 2/3 chapters of the story. :)

29 On the Roof Again

Yet…Christine was still skeptical about it all. 

After that surprise visit from the band’s girlfriends, it only gained more anxiety. Yes, part of her wanted to throw her claws at the boys after what they’ve done, but the other part thought…they poured their honest hearts to her last night; they hid someplace away from their managers for her; they wanted to play safe and make things right. The worst thing of it all, not only she brought her lying habit back…she ran away.

She did the inevitable and ran away, which was the habit she thought she got rid of after all this time. 

She went for a shower. A nice, hot shower was a relieving feeling, but the thought of meeting with the band again after leaving them, and the girlfriends adding more weight to her shoulders was already making her anxiety worse.

Once she was dressed, she went back to the living room. Thankfully, Eric was still around with Ben putting his shoes on. She walked over to him and said, “…I don’t can’t do this.”

He looked at her with a slow nod, as if he already read her mind. That’s what her brother always does: he knew what she felt before she realized it on her own. “You figured it out, huh?”

“I…don’t want to hurt them.” Christine continued, carefully choosing words from her jumbled thoughts. “I don’t want to put so much more weight on them after what Aaron and Sandy did to them, and what they’ve done to me. It affected us all. Their girlfriends don’t know the struggle they’ve been through…or what I’ve gone through.”

“I didn’t want to tell you this earlier, Chris, but…” Eric sighed. “It felt like those girls were trying to get you to team up with them. I know they’re not the bad ones in this dilemma that you’re in, but, I think they had high expectations that you were against the band. Are you?”

“N-No.” Christine said. “I-I mean…yes! I’m not sure…”

“Listen, I’m gonna go to the park with Ben after we drop off Jo at her friend’s house. We’ll give the house to yourself if you want. Take the roof if you need it to get some fresh air.”

He was right; Christine needed more time to think. After everything the band had done for her, and now what the girlfriends had given to her, it was all too much to handle in less than 24 hours.

Christine smiled at her brother. “Thank you.”

After her siblings left the house, she went in the kitchen to have breakfast. But with so much on her mind, she seemed to have lost her appetite. Plus, there were no leftovers for her anyway. She decided to leave the apartment and climb up to the rooftop of the apartment complex.

It was a warm Saturday. It was near the end of April, closing in on May. Despite that it was still the season of spring, the weather has been creeping up to the warmest of the high 70s. Christine didn’t mind it, though; it was what she needed. 

She breathed in the fresh, crisp air slowly, and exhaled. It was like she was back outside in the backyard of the mountain, staring at the view. Instead, she sees tall buildings before her, and a few suburban houses in the distance. The small replica of the Eiffel tower that sits on top of the elevator of The Americana outdoor mall was not too far from her view, a couple of blocks down. She smiled at this view; this was the view she missed after being away from home for so long.