Page 12 of Down the Aisle
No wonder she's so fucking skinny.
Hell, after seeing the sadness of her kitchen, I was convinced that a homeless person had better options and ate better than her with a free meal from the shelter. It seemed like she only fed Asher more than well and didn't take care of herself, or forwent her own health for his.
The thought of her suffering for her child made the corners of my lips drag into a frown as an anchor pulled my heart down to the depths of despair. Yes, people struggled, and when it came down to it, a good parent sacrificed a lot for their child. But I didn't want Eliza to be in that pit hole. She shouldn't have to decide between feeding herself or Asher.
Honestly, she shouldn't be struggling as much as she was, with housing assistance, cash assistance, and food stamps—the only thing missing was childcare support. Even with all that assistance, she hustled two jobs with Asher strapped to her.
My sweet Eliza shouldn't be struggling so much. She deserved to have a moment to herself, to be spoiled. I wonder what she'd choose to indulge herself in if she got the chance. Well, slight adjustment; I wonder what she'd pick when I gave her the chance. It wasn't a matter of if, but when.
God, I couldn't wait to finally take her out on a date and make her face light up with so much with joy, she'd outshine all the stars in the galaxy.
While mulling over the endless fantasies of us going out, I made my way over to the last area to be searched—her bathroom. Like everything else, it was scarcely stocked with the bare minimum. Well, at least everything but her cupboard under the sink. Besides toilet paper and extra soaps and shit, over half of it was stocked with boxes of brown hair dye.
Now, why on earth did a woman like her hoard this much hair dye? Was she going gray already? Highly doubtful, and my gut didn't settle with that thought one bit.
Making a mental note to myself, I closed the loose wooden doors and went back out to the couch to regroup with Max.
Remaining occupied with his task, Max took a minute to take note of my beady eyes, which were locked on him. The sight of me made his eyes roll as he let out a heavy sigh, "You know, I have to say… This Eliza chick you're obsessed with," his words trailed off as his eyes glanced at me. "Something isn't fitting…"
Plopping down on her ratty couch with a sigh, I hung my head in my hands. "I feel it too, but I can't even begin to place my finger on where to start trying to figure things out." Letting out a frustrated sigh, I ran my hands through my hair. "Like, where do you even begin to grasp and unravel someone so plain? Her records are solid, so there's nothing there. Her parents are dead, so I can't pick up the phone and talk to them." It didn't help that she had no other family around.
"Okay, but no one has a perfect record, man," Max mentioned with a soft huff of frustration. "The facteverythingabout her record is spotless is a huge red flag. I'll dig into her further later, when I get a chance, and fill you in as things come up."
Max's voice droned on about being careful and shit, but I paid no attention because I was in a mental sinkhole.
I mean, what could a person like her be hiding? Was she some ruthless killer?
A snort scratched at the back of my throat at the thought of Eliza being a violent criminal on the run.
Yes, there was something about her, but being a criminal couldn't be it. She was much too frail to do any damage in a physical struggle, and she was much too soft. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't hurt a fly; hell, I wouldn'tbe surprised if she cried about hurting a fly. Also, she had Asher. If I were a criminal on the run, the last thing I'd lug along with me was my child, a toddler at that. It would already be a shit ton of work to watch my own back, so the less responsibility I had, the better.
Sighing, I leaned back against her couch, letting my heavy body sink into the mushy couch. "But what if…" No, I couldn't finish that absurd thought.
No one was perfect, even my Eliza.
Forcing the nagging feeling away, I attempted to alleviate the tension with a joke. "You know, at least she's not hiding a body in her closet." As if she could fit one in that tiny thing.
"Man, did you listen to a single thing I said?" Max grumbled with a scowling glare. "It'd be better if a body had fallen out of her damn closet, because then, at least, we'd have an answer as to what the fuck is up with her."
He had a good point. Also, a body would've been a lot easier to deal with than whatever her unknown secret was. Disposing of a corpse and covering up whatever crime she'd committed would have been child's play. The more I thought about it, the more I wished I had found something physically damning to confront her with.
Since nothing had been found, there was literally nothing I could do at that moment. The only thing remotely out of place, had been a vibrator and dildo I’d found in her nightstand. Poor thing would need to upgrade and level up in size before I could take her. The toy had nothing on me; and no, I wasn’t tooting my own horn and exaggerating my dick size. I was much bigger than the meager six-inch toy, and much girthier too. Not to mention, I would far outlast the battery on that thing.
Taking a deep breath, I slapped my hands down on my thighs and shot up from the couch. Grinning cheekily, I snickeredsoftly. "Alright, let's finish this up so I can go make a list of things to charm her with."
Unamused, Max threw a bundle of wires at me after rolling his eyes. "Go make yourself useful then and start connecting."
"Hey," I snapped at him playfully, "don't forget who's the boss between us."
Chapter 5
Eliza
~1 week later~
The sound of my notifications going off felt like a hammer to the head, reminding me of my cowardice and really driving that nail deep into my bones.
"Mama." And Asher didn't help either.
