“Donna, you came home late last night and without...”
Donna sat at the edge of the bed, she turned to her mum with a finger on her lips while her other hand gently stroked the child sleeping calmly in bed. She had complained of not feeling too well yesterday night and her body temperature had been quite high but now it was back to normal but she was still feeling weak.
Donna knew this was normal, she was not used to the healing spells and her body internally wasn’t exactly normal. She had two completely different energies flowing through but one energy was dormant and the other was recessive, it was this balance that allowed her to function as any other human child would. But Donna would not take any chances, if she weren’t feeling well then she would have to sit school out for a day or two.
The last time she had gone to school feeling sick, she had gone wild. The memories still caused her to shiver whenever she remembered it, she had managed to suppress the memories of those who had witnessed Alix’s wildness and that was why they could still live in Hontari, but it was impossible to bring back to normal the girl that had almost died at her daughter’s hands.
She stroked her head gently, knowing that the older she got, the more the dormant energy would grow and the more difficult it would be to suppress. She sighed and stood, when they got to that bridge, they would find a way to cross it. She walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
“I noticed your car is not parked outside.”
“Yea, it broke down last night, I had to hitch a ride to get home,” she replied to her mother as she picked up her bag from the kitchen counter.
“Your car broke down?” her mother was immediately alarmed. “In the middle of the road last night?!”
“Relax mum.” She chuckled and took a sip from the still-hot cup of coffee she had brewed earlier. “I got a lift from someone who is apparently a neighbor.”
Her mother’s expression changed to that of confusion and she narrowed her eyes. “Apparently?”
“Yes mum, Wayne, lives three houses down,” she said, placed the cup down and walked towards the door. “I might be running late today.”
“Oh, you’ve met Wayne.”
Her eyes brows furrowed. “Wait, you know him?”
Her mother chuckled and relaxed a bit. “Everybody knows Wayne, he is the nicest person on the block. But then how will you get to work without your car?”
“I guess I’ll have to take the public transport,” she replied and walked out the door but kept her attention on her mum who was following right behind her. “Alix won’t be going to school today, please call in sick for her mum.”
She turned her attention to the road when she heard a honk, Wayne’s truck was parked right in front of her house, the passenger’s seat window was rolled down and he was waving at her from inside with a big smile.
“Hi!” he greeted. “Off to work?”
Donna turned to her mother who had a smile on her face as she waved to Wayne in greeting then signaled to her to get in his truck. Donna turned back to Wayne and shook her head, no she was not going to be doing this neighbor bond thing. She would rather take public transport.
“Yes, Wayne, I think I’ll catch the bus.” She said to him.
“I don’t mind giving you a ride to work, really.” he offered but Donna’s mind was already fixed on mot bonding so she shook her head.
Just then her phone rang and she looked at the caller ID, it was Paige. She slid on the answer button and brought it to her ear.
“Hi, Paige.”
“Donna, where the hell are you?”
“Still home, I know I’m running a bit late.”
“If you running late was the only problem I would not have called.”
Donna’s eyebrows furrowed. “Problem?”
“Donna, you need to get you ass here ASAP, Mr Preston is literally blowing a fuse right now.”
She frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” came her reply. “Nobody knows what might tick him off or on asides you, so before anyone loses their jobs, get your ass here and calm the lion down!”
“Lose their jobs? It’s that intense?”
“I am to take coffee up to him, girl I cannot be your replacement! Get here right now”
At the sound of coffee, her memories kicked in. Keith never takes coffee. “Coffee? No wait, Paige don’t…” the line went dead.
“Fuck.” she cursed under her breath. She looked up at Wayne still smiling at her from inside the truck and she groaned quietly. “Alright,” she said aloud. “I’ll ride with you, Wayne.”
* * * * *
She knew all was not well the second she stepped into the lobby, the stares she got from the workers was enough to validate what Paige had said when she called earlier. She huffed and quickened her pace, her mind went back to yesterday as she tried to recollect what might have happened that would trigger his reaction this morning but she could not find anything that had gone wrong yesterday.
She got into the elevator and pushed the button. She had experienced Keith’s unpredictable behaviors and reactions one too many times, she reasoned she could face this one too, just like she had faced previous ones. The elevator dinged and she hurriedly stepped out, her heart skipped a beat when she heard the sound of glass shattering and she reasoned that this time, his mood might have tipped off the scale.
Just as she pushed the door into her office, Paige was pulling to get out, she had in a tray, broken pieces of a cup, and her white pants were stained with the coffee. She looked up to Donna with teary eyes and Donna’s heart went out to her. She caught a glimpse of her bleeding fingertips and reasoned that Keith must have made her pick up the broken pieces with her bare hands.
She moved out of the way for Paige to pass, mouthing a “sorry” before she stepped in and shut the door. She set down her bag on her desk, walked to the door leading to Keith’s office, and took in a very deep breath to ready herself to face him. This day was already kicking off in the wrong direction.