One Thousand Miles

Chapter  |  It's Another Date

Part  |  One

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into a full month and John still hadn't shown his face. I mean the first two weeks I was always on the lookout whenever we went out or if I sat outside on the porch I'd look around for anything suspicious. Nothing seemed out of place, so by the third week I had built up enough courage to leave the house without my grandmother escorting me to every place I went. The first day of summer, grandma turned on the sprinklers so Cameron and I played around in the wet and muddy grass. I looked like nothing but skin and bones in my bathing suit, but as long as my bruises were gone and I knew I could gain more weight, I was okay.

I thought about finding a job, but I wasn't sure if that was the best idea. Grandma had to work and I had no money to drop Cameron off at a daycare, plus I still didn't think it was safe to leave Cameron with some stranger. Grandma kept trying to get me to leave Cameron with one of her friends who lived down the street, but I told her no matter how close they were, I still didn't trust to leave my baby with a total stranger.

It hot summer day in Austin, and I all I wanted to do was stay inside where it was cool and quiet. I sat upstairs in what was now mine and Cameron's room folding clothes while Cameron sat on the floor in his brand new walker my grandmother had bought him. He was laughing at the television screen as an episode of Dora the Explorer was playing. I smiled at the fact that he probably had no idea what they were saying or even talking about. He continued to laugh and make little sounds while I continued to fold both of our now clean laundry.

By the time I was finished folding our clothes it was exactly four in the afternoon and I had nothing else planned. I sighed before standing up from the bed and heading toward the door. "I'll be back Cammy. You want a snack?"

He laughed really loudly and stuck one of his chubby hands in his slobbery mouth. I laughed along with him before quickly rushing out the room and downstairs to the kitchen. I opened up the fridge and looked around for a minute before my eyes landed on jar of applesauce on the refrigerator door. I pulled it out and placed it on the counter before opening up the cabinets to pull out Cameron's bowl. I put a little bit inside of the dark blue plastic bowl before placing it back inside the fridge and grabbing a water bottle for myself. Just as I grabbed onto the bowl and started to lift it from the counter, the sound of the door slamming shut and bags rattling sounded in my ear. Grandma popped into the kitchen with her gray hair pulled back into a bun and exhaustion written on her face. She sat the grocery bags in her hand down before placing her hands on the countertop.

"Grandma are you alright? Are there anymore bags in the car, I can get the rest for you if you'd like?" I ask as I sit the water and bowl down before placing a hand on her lower back.

She smiled slightly up at me before letting out a sigh. "I'm fine sweetheart, I'm just a little tired from work and it's as hot as heck out there. I'd say no and get the rest of the bags myself, but grandma is really hot and exhausted right now. If you don't mind you can get the rest out the trunk, but before you do, where is my great grandson?"

I laughed and shook my head. This woman loved Cammy as if she were the one who had birth him. "He's upstairs watching television. That seems to be his favorite thing to do lately."

She laughs before disappearing out the kitchen to go get Cameron. Quickly I slip on a pair of flip flops by the door and head outside to the red expedition truck sitting outside in the driveway. I lift open the trunk and pull out three bags before turning around and heading towards the house.

"I've got it goddammit! I don't need your help!" I hear a voice yell from the house next door. My eyes wander over to an old short man slowly walking up his porch steps while a man probably in his early thirties tried to help him up. The younger man lifts his hands up as if he were surrendering before taking a step back. Once I see his head start to turn in my direction I quickly turn away and continue to walk towards the house. Before I make it to the porch steps, I suddenly trip causing the bags in my hands to fall just as I catch my balance.

"Dammit!" I say as I look down at the bags sitting on the sidewalk. I reach down to pick them up, but before I can, a hand reaches down and picks them up for me.

"Let me help you," the younger man from next door says. My mouth is slightly open as I watch him smile down at me before carrying the bags up the porch steps and into my grandmother's home. Quickly I run in after him and stop in the kitchen archway. I watch as he sits the bags down on the counter before turning towards me.

I look at him as if he's crazy as he smiles back. "You do realize that you just walked into somebody's home without asking right?"

He looks amused and just before he could respond to my question, the sound of the stairs creaking catches out attention and we both look behind me just as grandma reaches the bottom of the steps holding a laughing Cameron. She smiles down at him before looking up at the both of us with a huge smile on her face. "Oh, hello Travis! What a nice surprise!"

He waves and smiles. "Hello Ms. Pat, I just got back from taking the old man to another one of his doctor appointments when I saw your...friend here struggling with the groceries."

Grandma laughs. "Oh how nice of you, you've always been such a fine young gentlemen. So tell me, how has your father been doing?"

