Chapter 7 Far Far Away
TARA
“Bath time, honey,” I said softly to Nadia, about half an hour after dinner.
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As expected, her grumbles came just as quickly. “Can we watch Crab’s Adventures instead? Only for a few minutes? Please?” She asked, batting her eyelashes to make herself look more adorable.
She almost got me because she looked so charming with her long lashes and hazel eyes, just like Aidan’s, but something motherhood taught me these past years was patience, as well as discipline, so I responded.
“Not if you plan on skipping school tomorrow.”
Nadia’s eyes shot wide open in excitement. “I can do that?”
“Yeah, sure,” I shrugged. “You’re a big girl. You’ll just have to stay at home and make sure no bad guys get in while I’m out. You’ll also have to cook and clean up after yourself until I get back from work.” I feigned indifference. “And did I mention no friends? Because all of them would be at school together, and you’d be stuck here.”
The wheels instantly turned in her small eyes, and she shook her head vigorously, earning a light chuckle from me. “I’d rather not, Mom, thank you.”
“I thought so too,” I responded, laughing as I led her to the bathtub.
I quickly filled the tub with warm water and tossed in all of Nadia’s favorite scents before gently helping her in. Within seconds, Nadia was lost in her little world, playing with the bubbles as she got cleaned.
And just like he always did, Aidan slowly crept into the forefront of my mind. Eight years later, my body still betrayed me like it did back then. Eight years later, Aidan still loomed larger than life, if not more than he did before.
I only spent mere minutes in the same room as him, and my mind was a jumbled mess. I should hate him. I should want to make him pay for what he did to us. I should want revenge because it was by his doing that I almost lost my life and that of my child. But seeing him again, the resolve that took me almost a decade to build in place ripped from top to bottom.
“Mommy,” Nadia’s voice pulled me from my well of thoughts.
I turned my attention to her with a sigh. “Yes, baby?”
My hand came up to her dark brown hair, now darker with the water. She had the same hair color as Aidan, and I found myself admiring it each day. I stroked her hair as I waited for her to put her words together.
She finally spoke, and my breath caught for a second. “You knew the handsome man from today?”
I mulled over the simple yes or no question, and I was at a loss for words. How did one tell their eight–year–old that the attractive stranger they randomly met was their father?
Nadia tilted her head, studying me, and I cleared my parched throat. “Yeah, something like that,” I answered.
Her smile was wide. “So it will be easier.”
“W–what will?”
“The both of you,” she said, making a pair with her fingers for visuals. “Getting married. We won’t need many dates. I really liked him, so I know he’s a good fit for you,”
I choked on the invisible ink in my mouth at the word marriage, almost having a heart attack. I changed the topic quickly because this conversation was spiraling into something else. There were so many unresolved issues on our plates. We didn’t want to add marriage to the list now, did we?
“Can you tell me how you two met, and why you like him?” I said past the lump forming in my throat.
Nadia had only been with Aidan for less than an hour, and she was already attracted to him. I didn’t want to let the implication of that linger, so I listened to her speak with a gleam in her eyes, and excitement in her voice.
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Chapter 7 Far Far Away
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She told me how Aidan thought she was lost and asked where her guardian was. He complimented her manners, called her beautiful, and promised to take her home safely.
Nadia thought that he would be just as nice to her mom as he was to her, so she pretended to actually be lost so that Aidan could meet me.
I chuckled after she ended her narration, stroking her hair softly as I spoke. “That was one meet cute you planned there, honey.”
Nadia giggled, playing with the water until it was time to take her out. I watched my big girl get into her sleeping wears on her own, and I tucked her into bed.
We settled on a story, and I didn’t even get to read it to her before she fell asleep with a smile on her face. She really had an exhausting day.
My heart swelled as I watched my baby sleep, and the more I looked at her, the more I saw her father. Thinking of him again. sparked emotions that I didn’t want to feel, so I pushed myself to my feet and went into the kitchen.
Settling on a bottle of wine, I sat on a stool by the kitchen counter and gulped an entire glass in one go. The alcohol burned the back of my throat, hitting the right spot, but I still scrunched my nose to dull the bitterness.
Soon, I started to feel lighter, and his face appeared in my mind, lighting up my insides like a bulb.
Aidan didn’t look bad for eight years later. In fact, he looked really good, and if his suit told anything, it was that he was doing even better for himself than when we last met. He looked amazing, he smelled amazing, appeared to have it all, and I hated him for that.
I hated myself even more for noticing those things about him. Aidan left me alone. He knew. He knew fully well that I couldn’t have been with anyone else, and that Nadia was his, but instead, he chose to bed another woman and send her to
execute me.
Even if I tried, I couldn’t get those images out of my head, even after all this time. I couldn’t get the words out of my mind, or the feeling of almost losing my life before it even started.
And now that Aidan was back, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened to me again. Or worse, to Nadia.
“I can’t allow that,” I said out loud, pouring more liquid into my glass.
I was going to stay far far away from Aidan Graham, and soon, he would be history. Just like before.
