Chapter Twelve: Haunted by the past

As Veronica lay her head against the cool, stone-like pillow, she began to drift off to a land of sleep. She was successfully able to shut out her cellmates and for a a moment she was even behind bars and give into the tiredness of her body. As she entered a state of slumber, she soon found herself dreaming. 

She was no longer in the rags Officer Jill called a uniform, but she was in a pink blazer, a white button-down and a ruffled grey skirt. She was back in her childhood home that was filled with nothing but love from both her parents. It was the safest place she had ever been and as she grew older, she truly believed the saying "There's no place like home." 

She remembered pacing back and forth in her bedroom before going to talk to her mother in the kitchen. She rubbed her nervous fingers down her skirt before she finally opened the door. She took deep breathes as she walked in the hallway, turned and was met with her mother sitting at the dinning room table. It was her favorite place to be after she'd spent the morning cleaning. 

"What a pleasant surprise. My daughter has decided to grace me with her presence." Her mother, Barbara, had joked that morning. Veronica had giggled lightly to her mothers joke. She pulled out the chair opposite of her mother and took a seat. 
"Good morning to you too mom." She said, trying to hide the shakiness of her voice. 

"I was starting to worry, you hadn't came out your room all morning." Barbara said. 

"I was thinking.." Veronica replied. 

Again she rubbed her nervous hands on her legs, trying to get rid of the sweat. 

"What's on your mind?" Her mother asked as she took in her nervous appearance. "You can tell me anything." She added. Barbara always wanted her children to feel comfortable around her and not to keep secrets. She always told them there was nothing they could say or do to make her love them any less. She grew especially concern after her husband, their father, had passed away. Both Veronica and Daniel seemed to not fully express their grief and it worried her. Veronica took one final deep breath. 

"I need to tell you something." Veronica began. She had a clue on how her mother would take the news and it wouldn't go well, but she had to get it off her chest. 

"Now mom please just hear me out." She said before she continued. A brief look of fear and worry crossed Barbara's face, but she hid it. 

"I will try." She replied honestly. 

"Do you remember the guy I told you about?" Veronica asked. Her mother nodded. 

"Yes, the one I've still yet to meet." She answered. 

"And you will meet him soon mom. He's just really busy." Veronica said. She felt the need to explain his actions. She wanted her mother to give him a fair shot and not to judge him right off the bat. 

"Go on." Barbara urged. She needed to know what her daughter was going to tell her and the wait was eating away at her patience. 

"Well he's found a place. He's a trucker so he's been living in hotels, but he finally got a place that he can come home to." Veronica said. 

"Okay..." Barbara said confused. She wasn't 100% sure where Veronica was going with this, but she knew she wouldn't like it when she was done.

"And well.." Veronica paused and looked away from her mother Barbara's eyes was locked in on hers and she had to break it. She looked past her mother instead at their pool and the cool waters that filled it. It relaxed her for a moment. 

"Well he's asked me to move in with him." Veronica managed to finally get out. She felt like a ton of bricks were lifted off her chest, but as she glanced back at her mother's face she felt as if they had just falling back. She sighed. To her surprise her mother laughed. 

"What's so funny?" Veronica asked, puzzled. The sudden outburst of laughter didn't sit right with her and she wondered if the news would cause her mother to have a break down or something. 

"I thought you said you were moving out with some boy I haven't even met yet. Veronica you shouldn't joke like that." Barbara dramatically clutched her heart. "It' not good for an old woman." Veronica couldn't help but to smile at her mother's lightheartedness. It certainly took some of her nervousness away, but she was serious. 100% serious. 

"Oh mom you don't look a day over 30." Veronica said and rolled her eyes jokingly. And Barbara didn't. She managed to eat right and exercise all while working and keeping the house clean. She rarely got upset or screamed, except when she lost her husband. It had been a terrible time for all of them, but especially her. The kids kept their emotions bottled up, but Barbara cried none stop. Her husband had been her best friend, the glue that held the family together and it wasn't a day that went by when she didn't think of him and wondered how could she go on. 

"Veronica. You can't be serious." Barbara replied going back to her motherly tone. Jokes were off now. 

