You Again (Completed) ✔️

23.

I walk through the front door and hear my family in the kitchen. I move through the house quietly and stand next to door to watch them.

They all have smiles on their faces and are eating the pancakes Mom made for breakfast.

Mom leans across the table with a napkin in her hand and wipes Cole's face because it had maple syrup on it.

She used to do that to me when I was a kid.

A smile spreads across Cole's face and he says. "Thanks, Mom."

So, I have been replaced in my mother's heart by the one person that doesn't deserve it.

I stay hidden a bit longer until I hear Mom say. "Has anyone seen, Julia? You're father said she took off early this morning in his car."

"No, but since Dad isn't here anymore I'd say she back. She's probably in her room." Liam says. "After breakfast I'm going to check on her."

I walk away from the door and head up to my bedroom.

At least they'll be able to find me here.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket I look at the e-mail again and a smile spreads across my face.

I'm going to call you shortly. I just need to get my nerves under control.

Walking over to my closet I pull out my resume and look over it. Everything I've done over the years is put in here. Including my last job on Nova Island.

The door to my bedroom opens and I see my brother standing on the other side. "Are you coming downstairs?"

I shake my head. "I have something I need to do before I go down."

"Okay," he closes the door and walks over to the bed. "Are you okay with what you saw in the kitchen with Cole and Mom?"

"No, but what am I supposed to do? She treats me like a stranger instead of her own daughter and treats Cole like her son. If she wants him to be her own son then she can have him. I'll just pack my bags and stay where I originally wanted to. They still have my reservation booked."

Liam looks at the suitcase in the corner of my room. "It looks like you haven't unpacked since you got here."

"I haven't because I'm thinking of leaving the house and buying one of my own." Looking at the door I add. "Besides, I've been forgotten and replaced by Mom. She can keep her adopted son. She just lost a daughter." Pointing at the door I say. "You can leave, Liam."

He doesn't say anything as he walks to my door and opens it. He closes it before walking away.

I pull my phone out of my bag and call an Uber. When I finish with the phone call I get a text with a map on it. It shows how far away the Uber is from Mom's house.

Grabbing my suitcases I walk down the stairs and head to the front door. I close it behind me and walk over to the footpath. I sit down and wait for the car.

The front door opens and I turn around to see my best friend with my brother. She says something to him before she walks over to me. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay in the hotel where we were supposed to be before Mom told us to stay here."

"Okay," she stands up. "I'll get my stuff too."

I shake my head. "You don't have to come with me, Veronica. You can stay with my brother if you want?"

"Really?" A smile spreads across her face. I nod. She hugs me. "Thanks, Julia. I was worried that you'd want to separate your brother and me."

"I could never do that to my best friend. Besides, you deserve to be happy."

"You, too." She steps away from me. "Call me tomorrow and we can hang out."

"Sure, I still have a number of great places to show you around town."

"Okay," she walks back to the house and the front door opens revealing another person.

Cole walks over to me and sits down. He pulls something out of his pocket and hands it to me. "I got this delivered recently. I was wondering if you'd go with me?"

I open the envelope and see that it's an invitation to the ten year reunion. "I'm not going, Cole. Ten years ago I vowed never to return to the place that caused me so much problems. Why on earth would you ask me to go with you? Especially, when all your disciples follow you around like you're the master. Thanks, but no thanks." I give him back the envelope.

The Uber pulls in front of me and I grab my suitcases and put them in the trunk. "I hope you have fun with your adopted mother. Tell her if she wants to talk to me that the only way for her to do so is through, Veronica." I climb into the car and shut the door.

The car pulls away from the house I grew up in. The driver looks at me. "Where to Miss?"

"Mason's Hotel."

A smile spreads across his face. "Ah, a dance hotel for a beautiful girl." He looks in the rear view mirror. "What's up with you and that fella I saw you with?"

I shake my head. "He's my nightmare, wrapped in a bottle.

He laughs. "Damn, I wish all my days could be like this. Sitting in a car with a beautiful woman listening to what she has to say about a guy that I caught her with."

I really don't want to talk about Cole or my family problems right now. All I want to do is find a bed and lie in it.

It doesn't take long before the car pulls in front of the hotel.

My luggage is pulled out of the trunk and placed next to the door. The door opens and a guy holds his hand out to me and I take it.

He has black hair and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. A smile spreads across his face. "You must be, Julia Harris. I heard so much about you from Mason. He told me that you'd be stopping by today."

Looking at the name tag I see it says 'Josh.' "Are you going to show me to my room, Josh?"

"Sure," he grabs my bags and walks into the office. Where he tells me that I need to leave a deposit just in case something breaks in the room. I leave him cash, before he grabs the keys for the room. He leads me to a lift that has private access through a key. "This is the key you'll be using to get into the lift. Tap it on the black device and the lift will come to you." The door to the lift opens and we step inside. "Press he floor you want, which will be top one and then tap the key again. The lift will now take us to the floor we want."

The lift goes up and it doesn't take long before the doors open revealing a huge room to me.

As soon as we step into the room there's the living room. The further we move in the room I see the kitchen, which is opened space with a bar at the side. A sliding glass door behind the kitchen that leads you to the balcony. Off to the right is the main en-suite room and across from that is a single bedroom, with a bathroom in the room next to door.

Josh places my bags in the room. "Have a good afternoon, Miss Harris." He leaves the key on the table for me and he walks to the lift.

I climb on the bed and lie down. It doesn't take long before I fall asleep.