Goosebumps

August 2023

Tina’s pov

The sound of the pitter patter of little feet filled my ears and immediately, my heart lifted and a smile spread over my face.

My son, Ajax, jumped on my bed and began to drag my arm ‘mum, mum, get up, its morning already’

I turned and hugged my son fiercely; he was my pride and joy, the only positive from my marriage to Simon.

Just thinking of the fact that he was just a “false negative” away from been aborted made me hug him tighter.

‘Mum, you’re squashing me’ he said and wiggled himself from my grasp.

He resumed dragging my hand ‘it’s a Monday morning and you’re still in bed, at this time!!’, he screams out the last part and a laugh erupts from me.

I blinked one eye open, the sun streaming through the crack in the curtains showed that the sun was well and truly up.

I spring up from the bed carrying Ajax with me; he wiggled out of my grasp and ran out of my room.

I drew the curtains open and took a breath of fresh air, ‘I have a busy day today’ I thought, ‘I had interviews with 3 companies that I had applied to and I had to get to my part time job in the afternoon.’

I hoped I would be able to get a job with one of the companies, I had been unable to hold on to a full time job for the past few years due to my divorce.

I remembered how messy and trouble filled my divorce became after I left Simon’s house. Flashbacks of my face on the TV with the headline ‘gold digger’ filled my mind and the flash of reporter’s cameras that was shoved into my face filled my ears. 

My breathing came in gasps and I grabbed onto the windowsill, fear clouded my head as I remembered how many times I had to change states when people figured out who I was.

I felt soft palms in mine and my head clears up, I hold the hand tightly and stoop down to hug my son.

He let me hold him for as long as I needed, ‘I loved my son for that, he always seemed to know when I really needed a hug.’

I stood up and began to get ready for the day.

I got Ajax ready for kindergarten; I brushed my hair and put on light makeup then put on a shirt and pant trousers, I packed my hair into a bun and grabbed my bag then head for the door.

Ajax drags my arm ‘you forgot something’; I go back and put on sunglasses and a facemask.

We walk out the door together and I drop Ajax off in kindergarten, I get on the bus the take off the glasses and facemask.

I had to take Ajax to school with my face covered, it was how I prevented him from getting discovered.

 I didn’t want anyone to know him with me so I always went about in disguise when I was with him, so despite the fact that I had moved five times due to reporters, I had been able to keep Ajax away from public eye,

 ‘I was not about to have him get taken away from me’, I thought ‘I wouldn’t put it past Simon, especially with that pretentious bitch in his life.’

I had kept my eye glued to the TV waiting for news of their marriage but after a while I lost interest.

I arrived at my first destination, walk into the company and take the interview, it went pretty well and I hoped they would skip the part that involved a background check.

When companies saw that I was divorced and more specifically who I got divorced from, they usually wanted nothing to do with me.

My other interviews went the same way and I hoped I would get one of them, I had exhausted all the companies around and if I didn’t get into any of them I would be stuck with part time jobs like I had been for the past years.

I had only been able to get a job in one company and I lasted there for three months before I got discovered by reporters again, it was almost as messy as my divorce itself so I found myself jobless days after.

I quickly had my lunch then head to pick Ajax from kindergarten; he ran and hugged me then began to tell me all that happened in school.

Despite my rush to my part time job, a smile made it way to my face, Ajax was always able to make me laugh.

I rushed to where I worked part time as a waitress and enter through the back room. I made sure Ajax was settled in the backroom then put on my uniform.

The chef, my boss had always understood me, she she allowed Simon to stay as long as he kept out of workers way.

Because of this I was able to save some money, the money that would have been spent on babysitters.

As long as I was a good worker she didn’t pry into my life and she didn’t ask why despite my credentials I didn’t have a cooperate job. That was the advantage of part time jobs, as long as you were legal and had an ID card no other thing mattered.

As I stepped out of the back room I greeted my coworkers with a smile, my signature smile that hid my fears and troubles.

‘Hey Tina, how’s it going’ Bella one of my coworkers greeted me, I replied her with a genuine smile and helped her with an order.

Bella was my favorite coworker, she was short and bubbly and was the closest thing to a friend that I had. She was also a single mum, but unlike me her parents cared about her so whenever she was at work they took care of Anna her daughter.

She asked about Ajax, I answered her and asked about Anna then we get to work.

The bell jingled as the door to the restaurant opened, I felt the temperature drop two degrees lower as I caught sight of the people that entered.

 Goosebumps erupted and spread over my skin and fear grips my heart.