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Barbara asked her daughter. Veronica feared this, over-reaction and not letting her get a word in.
"You can not move in with him. I forbid it, do you understand? Absolutely not. Her mother now furrowed her brows and wore a frown upon her face. She kept shaking her head as her. 
"Mom please. You haven't even heard me out!" Veronica pleaded. 
"It's nothing to hear. You might as well go back to your room." Her mother said. 
"No mom. I am 18 now and I can make my own decisions. I wasn't asking your permission, I was only alerting you about my decision in hopes that you would respect it." Veronica explained. 
"How could I respect a decision like that, did you even think it through? Seriously think about this. Moving in is a big commitment. How well do you know him anyhow?" Barbara inquired. Veronica had pointed something out that she couldn't argue with. She was an adult and could make her own decisions, but that didn't mean Barbara would like them.
"I love him and he loves me." Veronica said. She realized how cliche' it sounded, but it was the truth. Barbara scoffed. 
"It's true! And even if it's a mistake. Isn't it minds to make?" She asked. Again Barbara knew she was right. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't keep her kids locked up and under her care forever. At some point they would want to branch out and live, and Veronica was ready. 
"Yes." Barbara answered. She argued no further, but simply got out of her seat. 

"Mom? Where are you going?" Veronica asked. She should be happy, she had won, but she didn't feel victorious. And she didn't want to upset her mother. 
"Are you hungry?" Her mother asked calling behind her as she entered the kitchen.
"No ma'am." Veronica replied. 
"Well I'm going to bake some cookies. Oatmeal I think." She said and began to scramble around looking for the ingredients. "They were your father's favorite." She added softly. Veronica could hear the underlying tone of sadness in her voice. She did this often when she was sad. She would cook something that reminded her of her father. She couldn't pull out any of his things because she had given them all away. Well Veronica and Daniel had, she was took heartbroken to even pack his things up so she asked them to. But food she could handle, it wasn't as personal of a reminder. And she ended up giving them to the neighbors or her kids anyways, she could never bring herself to eat it. 

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The next morning had finally arrived. Veronica stood with her mother just outside their front door. 

"It's not too late." Barbara said." 

"Mom I'll still visit." She said in hopes of cheering her up. "I'll be here so often, you and Danny will be pushing me out the door!" Veronica joked. A small, sad smile crept across her mothers face.

"I would never do that." Barbara said sadly.

"I love you Veronica." Barbara said. Tears formed in her eyes and Veronica watched as she swallowed her emotions down. 

"I love you too mommy." Veronica said. She threw her arms around her mothers waist, like she was five years old again. She didn't realize that she was finally leaving home until now. Reality was setting in and she was going to miss her family just as much as they would miss her. Barbara squeezed her daughter tightly until they heard the horn behind them. They laughed and pulled themselves apart. 

The two women packed her luggage into the Taxi's trunk. As they made their final trip, Barbara reminded her to say goodbye to her brother. 

Daniel made his way outside after Barbara called for him. He tried to hide his sadness, but he wasn't very good at it.

"I'm going to miss you kid." Veronica said and pulled her brother into a hug.
"I'll miss you too." He replied. She gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"Eww." He joked and rubbed it off. The three of them shared a laugh.
"You'll visit sometime right?" He asked.
"All the time." Veronica replied and smiled. They were practically best friends. And they would both miss each other terribly. 
"I'll call you when I get settled in." Veronica promised as she turned to leave. She gave her mother one last hug and waved goodbye as she hopped in the taxi. 

The drive had been forty minutes longer than Veronica anticipated. They pulled into a neighborhood of small-starter homes. The taxi stopped in front of a white and green wooden house. It wasn't all that grand and smaller than she thought, but she held off further judgement until she had seen the inside of the place. She paid the cabbie and he helped her by bringing her bags to the door. It wasn't much help really, but she thanked him. He nodded and sped away. 

She walked up to the door with one of her suitcases in hand. She pulled the key from under the welcome mat and let herself in. 

She set her luggage down and to her surprise, the place looked fully furnished. She frown upon seeing this. She had expected to see an empty room with a bad paint job and boxes everywhere. She had looked forward to decorating and painting the place with Lance. But now, she could forget about that. 

"You're here!" A familiar voice spoke behind her. She turned on her heels and was met with Lance approaching her. She returned his smile and forgot about being upset over the furniture. 

