Chapter 6 - Cut

"Not that I don't like it," I said as closed my eyes while Drayce brushes my hair with his fingers. "But why do you always seem to play with my hair every chance you get?"

"Because you have nice hair." He said. His voice was huskier than usual. "You have long, silky hair, and I always like that in a woman. Especially with my woman."

He then proceeded to place my hair aside to expose the back of my nape and plant a kiss on it, making me yelp.

I lean back as we both laugh.

Present day...

"How short do you want your hair to be?" The hairdresser said, standing behind me as we look at each other through the reflection of the mirror in front of me.

"Around my neck," I replied, swallowing every feeling I have about my hair.

I have always taken care of my hair. Before I met Drayce, my father has always been particular with my hair that I rarely ever sport short hair. Mom tried the best of her abilities to help me take care of it.

Because of what happened the other day, seeing my hair this long makes me remember him. He said he loves my long, silky dark hair so I have to cut it short.

As the hairdresser brushes my hair and sectioned it, she sighed and expressed her disappointment. "You have very lovely hair. Too bad you want it short."

When it's all done, though my heart feels heavy, my shoulders feel lighter.

Looking at my reflection felt different.

After paying, I went out and head straight to Walmart. I initially thought of buying groceries for myself but when I go around and saw the clothing sections for babies, I began to think of whether I should prepare for it this early.

I am so engrossed in a cute teddy bear onesie when I heard someone call me. "Cristine!"

The thing about my name is that I can identify who's calling me by the name they call me. I have different nicknames despite only having two first names. I'm Sal/Salina to my friends, Apple to my family, and Cristine to his family.

When I look to my right, I saw Scarlett coming towards me. She is Drayce's adoptive sister and the youngest of all the siblings. To be honest, I'm a lot closer with her mom but we have been hanging out since their parents moved to Arizona.

Though I'm older, she had to lower herself to hug me. If a stranger would see us, I can tell they'd think I'm way younger than her. "It's nice to see you here, are you with Drayce?"

"Oh..." I said nervously. "No, um. Your brother and I recently broke up."

Scarlet bit her lower lip in shock then noticed my now short hair. "I see. That's too bad. Are you sure it isn't just one of those decisions my brother makes just because he's either too stressed, and or angry?"

Smiling bitterly, I shake my head no. "Unfortunately, this might be for good. He said he's about to be deployed pretty soon to a highly confidential mission so he won't have guarantees of coming back."

"Shit, I just remembered." She said. I could tell she wanted to say more but she decided not to. "So what are your plans now?"

"Oh, I'll be staying at my friend's tomorrow then in a few days I'll be going home."

"Already? But you just got here a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd be going home this early too." I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes so I excused myself to avoid her seeing me cry as I go through the aisles.

Lying on the motel bed, I wait patiently for my mother to pick up the phone that has been ringing for quite a while now. I haven't told her about me and Drayce and since my trip has been cut short, I have no choice but to let her know now.

She finally picks up, but I decided to opt for an audio call this time.

"Anak." She said drowsily. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear the phone. I was outside doing laundry and I'm a bit tired. Anyways, how are you?"

I failed to answer right away as I try to swallow every lump in my throat and hold back all the tears in my eyes. "Mom, I'm going home soon."

"What?!" She exclaimed, more awake now this time. "What happened?"

With a heavy heart, I told her everything that happened and could hear her crying. The thing about my mother is that she has always supported me in many ways and I guess having Drayce made her feel as though he is the one for me.

She has met him and has said how much she likes him. Her disappointment further pains my already aching heart. "There's another thing, mom," I said, as we both try to settle down from crying.

"What is it?"

"I'm pregnant..."