45: You Are Soaked
TARA
It had been minutes since I put Nadia to bed, and even longer since Aidan drove off my front porch, unsettling me in so many right but yet wrong ways.
I came back down to the kitchen to grab some water, and I found myself stuck in one place, while my mind wandered in different directions.
After Aidan and Nadia left together in the afternoon, I found out that I was able to get so much work done even after running my errand, and it was all thanks to him.
Realizing that almost everything I did today wouldn’t have been possible if Aidan had not walked into the diner, and because he made Nadia so happy that she wouldn’t stop yapping for days to come, I decided to show my appreciation.
out him
“It’s not such a big deal, so do not make one out of it, Tara,” 1 said to myself as I thought about what I could do that would show Aidan that I was thankful without doing too much.
“Maybe I could call him?” I asked rhetorically.
Deciding against that, I considered buying him a cup of coffee.
Also thrashing that idea in the bin, I finally settled on making him a homemade fruit basket. No harm in that.
It took me a few minutes to get it ready, and when I was done, I
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put the basket by the counter floor where I could easily see it int the morning and have it delivered.
Having no other things to do for the day, I switched off the lights. and went to bed.
It wasn’t my alarm that woke me up, neither was it my baby, Nadia, as she sometimes did. What disturbed my peaceful sleep was the incessant ringing of my phone which, if I could.
remember correctly, was still inside my purse from before I slept.
The sleep–deprived part of me considered leaving it to ring till whoever was calling got tired, but sadly, they weren’t ready to give up.
A little more of this could wake Nadia up, so I couldn’t let it go on for much longer.
Knowing that if I got up to answer the phone, going back to sleep would be near impossible, I let out a frustrated groan before I pushed myself off the bed.
Finding the purse, I was surprised to see that it was barely five AM, and the caller was Esme.
Was she okay? Did something happen for her to be calling me at this hour?
With wide–awake eyes and a missing heartbeat, I picked up the call and pressed the phone to my ear.
“Esme?”
“Tara! Thank the goddess. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,
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45 You Are Boaked
1208 Wouchers
child. Where are you?”
I replied, worried. “It’s five in the morning, Esme, I’m in my room, asleep, till you called me. Is everything alright? Did something happen?”
Her elderly voice came through the line, pulling me more awake with every passing second.
“I mean, if everything is alright at your house, then I’m fine.”
Yeah.
My sleep was completely out the window now.
“Esme,” I called, tired to my bones. “What do you mean by if everything is okay at my house?”
Was this woman going cranks with old age?
“What I mean is that my house got flooded, Tara. That’s why I called you.”
“What the heck, Esme?! Why didn’t you start off with that? Where are you? Are you hurt?”
If Esme was not the one to give me a heart attack at twenty- seven, I didn’t know who it would be.
I was already sprinting out of my room and down the stairs to go check up on her when Esme spoke again.
“That’s not the point, child. My two good legs were out of that house when the first drop started leaking. But it’s not just my house that got flooded. The neighbors are outside too, and that was why I was calling to check up on you and Nadia. It seems
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285 Mouchers
you are both okay.”
My heart was hammering all over the place by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, and I was about to tell Esme that she shouldn’t be worried about us when my next step covered my legs with water.
“Shit.”
Blinking rapidly to make sure I was seeing correctly, I froze.
The entire kitchen was covered, making my home look more like a swimming pool than what it actually was, and I took a step back in shock, almost missing my step.
Nadia was still sleeping upstairs!
“Tara, are you there?” Esme asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
“I–I have to go,” I said shakily, ending the call quickly and sprinting back up the stairs into Nadia’s room.
Shaking her gently so I didn’t scare her, I carried her up, making sure that she was secured in my arms. I threw her blanket over her back so she wouldn’t catch a cold.
“Mommy?” Nadia called, still sleepy and unaware of her surroundings.
“Yes, baby, it’s me. It’s okay, my love, everything is okay. Just hold on to me and don’t let go, okay?”
She mumbled a response, and I carried her out of the room, making sure to keep my grip on the floor firm so that we didn’t slip.
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1288 Vouchers
Back in the kitchen, I realized that it would be a shorter distance to cover if we went through the back door because the living room was also covered with water.
Willing my racing heart to calm down and being careful to not slip on the wet floors, I padded the room softly, supporting our weight by holding on to any hard surfaces my free hand could find.
Finally, we reached the door, and unlocked it, ready to go outside.
Giving the house one last look, I caught sight of the appreciation basket I had prepared for Aidan, completely covered and soaked in the mess.
With a sigh, I went outside, and the first thing that enveloped my drenched feet was the cold morning.
Cradling Nadia a little bit closer to my chest, I rounded the house to see that Esme was correct.
Almost all of our neighbors were standing outside, their homes, currently being invaded by the flood.
It only took a few seconds to find Esme in the small crowd, and I made my way to her with Nadia still in my hands.
She quickly saw me.
“Thank the goddess, Tara. Is she okay? Are you both okay? You are soaked.”
“We’re fine, Esme,” I said, breathing deeply to calm my nerves. “We were upstairs. We’re fine now.”
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Turning to the ruins in front of us I asked out loud.
“How the hell did this happen?”
288 Vouchers
46: The Seductress’s Temptation
