From The Shadows (From The Shadows #1) (14 page)

“Morning, how did you sleep?”

“Like a rock to be honest” She said with a sleepy smile.

I then walked on into the kitchen and over my shoulder I called “Do you want coffee?”

“Yes please” She called back so I made a full can of Cinnamon Coffee. A little recipe Nathan and I had made up; we put a tablespoon of ground Cinnamon into the coffee filter with the coffee powder. At first it had been a funny idea we had had, but after trying it we had become addicted.

Then I began making pancakes and when both were ready, we sat down at the little dining table in the kitchen and ate while we decided what we were going to do, the rest of the day. Shortly after we had eaten Nathan called to say good morning and then we got ready for our shopping trip.

Driving into the city Sasha looked at me and asked “Do you have any shops you NEED to get to today?”

I frowned because I hadn’t been out shopping for so long that I couldn´t remember what kind of shops there was, and even if I did there had probably arrived new ones too. “I have no idea” I told her “But I was thinking that maybe I should try find something new that Nathan would like?”

“Okay so mission; knock Nathan’s socks off it is then” she grinned and then asked “So lingerie, shoes and maybe a new dress? Sound like something you had in mind?”

Thinking it over, I then nodded in agreement. I was still a bit nervous about the shopping deal; would I find anything I liked and that fit me well? Would there be a lot of people in town? And if I found something, would Nathan actually like it?

It turned out that I had nothing to worry about, and we found some untraditional stores that were right up my alley. At first I was very conscious about trying on stuff, but I warmed up and found both a little strappy gothic dress with black lace all over, new sexy tall boots with buckles and matted leather, sexy new red lingerie that made me blush when I thought about what Nathan’s reaction would be to it. And right as we were walking out of a gothic jewelry store my eyes fell on some gorgeous long red earrings that simply just spoke to me, and though I already felt like I had used far too much money on myself I had to have them.

“Those are so you, Nikki” Sasha exclaimed as she saw what I was staring at. “Are you getting them?”

“I.. Think I have to” I mumbled completely mesmerized.

“Then go get them!” She ordered me and told me she would go get us a table right next door at the Vegan Delicates. Yum, I was definitely up for some pumpkin soup after all this shopping madness.

I was just leaving the store after buying those beauties, when I bumped into somebody and as I looked up to say sorry my eyes got big and my good mood vanished like the snap of the fingers. Of all days, of course the day I was feeling like a normal woman, I would walk into the one person I least of all wanted to see.

“Mike.. What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same of you” He countered and the look in his eyes made it run cold down my spine.

It didn´t take my voice though. “Not that it matters to you, but I am out shopping with a friend”.

“Ah.. Where is dear Nathan hiding?”

“I am not here with Nathan, I am here with a girlfriend!” That comment made him lift his brows in disbelief. He had probably suspected I would never change and that I would forever be a loner, easy to push around. It was also clear that the nice act from a few days ago was just that, an act. He was back to his normal domineering, hateful ways, but he would soon see that I had no fear of him. Not here anyway. I had learned that I could have people that cared for me and I was in the middle of down town, surrounded by lots and lots of people. Here I could scream and get noticed if I needed to.

I didn´t get the chance to put him in that situation though, because just as he was about to speak again I heard Sasha calling for me and a little while after she walked up to me. “They didn´t have a table right now but asked if we could wait for 15 minutes.. I hope you don’t mind?”

I looked at her trying to tell her what was going on without actually saying anything. From our girls talk yesterday, she knew the gist of the story about me and Mike. I also knew if she had paid any attention she would have noticed who I was talking to.

She sent me a questioning stare back before turning her head in Mike’s direction. “Oh… Hey Mike…” it then came from her in a less than friendly voice.

“Who are you?” He just said in a flat uninterested tone.

“Uhm.. Mike this is my colleague and friend Sasha. And if you don’t mind, we have things to do” I told him to his surprise. And out of nowhere his act changed, probably because he realized that treating me bad in front of my friend would only make him look like the scum he really was.

I swear I would never understand why Nathan and he had ever been friends, but my guess was that Mike had changed. He had been less lucky than Nathan and instead of finding the path to a happy future, he had stepped on one that hardened him and lead him to abuse and addiction. To be honest; I didn´t know much about how they had become friends, or even when they met, I just knew they had both been thrown around in the system of foster care. And I knew from experience that Nathan was capable of caring for other people, where Mike was not. No matter what set him on his path, he had ended up a manipulating, cold and violent person.

“You still have around 10 minutes before your table is ready.. Unless you would allow me to join you?” He said it in such a sugar coated, fake voice that it made me want to throw up. And as if he thought it would look more sincere; he plastered a just as fake smile on his face as well.

I looked to Sasha to draw strength from her to tell him to bug off, but she was faster than I was to respond. “Why exactly would you want to join your EX-girlfriend and her friend for lunch?” She asked in a voice that definitely let him know that he was not welcome.

“Well, Sasha is it? I never agreed we broke up. I want to win her back!”

That answer made both Sasha and I snort in unison. How could he seriously think she, or I for that matter, would ever believe him? And why in hell would I ever go back to him. I had finally found enough strength to go against him and dumb his sorry ass, which would make me the biggest dumbass on earth if I went back to him, or if I even considered that he meant anything he said. He did not love me and the only reason he wanted me back was because he liked controlling a weak woman. As I thought of this, it all of the sudden clicked. That was the reason. He just needed someone he could intimidate and control. Someone submitting to him was what gave him his kicks and that was what made him dangerous, but the stronger I got the less dangerous he was to me. That idea gave me a sense of pride and even more so an even bigger will to keep growing and fighting him.

