Page 9 of Fated to Them

I drive home. Getting out, I push the bins out the front to the curb for the bin man before walking toward the house and noticing the damage to my car that I have completely forgotten about. My door all crinkled, and the white paint from the bollard has transferred all over the side of my car. Argh, how I forgot, I had no idea. I shake my head, walking inside.

My mother is sitting in the lounge, watching TV.

“Where is Maya?” I ask when I don’t see her sitting with my mother.

“In her room. You’re home early.”

“Yeah, I am going away to Soya City for work tomorrow.”

My mother tries to protest before I hold my hand up, telling her to let me explain.

“My boss said we will drop her to before-school care on the way to the airport, and he will organize someone to pick her up and drop her off to you at the practice.”

She lets out a breath. “Okay, they seem organized. Why do you have to go on such short notice? How are you going to cope with getting on a plane?”

I shrug. I never once saw this on their schedules; it must have been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“I have no choice, so I will just have to deal with it, I suppose.”

My mother nods. She is very aware of my fear of flying. I have refused my entire life to set foot on one of those flying death traps.

“I need to go pack,” I tell her.

“I ordered pizza for dinner. They should be here soon; I couldn’t be bothered cooking.”

“Cheesy garlic bread?” I ask, sticking my head back through the door, and she sends me a smile.

“Of course,” she says before puckering her lips and blowing me a kiss.

I smile. She knows me too well, probably better than I know myself.

I head upstairs, the thick gray carpet soft under my sore feet. Walking into my room, I flop down on my double bed, the springs groaning under my weight, when Maya rushes in, climbing on the bed and bouncing on my bed excitedly.

Sitting up, I grab the small suitcase under my bed and open it. I toss in my pajamas and black high-waisted skirt and white blouse and a pair of heels as well as some jeans and a low-cut shirt on the off chance I’ll need something casual to wear. Walking into my closet, I grab my little black dress and a pair of high heels for tomorrow. I hang the dress on the back of my door and make sure I haven’t forgotten anything.

“Are you going somewhere, Aunty Ada?” Maya asks, watching me.

“Yes, and my bosses will be picking us up in the morning, so I need you to be on your best behavior, okay?”

She nods, chewing her little nails nervously. I pull her finger from her mouth, giving her a pointed look.

“When will you be back?”

“Someone will pick you up from the school office tomorrow to take you to grandma.”

She frowns; Maya usually takes some getting used to when it comes to trusting strangers. She is a wary child, and the people her mother let around her before we got custody of her certainly didn’t help.

“I will ask my boss if he can send a photo of the person, okay? So you know who to look for,” I tells her, and she nods sadly when I hear the doorbell downstairs.

“That would be dinner,” I tell her, standing up and holding my hand out.

She grabs it, her face lighting up into a grin. My mother paid the delivery man before walking toward us on the stairs, and we follow her down the hallway to the kitchen.

Sitting at the dining table, I send Eli a text asking if he can get a photo of the person picking up Maya, telling him she doesn’t like strangers.

He replies almost instantly with a photo of a woman with dark hair cut into a pixie cut and dark-brown eyes similar to his. She has softer features and is quite pretty with red lipstick on and a bright smile on her face; she looks friendly enough.

“That was fast,” I text back.