He smiles and brushes his sweaty blonde hair off of his forehead. "Oh he's been doing a lot better the doctor says. The medication is apparently working greatly."

My eyes moved back and forth as the two talked as if they knew each other for all of their lives. Slowly I shut my eyes and cleared my throat to get their attention. After a few seconds I open my eyes back up and notice that both of their eyes were on me. Grandma looked at me for a moment before suddenly her eyes lit up like she was forgetting something.

"Oh Travis, how could I forget to introduce you to my granddaughter Stephanie! She'll be staying with me for a while because of...personal reasons, so you'll be seeing her quite often. And this little guy here in my arms is her unbelievably cute son, Cameron."

He smiles halfway at me and I smile back before reaching my hand out for him to shake. "Stephanie Schmidt, pleasure to meet you."

Instead of shaking my hand, to my horror he lifts it up and plants a kiss on the top of it. I laugh awkwardly and stare at him with wide fearful eyes as he slowly pulls away without breaking eye contact. "Travis Warren, the pleasure is all mines. And your son here is as cute as a button. He looks just like you."

I playfully roll my eyes when he turns to tickle Cameron's foot. Yeah right he looked like me. He was a spitting image of his father, just with blonde hair.

"Well I'm going to get the rest of your groceries out the car," Travis says as he claps his hands together before heading out the kitchen and the front door.

I look up at my grandmother who was smirking at me. "What?"

She continues to smirk at me before finally she breaks out into a fit of giggles. "If it isn't obvious already, that man out there seems to like you. I mean you can just see it in his eyes he's taken by you. You two should get to know each or hangout."

I just shake my head and close my eyes to hold my tears back. I didn't need another guy in my life at the moment, especially since I was still married and in love with my husband. I couldn't just forget about John and move onto another guy that would be considered cheating. "Mom you know how I feel about men. The only man in my life is and always will be John, but since we're on a break right now I need to focus on making us better. I can't just go off and start seeing another dude, which would be considered cheating!"

She rolls her eyes and adjusts Cameron in her arms. "Stephanie, you said it yourself, you two are on a break so there for you are free to do whatever you want and I think you should give the guy a chance. Plus John isn't half the man Travis is. No man beats on their wife."

Just as I open my mouth to reply to her comment, Travis walks back inside holding three more bags. He stops in the archway as if realizing he had just interrupted a very important conversation between my grandmother and me. His face heats up before he walks past us and places the bags on the counter. "Sorry."

He looked my way as he exited the kitchen and house once again. I turned away from where he had exited and faced my grandmother with narrowed eyes. I sighed in frustration when she mouthed the words, 'talk to him,' before crossing my arms and heading out the house. I walk over to where Travis stood grabbing bags out of my grandmother's trunk. I sit down and smile up at him as he smiles down at me.

"So, how old are you?" I ask him as he lifts the bags up.

He eyes me for a moment before smiling and sitting them back down. He pushes a few bags back before taking a seat next to me. "Thirty-one, but people say I look younger, how about you?"

"I am twenty-seven and my little boy is four months old," I say as I give him a small smile. 

He grins and nods his head. "He's a cute little guy. He looks a lot like you, but I can see some other features that obviously aren't yours. Where is his father?"

I stiffen at the mention of my husband and Cameron's father. I didn't think he would ask about John, but now that he has I didn't know what to tell him. I knew not tell him the truth since he was a total stranger, but I could just simply tell him he wasn't around at the moment. Sighing I shake my head and look up at him while licking my lips. "New York, it's complicated between the two of us."

"You two married?" he asks. I look down at my left hand and stare at where the diamond ring used to be wrapped around my finger before looking back at him. I look into his chocolate brown eyes before letting my eyes wander down to his pink lips and up to the light freckles around his nose. I sigh and think back to what my grandmother said. We were on a break and John had my ring, so we might as well be divorced. At the same I knew that wasn't true, but that didn't mean I couldn't see somebody else.

I shake my head. "No."

His lightly nervous looks turns into relief and a huge grin breaks out on his face. "Great, so does that mean I can take you out on a date tomorrow night?"

I slightly gasp at how forward he was being before blushing. I couldn't remember the last time I went out and actually had fun. The last time I went out was when John and I went on a vacation to Puerto Rico. I hadn't had any fun on that trip since he had both raped and beat me. That night was still fresh in my mind and I would do anything to just go back in time to change it or forget it. Maybe I needed this. I couldn't hide forever, I had to find a way to move on and keep myself distracted. Maybe Travis Warren was the perfect distraction.

I smile and nod my head. "Yes, yes it does."

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