“That isn’t going to happen, Mike” I told him in a calm confident voice. “We are done and I am with Nathan now. I will never go back to you and you will never have any will over me, ever again!”

Telling him that made a flash of anger hit his eyes, but he said nothing. Instead he walked around us to move away and only at the last second he told me. “We might be over, but you still need your stuff!” And then he was gone.

“Oh shit was that just a threat? Do you think he would destroy your things, Nikki?”

I raised my shoulders in a shrug.  “I really don’t know, but a part of me doesn’t care.. It is only materialistic things and I now have better things than that in my life”.

“Well said girl” Sasha smiled proudly. “You will be absolutely fine” she then declared before pulling me towards the restaurant for much needed sustenance.

We ended up at a bar after lunch because Sasha thought we needed to celebrate my coolness. She kept making me blush by giving me compliments, something I had never been much used to, but she also made me laugh more than I had done for far too long. So after a few drinks that had made me tipsy beyond belief, I had to tell her “Thank you Sasha”. She gave me a strange look and then asked me what I thanked her for. “For becoming my friend and making me laugh, I´ve never had this before”.

After that confession she threw her arms around me and gave me a big hug that nearly took us both to the floor and made us giggle like mad women. I couldn´t tell if it was only the booze in my blood changing stuff, but her hugs were getting easier to take and I even began to enjoy them. I had finally found me a girl friend and I hoped to God this was real and that it could last, because I knew I needed someone like that in my life. I loved Nathan to pieces and he was my best friend, but I was starting to understand that love was not enough for me to have a full life. Nothing was ever going to matter more than him, but I was becoming my own person too and that person needed her own life, her own friends and her own dreams.

We had been talking for hours while hanging out at the bar when I got a text from Nathan.

Hey woman of mine ;)

I got home before time and wanted to surprise you but it seems you have left me :’(

So where can I come to win you back home?

Lots of love, yours forever <3

Oh Nathan and his humor. How could a girl ever get tired of sweet words and humor?

“Is that Nathan who is making you smile and giggle like a school girl?” Sasha asked while leaning her drunken head on my shoulder so she could spy on my phone.

“Yea it is” I beamed, completely excited to see him again. “He got home before time” I then informed her.

“Aww I bet he did because he misses you, and then your man can get our drunken asses home” She started to laugh and I joined her as I tried, but failed completely, to write a none drunk message back to Nathan, informing him that we were at Cozmo.

Sasha all of the sudden remembered something and looked at me with pretend worry. “I hope he doesn’t yell at me for getting you drunk..” Then she fell into a laughing fit again and that was pretty much how it went from there.

In the matter of 20 minutes Nathan showed up, taking me into his arms even before he told me hey and then in front of everyone in the bar he gave me the biggest kiss.

“Oh God, I have missed you my beautiful”.

I beamed back at him “I missed you too my handsome. But I think I might be a bit drunk”.

Nathan began laughing. “Yes babe, I think you are too. Let’s get you two crazy ladies home”.

Sasha agreed that it might be a good idea for us to go home, and because she was too drunk to drive her own car we decided that she would spend the night in the guest room. So when we got home Nathan cooked us some much needed greasy food, to take care of our soon to be handovers, and we settled in.

Chapter 16

We didn´t manage to be without the hangovers the next day but after being up for a few hours both Sasha and I felt better, and she ended up taking a taxi into town, around 3 pm, where she would find her own car and then go back home.

The rest of the day was pretty slow, and I was still pretty tired from the drinking the day before, but I felt content that I had found a friend in Sasha and very happy to have Nathan back home. I told him all about our girl time and I could see on his face that he was happy too. Once again I tried to skip over the whole Mike situation and this time I managed because I had so much else to speak of. I knew I would have to tell him later though. I just hoped that I could wait telling him until after we had visited his mom. He had enough on his mind; thinking about his brother and what exactly would go down tomorrow when we went to see him and their mom. This time he had learned to talk about it though, and he also told me a bit about his trip, though there was not much to mention other than it had felt like the meetings were dragging because he just wanted back home to me. How sweet was that?

That night we went to bed early because Nathan insisted that we had time to enjoy each other. And enjoy each other we definitely did; slowly running our lips and hands all over each other and making sweet unhurried love until we both fell into a deep content slumber.

Sitting in the car early the next morning, staring out at the gorgeous nature we past, I found myself lost in thought. Would Nathan’s mom like me? And even more importantly, would she accept me? Would I get all shy when I met the most important woman in his life? Well actually that last one I already knew the answer to, I just hoped that I wouldn´t get so shy that I could barely speak. I was so very nervous, and Nathan had tried all morning to convince me that it would all be good that his mom would love me just as he did, but how did he know? I knew I was being stupid fussing about it, because if people didn´t like you then it was their problem, right? All I could do was be myself, which meant I would be polite and make sure she could see just how much I loved her son.

After half an hour in silence, except for the music playing softly in the background, Nathan finally got enough of it and broke it. “Babe, stop fussing already. You don’t have anything to worry about!”

“I know, I know, it’s just easier said than done”.

“Yea, I suppose it is. So what can we do to stop that overactive brain of yours for a while?” He asked.

“Hmm.. would you mind turning up the radio and let me sing along? I think that could help”

Nathan began smiling. “Of course babe, I love listening to your voice.”