Falling back to sleep could be the worse thing she could ever plan to do. Especially after getting a call from her sister.
She pictured her sister dressed in a white fitted fishtail wedding gown, adorned with expensive white lace and silver pearls adorned by the hems. Just like the one she had always bragged about, standing beside her ex-husband.
An imaginative picture of the smile on their faces before the elder who would officiate them could not devastate her more than the reality of seeing her only sister having sex with her once loving husband.
She stared at the ceiling and then back at the floor. There was no drop of tears during her movements. She surely wasn’t going to cry. Not after crying for days after witnessing the betrayal.
Tessa jumped off her bed, a glance at the forest outside her room spread a sense of peace down her spine. The one thing that seemed to keep her happy even after witnessing the annoying wolf that refused to end her pain.
Her tummy was growling. She hadn't eaten any good food in days. Tessa recalled how her late mother would have scolded her for staying days without eating just because of a man, and her sister would…
Her sister
No, she needed to stop thinking about the villains in her life.
She dipped her hands into the pocket of the trouser where she kept the money she stole from Chris before leaving the palace.
Tessa pulled out a couple of dollars which were left after paying the rent of the house the night before.
She went into the shower and took a cold bath, hoping the chills of the water would wash away her past and never revive them back into her mind.
Stepping out of her house, Tessa was almost blinded by the sunlight that flashed onto her eyes.
How long had she been indoors?
Why the hell did she wear a hoodie? Was she thinking the weather outside would be as chilly as that of her room?
She would have loved to take off the hoodie, but she did not feel as though it was the right time to reveal her face to the new city just yet even when she was sure that no one would identify her.
‘’Hey…’’ Tessa called out to a man who was ahead of her, dressed in an orange vintage shirt and shorts, he seemed as though he was coming from back from the beach.
The thought of a beach being located around her new home got her giddy for a second.
‘’Hey,’’ She called out again, without getting a response from the man.
The man hurriedly walked into a house at his side, still without acknowledging her call.
‘oh well! Maybe he did not hear my voice Tessa thought, knowing fully well that her voice was loud enough to be heard.
There was a mall near the apartment. It took some time but after walking down the road and asking around for some time, she found it.
While walking into the store, she wondered why the two people she met that morning were so unfriendly to her.
There were a couple of dark chocolates that Tessa would have hurriedly picked if she weren't pregnant. But, she was.
She took her gaze away from them and walked toward the grocery section. Her money was quite limited. Thankfully, she had been in charge of the pack's finances in the years she had been married to Chris.
She picked a few canned food and some cereals. She was heading to the vegetable section when the cry of a small boy shook her and caused her to pause her movement.
‘’Mummy, mummy, just buy me the chocolate’’ the boy cried out while tapping the knees of his mother who paid deaf ears to him.
The constant pleading and cry of the boy made Tessa's eyes mist. She had no idea why she was being so emotional. But, she didn't exactly enjoy seeing such scenes she had a hard time having a child herself.
And, that was why she cherished the child. Even though, the father disgusted her.
His mother picked him from the ground and tried explaining some words to him, which only ended up fueling his tears.
The scene was something Tessa hated seeing because her love for children did not grant her permission to see a child crying without feeling sad.
‘’What does he need?’’ she asked the mother of the boy.
‘’He has been crying for that sneakers chocolate. But I don’t have enough money on me to purchase it. And I just found out that my debit card is inactivated.’’ The mother explained while pushing back her black straight hair from her face.
Tessa walked up to the chocolate stand and checked the price of the chocolate. She picked it up, gave the mother the money to pay, and handed the chocolate to the boy, who immediately stopped crying and placed a smile on his face.
‘’Thank you’’ The mother appreciated.
‘’it’s okay. You have a handsome son by the way’’ Tessa replied before going back to her shopping business.
Tessa had even forgotten that she had limited money. But children were her weakness. It had always been her dream to be a mother.
‘’Tessa!’’ A lady who was dressed in a red knee-length corporate gown called out.
In a shocked state, wondering who knew her name in a new city, Tessa turned in the direction of the voice and was shocked to see a lady running towards her with a wide arm.
Her hoodie cover had surely been blown.