Where am I? Lori thought as her eyes opened, she felt groggy as she took in her surroundings, slowly, and then she gasped. There was the all too familiar feeling of dread that was pooling deep in her stomach. The dirty brown bed covers, the wall with the peeling paint and the dresser that was in her view, it was all too familiar and scary. All scarily familiar. No! No! This can't be, this can't be! She couldn't be back here, in this same room, where she had so desperately tried to leave. It wasn't possible. What happened? She asked herself as she found out that her hands were tied, so hard that she was already bruising. She wiggled her legs and found out they were tied too, there was no way out.Her eyes darted around the room, she was alone, all alone, that was good, now she had to find a way to leave, because she knew what was coming.She rolled out of the bed and fell hard on the hardwood floor, hitting her head on a pair of old hard brown boots. She ignored the pain, more foc
Lori blinked, her surroundings were different. She wasn't in her own room, but rather someone else's.She rubbed her eyes as she looked around, taking in the entire room and her eyes widened as she realized she was in Gabriel's room.She sat up, startled, she looked next to her and found out that the space next to her was empty and quite cold, Gabriel must have left for work early. She looked around and her eyes landed on the bedside drawer where the time on the digital alarm read 9:45 am. Her eyes widened. How was it that she had slept for so long, so comfortably without even waking up?! She jumped out of the bed, rushing out of the room and back to her bedroom. She met the door of her bedroom completely gone and stared at her open room in bewilderment. It looked like someone had ripped it off it’s hinges.Crazy! She thought as she shook her head. She didn't have time for that though. She thought as she waved her curiosity away and changed into shorts and a large black T-shirt.Sh
Lori took the baby for a walk in the gardens. It was quite a sunny day but it also wasn’t too hot. She thought it would be good for her and the baby to get some well deserved fresh air.Her day had been pretty much mundane. She had been occupied with Emilia all day, she wasn’t complaining though, she loved her job. It was very rewarding and it kept all the bad thoughts away. After what had happened the night before, Lori was determined to get it over with and not think about it again. She knew she would inevitably have to talk about it, but she didn’t think she was quite ready yet. Occupying herself with Emilia kept her busy, it kept all those thoughts away. She also really loved spending time with Emilia too. It made her very happy and at peace with herself.She wandered towards the pool area and was surprised to see someone was inside the pool. As far as she knew the staff didn’t swim in the pool. She didn’t know if it was because they weren’t allowed to but they certainly didn’
Lori followed Gabriel to the nursery, where they would talk. They ran into Grace on the way. “You’re back! Early too?!”She said in a surprised tone and he shrugged.“I actually needed the rest. Decided to close early.”Grace nodded, her face beaming. She patted Gabriel on the back.“That’s great! That’s very good!” “I’ll get dinner started.”She said as she walked past them in excitement. Gabriel made sure he sent Elliot out of the house before they both left though. He specifically told him to go and wait for him in the pool house. Lori didn’t know why he did but she didn’t think Gabriel liked his cousin very much, it was visible in how little they interacted. Especially with the way he treated him, she didn’t know if there was a specific reason he didn’t, but he just seemed not to. They walked into the nursery, Gabriel had taken Emilia from Elliot before he went up the stairs with Lori. He had kissed her cheek and rubbed her head, he must have missed her and she must have mis
They had a slow day. Actually, it had been a slow couple of days. Days like that were popular at the diner, they were in a shitty neighborhood, with about seventy percent old people and a retirement home nearby, it was a wonder they got any customers at all. Finding help had also been very hard, the teenagers didn't like to stay too long, they found the job boring, plus the pay wasn't even that good. Ever since Lori left Birdie was having a hard time dealing with the new hire Yvette. The girl was nineteen and she had a really loud mouth. She questioned everything Birdie, or asked her to do. And she always came to work late. Birdie was sick of her. She honestly missed Lori, and even felt bad for the way she had treated her. Maybe if she had treated her better she wouldn't have left work. Well, who was she kidding? Lori wasn't really going to work at the diner for years like her, she didn't look like she was that kind of person. But the way she had left truly baffled her sometimes.
Dinner was salmon with buttery garlic green beans and a kale salad. Lori was ravenous. She had taken Emilia for another checkup, her doctor had been monitoring her temperature and giving her medication. Her fever had come back early that morning, after a few days of them being absent. Lori also noticed Emilia was getting bigger. She used to be able to carry her with one arm before but now it seemed like she had grown a lot more faster. She knew it was typical for babies to grow, of course, Emilia was slowly leaving the newborn stage but it didn’t make it any less weird that she was getting bigger and longer. Her hair had also started to grow out, she had been bald for months, with not a hair in sight but Lori was excited to spot a few blond strands of hair on her head. She didn’t know what Suzie looked like, but with the little she could see, Emilia would be blonde, like her mother probably, if her mother was blonde. Or maybe her hair would grow darker and she grew, it was still to
Dinner ended rather awkwardly. Even though she knew she should stop, she still poured herself another glass of wine. Gabriel eyed her glass."Are you sure you want any more of that?"Lori shrugged."It tastes okay.""Yes. It does. But you don't seem like someone who drinks.""I don't. I actually think I'm a lightweight."She said and Gabriel nodded."Have you ever been drunk before?"He asked and she nodded."Once. At prom. Some of my classmates snuck in bottles of beer and poured alcohol into the fruit punch. I think we all got drunk from it."He chuckled. "How did it feel?"Oh she could remember the moment as clear as day and it felt horrible when she thought about it. Really horrible. Everyone was either drunk or slightly tipsy and the school had sent them all home early."It felt weird. Really… I wasn't that drunk but I kept tripping, even though I wore a short dress and my heels were low."Gabriel chuckled."But you had fun right?"She nodded."Yes. It was fun." Lori finished
The next morning, Lori woke up in Gabriel's arms, resting on top of his chest. She didn't know when they had switched positions, but she was pleasantly surprised that she woke up early enough for Gabriel to still be in bed. Which was quite a feat to be honest because all the times she had slept in his room, she always woke up to an empty bed. Gabriel stirred and opened his eyes."You're awake."He said as he yawned. Lori gently pulled away from him."And you're still in bed.""Hnmmm."Gabriel said as he buried his face in his pillow."Good morning."Lori said as she climbed out of the bed. She didn't wake up all through the night, Jenny and Sylvia had been alternating Emilia's night feeds just so she could sleep better."Good morning." Gabriel murmured as she walked out of the room and straight into the baby's room.Sylvia was awake and already in the room."Good morning Sylvia.""Good morning Lori."She said as she looked up from the table where she was neatly folding Emilia's clean