Damaged Beyond Repair by Kashmira Kamat (KittyKash) (motivational novels txt) 📕

Alana

I'd spent a good amount of time staring at the coffee menu, not because I wasn't able to decide what I wanted to order, but because coffee was the last thing on my mind. My mind since the past two weeks had been occupied by how I was going to tell Troy that we needed to end the fake dating; it was getting a little boring.

I had started to wonder if there really was some kind of a clip of us kissing, or if it was just something that Troy had come up with. He was kind of sweet when he waited for me in the parking lot, smoking a cigarette as usual and trying to look cool. He even helped me carry my stuff to class, pecked my cheek in the corridors for the "fake dating" thing, and even let me join his band practice. We even went out for pizza together during the weekend.

Troy led a life of a loner, and I didn't recall watching him getting along with anyone outside his band members or talking about a single friend back home and that made me think if he had manipulated our situation to make it seem like we needed to go along with this dating.

To me it looked like he just wanted company for lunches and someone to just talk to. Whatever that it was, I was going to lay it out for him. In the past two weeks that I'd known him, I hadn't uttered a single word about having known Rowan.

Finally, I decided on my usual favorite mocha latte with lots of whipped cream. The café was packed, and the queue to the order register was never-ending, and moving at snail's pace. I sighed. It was a Friday, what had I really expected?

I groaned as the employee behind the counter worked slowly, wanting to get it over with. Just when I was ready to ditch the idea of coffee, I felt a tug at my top.

"Alana!" The little girl wrapped her little arms around my midsection as she recognized who I was.

The girl was Minnie. Daughter of my ex-boyfriend. Yeah, as taboo as it sounds.

I had met her after a year, she looked as cute as I remembered. Although we talked on the phone, this was different. I got hold of her hands. "Hey! Look at you, baby. You're all grown up and beautiful. Love your dress."

"Thanks." She said, putting her hair behind her ear, the way grown up girls did. Minnie stared at me with the familiar mocha eyes. Rowan's eyes. Her features were a stark reminder of him. My heart couldn't handle the pain. Her hair had grown longer and tied back in a ponytail. She was dressed like a doll in a lime colored sleeveless top and mini skirt with matching shoes. "Why din you come to meat me?"

I tried to look for an easy escape because I didn't have an answer. What was I supposed to tell the little girl, that I had gotten cold feet? Because the smallest of connections with him reminded me of what I had lost. He had been you-know-who for me since a year. Nina and Chez had minimized the use of his name or his family in my vicinity, although I knew they gossiped about me and him behind my back.

"I'm so sorry, Sweetie. I promise to remain in touch with you from now on."

"Pinky Promise?" She raised her pinky finger to mine.

I linked my pinky finger with hers. "Pinky Promise."

Now that I thought about it, how come Minnie was here alone? She was always hanging out with Dwight? Wasn't it supposed to be his duty to make sure she was safe while Rowan was away? Maybe he was too busy flirting with some chick to notice his niece gone. I made a mental note to give an earful to Dwight when I met him next time.

"Where is Uncle Dwight, baby?" I asked.

"Uncle Dwigh's not wid me." Minnie said.

"Then who is here with you, sweetie?" I tried again.

"Daddy!"

"What?!"

Before I had time to process that word or I could ask her anything else, I watched a tall figure appear in front of me who stole my ability of speech for that moment. The air knocked out of my lungs. I think I forgot how to breathe. My heart decided that it wanted to leap into an excessive overdrive.

I fought the urge to run into his arms and cry the bucket full of tears I had saved up for this one moment but I couldn't. It was like some spark flew between us as we stared at each other mesmerized.

Rowan stood before me, dressed in a gray Super Dry t-shirt which highlighted his muscular biceps, and his toned body. It was matched with a navy blue jeans, his favorite color. All matched with leather boots. His eyes were the same as I remembered, but somehow, the darkness within them wasn't visible anymore. Rowan looked sober and just ridiculously gorgeous. Healthy, and more human, like a freakin fashion model.

Now that I remembered Nina yapping something like that a few months back, but I'd told her to shut up.

Suddenly, all the emotions were flooding back in. My stomach was a runway of butterflies as if I'd met my crush for the first time. I'd totally forgotten what being in love felt like and instead of being mad at him, here I was lost in the whirlpool of his eyes.

"Alana...hey." He passed me his signature dimple kissed smile, one that usually made every girl including me to swoon.

Say something, stupid!

"I was actually right at the back there , Minnie insisted that she wanted to order for her donuts and for my coffee alone. So, I was just supervising." He chuckled. "You didn't think she was lost, did you?"

"That's what I thought." I admitted.

Rowan hadn't stopped smiling and I hadn't stopped staring. He said, "How are you doing?"

After your break up? Yeah, fine. Just perfectly fine. Getting some sunshine, hooking up with your cousin. Life's great. Note the sarcasm.

Instead I said, "I'm fine."

He nodded, giving me a slow once over. "You look beautiful. I mean, you were always beautiful, but now you seem different somehow. All grown up and mature."