Before Lola had a chance to open her door, Mark was already walking quickly to the passenger side. She tried waiting patiently for his chivalry, but her knee bounced in anticipation. Once he finally opened her door, he reached a hand out to help her, but now she accepted gladly. Although she was feeling much better, it never hurt to take an extra precaution and standing too quickly during normal circumstances can present problems, let alone when you're almost thirty weeks pregnant.
He held onto her hand as they walked up to the bank. His strong, warm fingers wrapped around hers. She waited a moment for the guilt to pounce onto her chest, reminding her it was wrong to feel comforted, but it never came. He let go as soon as they reached the front door so that he open it for her, an encouraging smile playing on his lips.
Lola walked quickly to where a larger woman sat behind a large crescent shaped desk. Baskets lined the edges with different colored papers, and brochures were stacked in piles, smiling families staring back at them. A small bowl of candy set next the phone that blinked red with incoming or outgoing calls.
“Hi, excuse me,” Lola said.
The woman looked up and smiled brightly.
“Hi there honey,” she said with a slight southern drawl. “What can I do for you?”
Lola smiled back feigning confidence. After all, this wasn't exactly * her* safety deposit box. What if they checked ID? “I would like to access my safety deposit box, please.”
“Oh, absolutely,” she said. “Just take those stairs to your right, or the elevator if that would be easier,” she said glancing towards Lola's belly, “and once you get to the top, you'll see Elizabeth at her desk. Let her know which box you need.”
“Perfect, thank you.”
They turned the direction of the stairs.
“Impressive,” Mark said quietly for only her ears. “For all the knee bouncing you had in the car, you carried on like you knew what you were doing.”
“Ha Ha,” she said, then smiled, “thanks.”
They climbed the first set of stairs and Lola needed a moment to catch her breath before they ventured up the remaining ten or so.
The elevator would have been the better choice, she was sure, but she needed a bit of exercise.
Once they were at the top, it was easy to see Elizabeth, a young lady maybe nineteen or twenty with long brown hair and a tight blue dress sitting quietly at her desk next to a pair of large glass doors. She was speaking in a rushed tone, aggrevated and upset.
"If you can't do it fine, but now it's your turn to find childcare," she said then slapped her phone down the the table top.
“Hi there,” Lola greeted hesitantly.
“Hello,” she said in a quite voice, still upset, then noticed Lola's baby bump. "Whatever you do, never expect your baby's father to make good choices or any decision for that matter...stupid, selfish, pigheaded..." She noticed Mark now, and stood a little taller, begging him to question her. He smiled gently in return.
"I can assure you, this baby is in the best of hands."
Lola's face grew warm as his implications filled the room. She blinked to refocus.
“So yeah," she said bringing things back on track. "I would like access my safety deposit box, please.”
“What's your number?” she asked inching herself out.
“1120”
Elizabeth swiped her security card. A beep, much too loud for the quiet bank, echoed through the corridor. It only took a minute before she returned carrying a small silver box.
“You can take it right over to those tables,” she said handing it over and motioning to a row of high level tables lining the wall.
They walked quickly then set it down. Lola's heart began to race as she found the key in her pocket.
“I wish Tommy were here,” she mumbled to herself.
“I told you we could've broken him out of school if you really wanted,” he said with wink.
Lola rolled her eyes. The thought had been tempting, but if her parents had found out, then she would have had a lot of explaining to do.
Focusing now at the task at hand, she steadied the key and slid it into the tiny keyhole. With one click, the lid popped open. Inside rested a small picture of her and Kyle sitting on a beach, tan and smiling, their toes stuffed into the sand. Next to the picture was a square CD case. She picked up the picture first and checked the back, it was blank. Next, she cracked open the case, then took at the disk, it was also blank.
“I bet it's a DVD,” Mark said. Lola nodded. “Put them in your purse, and let's get out of here. We can watch it back at my house.”
If you would like to check out the story from the beginning you can find the previous chapters here!
1 |2|3|4|5
|6| 7 |8|9| 10| 11 | 12|13|14|15
NEW PARTS
46| 47 | 48
To the amazing people that read this story! Thank you!
@cecicastor, @scribblingramma, @enginewitty, @janaveda, and @sirmartinet
Much love,
Stacie D
