A/N: I hate writers block, but I overcame and now you have a new chapter. If you haven't already, I have a Facebook page, Andimpink is the name, look it up. I post when there are updates on my stories and other random stuff. So... like me!
Chapter 4
When Erik returned from the kitchen with the expensive wine, and I mean expensive wine, he poured a glass for me and himself. "So... how has business been?" he asked.
"It's been well." That was an overstatement. I had been struggling to pay rent for my apartment because I kept paying the rent for the store. My gaze dropped to the floor to hide my lying eyes. "This week has been one of the most profitable one's in a long time." I lied.
"Well that is good to hear." Erik replied sounding very unsure that I meant what I said. I hoped he wouldn't ask and he didn't. We sat there talking about what had happened with me and the store the last couple weeks Erik had missed for a good hour before Erik realized how late it was getting. "Look at the time." It was nearly nine p.m. "You better be getting back. I don't want anything happening to you. New York is a dangerous place at night when you are alone. I'll call a cab for you."
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. He doesn't want anything happening to me! "Thank you, Erik." He dialed a number on his expensive looking phone and had a cab waiting for me downstairs. I slipped on my coat that had been placed over the back of chair and buttoned it up. Erik held the door open for me as I left his apartment, but he followed me out. "You really don't have to walk me down. I'll be good."
"Oh no, no, no. I will walk you down. It isn't a problem really."
"You are such a gentleman." I smiled. "There aren't many of those left..." We stepped into the elevator and waited silently as we descended to the bottom floor. It was awkward, in fact, our entire time spent together was awkward, because of the thing with him and his girl. I really hoped that the girl he bought the flowers for got hit by a bus for breaking his heart. What girl is so blind that she can't see a perfectly good man right in front of her face? The first time I saw Erik, I knew he was a heartbreaker, but I didn't know he could have his heart broken.
"Tanya. Tanya. The elevator is open." Erik said. I smiled at him embarrassingly. Wow... I need to stop thinking about him or I may be the one getting hit by a bus. Just outside the door was a cab waiting to take me back to my battered home. Erik pulled the door open for me and allowed me to get in before closing it. As the cab took off, I watched as Erik stood outside waving at me with a small curl to his lips.
...
It was a few days later when I got a phone call from my least favorite person: my dad. "Hey there, squirt. How's life been treating you?" He asked.
"It's been good." I said plainly as I meddled with a bouquet I was arranging. "What about you?"
"I've been really busy, but I finally have some time off. Speaking of that, I was wanting to know if you'd like to attend a party that my law firm is holding the last Friday of this month. It is formal so you'd need a dress, I could buy you one if need be, and that is pretty much it. What do ya' say, sport?" Sport? My name is Tanya! T-A-N-Y-A. Tanya! Tanya! Tanya!
"I don't know. I might have to work late that night for a wedding that is coming up the first week of June." I said, not that I really wanted to go anyways, but he'd keep pestering me about if I could if I didn't say yes. He was the most persistent little prick I knew. "If I can, I'll let you know, though." The bell at the front room jingled. "Oh, a customer just came in. I'll call you back." Beep. I hung up without saying goodbye and headed to the front.
"Hey Tanya." Erik said as I came out of the workroom.
"Erik! Welcome back to the land of the living." I joked. His face turned ghastly white, besides the already white half of his face covered by a mask. "I was just joking. You need to learn to take a joke."
"Oh." He laughed nervously. "Anyways, I decided it was about time to get out of my depression filled home. It seemed like a good idea to come down here. How's your day been?" Erik sat down on a plastic lawn chair that was set out on display.
"Well, it's better now that you're here. My father had called a few minutes before you got here." I said leaning against the counter.
"That was nice of him."
"No it wasn't." Erik looked confused. "I hate him. I hate him so much that I wish he was a girl and that he would start his period in a shark tank. That would be the best day of my life."
"Why do you hate him? Did he say something wrong?" Erik asked. Memories of how my mom talked about how much she hated him, came flowing back to me, and filled my rage about why I despised the man who helped bring me into this world.
"When my mom found out she was pregnant with me, they weren't married, and he was still in law school. His parents wouldn't have been happy if they found out about his little mistake with my mom, so he left us. She had to fight for herself and for me. This store was the only thing that kept us off the streets before I was born." I said staring around the room. "After the accident," The word 'accident' seared pain in my chest. "after the accident, the accident that took my mother's life, he decided to show up and right the things that he put wrong. As she lay there dying slowly, she yelled at him for showing up too late and said things like 'I had to do this by myself and it's all your fault.' and 'None of this would have happened if wouldn't have gone and messed up my life. Your daughter needed you. I needed you.'. Her last words to him were simple: 'I. Hate. You.' Her hate became my hate after she died from lack of oxygen and the major blood loss caused by the car accident." Anger was flaring in my eyes as I finished giving him my reason. I turned my hateful gaze away from Erik and out the window to watch as cars sped by and people went about their everyday life.
"I know how you feel." A hand was placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Erik looking down at me with an understanding look in his eyes.
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