Escaping Duty

Chapter 2

Valentina woke up the next morning with a small migraine from her lack of sleep and a tightness in her muscles from the absence of adrenaline that had flooded her veins last night. Slowly crawling out of bed she went to her bathroom to grab some Ibuprofen and looked in the mirror to see that she looked like a mess after last night.

The mascara and eyeliner she wore out yesterday had dried in dark lines down her face, and around her eyes standing out against her dark skin. Her brown eyes were slightly bloodshot from how much she rubbed her eyes last night and her curly black hair was in knots. Groaning she pulled the pills out of her cabinet, swallowed two and hopped in the shower to get ready for class.

After getting dressed and putting her hair into a side braid she picked up her bag and laptop for class, then her keys ready to head out. Despite how tired she felt right now she knew she just needed to power through the feeling. Hopefully stopping at the Starbucks on campus would give her the energy that her lack of sleep robbed her off.

Walking down the hallway she called out to her parents her usual parting words before walking out the front door.

"Bye Mamí and Papí"

"Hold on Valentina you're not going to get away that easily," her father said in response appearing around the corner of the hallway.

She slowly closed the front door closing her eyes and cursing to herself silently. She forgot that her mother said they'd hear about what happened in the morning, but even she didn't know what the right story was to tell. Facing her father, he looked at her sternly through black-rimmed glasses and narrowed hazel eyes.

"We want to talk to you in the office," he told her turning to walk down the hall and she looked after him in wonder.

She had only been in their office once since she was a baby, but it's been years since then and her and her brother haven't been in. Her parents made it very clear that they weren't allowed to go in there no matter what although some nights due to curiosity she's tried going in. Somehow her parents always managed to catch her before she went inside, or the door was locked.

She followed her father to their office and looked inside feeling a small spark of disappointment. Her small childlike curiosity had piqued with being invited into their office but see that it was a simple room deflated it as fast as it came. This was my parent's personal homemade office that they tell me they designed themselves.

A single large plush cream carper covered the brown wooden floor. The back walls matched the same dark wood, covered by bookshelves holding titles she didn't think were in English. In the middle of the back wall sat a framed picture of a map which she didn't expect her parents to have. The center of the room had a single brown desk behind which a black rolling chair sat and upon that desk was a lamp, laptop, and a pile of papers. The only other furniture in the room was an armchair in the left corner from the door and a small loveseat opposite.

Currently, her mother had been sitting in the armchair it seemed on her phone but when Valentina had stepped into the room she hung up her call and rushed to her daughter worrying about her again.

"Valentina mi carina are you alright, how's your hand? Oh this won't do I'll wrap your injury" she said in a rush before leaving the office.

This left Valentina with her father who had taken a seat behind the desk fingers folded.

"Sit down and start explaining. Did someone attack you last night?" he asked her in an even voice and Valentina shook her head.

Her parents were always a bit on the dramatic side when it came to anything happening to their kids. They always told her to identify the cause and figure out how to dispose of it, but some problems weren't that simple nor were they that serious. This might've qualified as serious though she thought.