"What's wrong?" He asked seeing the disappointment on her face. 

But before she could answer, he covered her mouth with his and silenced her. He pulled away like he hadn't just kissed her and took her breath away. He stood and awaited for her answer. 

"Go on." He urged and stood before her. Veronica tried to catch her breath. He was an amazing kisser. He always left her wanted more, but always stopped himself. She hated that about him, but would never actually tell him that. 

"Well it's just that..I hadn't expected the place to look like this." She answered. 

"Oh." He replied. "Isn't it great? I figured it'd save us some time." He said. Great? It was anything but great to Veronica. She felt robbed of the opportunity to decorate what was suppose to be their first home together as a couple. Before Veronica could comment the phone rung. She was closer to it so she naturally walked over to answer it, but Lance surprisingly jumped in front of her. 

He looked at the phone then simply hung it up. Veronica watched confused by his actions.

"Who was it?" She asked. 

"No one. They have been calling all morning, we have to get the number changed." He explained. Veronica was still confused. If no one had lived here before, then how was the phone on?

"Lance.." She said.

"Hmm?" He answered and spun around to face her. 

"How come the phone is on, you know if no one lived here?" She inquired. She didn't question him often, but this made no sense. 

"Well I never said no one lived here. It belonged to a family member who needed a bigger place for their family. And I needed a place and you know..the rest is obvious." He explained. 

"Oh. I assumed no one lived here before then." She said feeling a bit dumb. 

"Don't assume." Lance replied seriously. 

"Why don't you go put your things away?" He suggested and went to sit on the sofa. 

Veronica did as she was told. She put her clothes and belongings away with no help from Lance. She only had two suitcases, but still it would have been nice if he offered to help. She noticed that the bedroom was somewhat empty, except the bed and dresser. This made her a bit happy, at least she would get to decorate something. She returned to the living room when she was done. 

"Honey. We should go out." Veronica suggested. One thing about having your own place meant freedom. She didn't have to run things by her mother anymore, now she could go out whenever she pleased or so she thought. 

"Hmm..I would actually perfer if you cooked." Lance replied. Cook? Veronica thought. She had been packing all the night before, barely had any sleep because she was too anxious about today and just unpacked her things by herself and now he was suggesting she cook? Why her, why couldn't he cook and why couldn't they go out? She bit her tongue. She didn't want to argue in their first day in their new home. 

"What would you like to eat?" She asked. She hoped he said a salad or something. Her cooking skills were pretty limited since her mother did all the cooked. 

"I'd love some spaghetti." He answered. "I'll swing by the store and get the ingredients." He added. She had only seen her mother cook spaghetti, but had never tackled it herself. 

"I'm not very good at it.." She said and tried to get out of the task. 

"Nonsense. You'll do fine." He said. She was glad he had more confidence in her than she had in herself. He pecked her on the cheek before grabbing his keys and heading out the door. He shut the door and she was left alone, all alone. She wish she'd offered to go with him. She had nothing to do now. 

She had turned on the television in hopes of finding something on TV, but it didn't hold her interest for long.

She then got the bright idea to take a nap. She could use one and she was sure it would past the time. She was wrong however. She hated sleeping in new places and spent five minutes trying to fall asleep. She sighed and turned the lights back on and re-opened the blinds. 

She sat up and rubbed her eyes even though she hadn't rested. She stretched and tried to think of another way to pass the time. Maybe go meet the neighbors? No. She wasn't that social and didn't want to make a fool of herself. It was nothing to clean up so that wasn't an option either. And to make matters worst there was no clock in sight so she didn't know how long Lance was gone for. One final idea popped in her head, she could call her mother. But she remembered that Lance had told her not to answer or use the phone. But he wouldn't know right? It would last all of two minutes tops. 

Her heart was beating too loud as she walked over to the phone on the wall. So loud that she didn't hear the door open. So loud that she didn't hear footsteps or Lance placing the grocery bags on the ground. As her hand reached for the phone, a voice spoke from behind her. 

"What are you doing?" It asked. It was Lance and he didn't sound happy. Veronica dropped the phone and it swung back and forth as it hung from the cord. She let out a small scream and placed her hand over her chest. 

To be continued...