Enduring Mr McGregor

chapter 16

Trigger warning...

It was quite early when Nia arrived work Monday morning. Beth's warm face wasn't there to welcome her at the reception which was quite strange because, Beth was always the first to get to their floor. She shrugged and unlocked the door to her office. Maybe something came up.

Switching on the lights, Nia noticed a small red box sitting beside a bunch of pink roses on her desk. Frowning in confusion, she dropped her bag and gently touched the box.

"Who could possibly send me these?" She wondered aloud.

A tiny part of her wished it was Dean. Maybe he realised he still loved her and was sorry for his foolish mistake. But she knew he wasn't the one. Dean wasn't the romantic type. He was more of the you-want-it-or-not type. And she had wanted him at a time, not anymore.

There was a card attached to the box. She sat on her chair, took the card and opened it.

I'm sorry,
Love, Robert.

That was all it said, really.

If it was about Saturdays shenanigans, she was over it. Not completely though. She was still angry, and hurt. And she still wanted to kill Lisa.

Not really.

She just wanted to, maybe, you know, break one or two limbs and perhaps plaster her mouth so she couldn't speak anymore. Couldn't say any foolish thing to any other black person.

God, what she'd felt on Saturday, she wanted no other person to feel it. Black or white, whatever color they may be.

She'd arrived home that day with tears flowing down her face. Adriana had been surprised, but Nia didn't want to tell her what happened, didn't want to tell her mom either. Instead she'd called Kate and explained everything. How it reminded her of Daniel. Kate had been so furious. She'd wanted them to find Lisa that night and beat her up. And then Robert, for allowing Lisa say such a thing, should be thrown into the dungeon.

When she pointed out that they didn't have a dungeon, Kate said they'd build one. Then she'd gone on to rant about how stupid people were to even come up with such terms. She'd painted such a dramatic image of how to deal with them that Nia had laughed. And then Kate had cried with her as she recounted her own experience. She'd been nine the first time someone had called her a jigaboo.

And after the call had ended, Nia felt a little bit better. It was nice to have a friend who got so angry on your behalf.

Kate had said something though, that she would get used to it. Nia didn't think she would ever get used to it. How could she get used to someone using her skin color as a form of ridicule.

She sighed and looked at the freshly cut flowers as she lifted a finger and gently touched the soft petals. They were still wet with mildew.

She opened the box and smiled when she saw its contents. Swiss chocolates.

"God I can't remember the last time I had one of these," she murmured and began opening one.

But then she paused.

No! I will not be bribed so easily! Does he think some flowers and chocolates will erase the memory of that day?

Hell, Lisa had triggered a memory she'd spent so long trying to forget. All she could see when she closed her eyes was Daniels sad face. She'd spent the whole of Sunday mildly depressed.

Closing her eyes, Nia inhaled deeply fighting the prickle of tears behind her closed lids. The topic of Daniel always did that to her.

Shaking off the feeling of melancholia, Nia shoved the chocolate into the bottom of her drawer.