30. Bryan
30
brYAN
“ W hat made you think that was a good idea?” I heard some guy yelling as Amelia and I approached the next grouping of apartments. I pulled her back a little bit, not wanting to get into the middle of somebody’s argument. The thought was, let them pass, and then we’ll go in and try to find Nova.
“She’s my best friend,” the woman said. “She’s supposed to understand. I love you.”
“That was incredibly stupid,” the man yelled. “A complete waste of money. Is that why you wanted to come up here for Christmas? It wasn’t the snow, it was for her.”
They stood on the sidewalk gesturing wildly at each other.
“It was kind of satisfying, though. Did you see her face when she realized it was you? That was epic.”
“That was actually pretty good, but you should have told me. What if she had a restraining order against me?”
“I knew Nova didn’t have a restraining order against you. If she had, she would have told me. She tells me everything.”
I was trying to ignore them, but that woman said Nova. If she knew where Nova was, our search would be over.
“Excuse me,” I called out as we approached them.
“What do you want?” the man barked out.
“We’re trying to find somebody, and I think I heard you mention her name. I’m not trying to listen in, but the whole complex can hear you yelling. Do you know which one of these apartments belongs to Nova?”
The woman started cackling with laughter.
“Fuck off!”
I glared at him. “Come on, man. Language. My kid is standing right here.”
The woman wrapped her arms around the man as if to spin him around. “She’s upstairs, in the back, on the right.”
“Thank you.”
Amelia had already started running up the stairs.
“Who is Nova to you?” he asked.
I looked the guy up and down. I could probably take him if he tried to jump me. “What’s it to you?”
“Well, I’m her best friend,” the woman said.
I doubted it. From what I had overheard, it sounded to me like she wanted to make a fool out of Nova. That’s not something best friends did.
Amelia stopped halfway up the stairs and turned around. “She’s going to be my mommy. I’m getting a mommy for Christmas.” She didn’t wait for their reaction or for me before she was running up the stairs again.
The woman cackled again. “You don’t look like you knew that. I doubt Nova knows it. You'd better go catch your kid before she makes promises you don’t plan on filling. Come on, David. Let’s get out of here.”
I turned and followed Amelia, taking the stairs two at a time. When I got to the top of the landing, I found Amelia standing in front of one of the apartments, staring inside. The door was wide open.
“What is it, sweetheart?” I asked.
She pointed. Her lower lip quivered. She was on the verge of tears. As I got closer, I understood why. Nova lay in a heap on the floor just inside her door. I skidded. I fell to my knees and pulled her against me.
“Nova? Nova, what’s the matter?” I don’t think she even knew we were there.
She looked up at me, blinked a few times, and turned her head to look at Amelia. She reached out and crushed Amelia to her. As Nova continued to sob, she held onto Amelia, and I held them both.
I don’t know how long we were there, letting the cold air into her apartment.
Finally, Nova let go of Amelia, wiping my daughter’s tears away first. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Amelia.”
I caught Nova’s chin and tilted her face so that our eyes met. “Nova, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“You’re here?” Her voice cracked.
I nodded, and then her arms were around me, and she was sobbing again.
Amelia sat on the floor and curled up against Nova’s side, and I stroked my hand down her back and over her hair. Her braid ran through my fingers. Her hair was damp.
“I don’t understand.” Her voice was small and somewhat muffled against my coat. “Why are you here?”
“We had to come get you,” I said.
“You had to come get me? I don’t understand. You said I wasn’t going to have to work today.” She sucked in a stuttering sniffle.
I held her close and gently rocked her from side to side. “Not to work. To be with us. It’s not Christmas at home without everyone who belongs there. You belong there.”
“I do?”
“Yes, Nova, you do.” I was quaking as I held her, or maybe she was shaking and I was reverberating around her nerves.
“Did Santa come?” She looked at Amelia and touched her arms and straightened her hat on her head. “Did you get anything good?”
Amelia looked from Nova to me and back at Nova. “Santa came, but I didn’t open anything yet.”
“Why not?” Nova asked as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.
Amelia, uncertain of how to deal with such intense emotion from adults, had her own tears streaking her face.
I pulled Amelia back to me so I had one arm wrapped around my daughter and one wrapped around Nova.
“She didn’t want to open presents without you.” I spoke softly against the top of Nova’s head.
“I don’t understand.” Nova sniffled, tears still in her voice. “I don’t understand anything that’s going on this morning.”
“I agree. Why don’t we get up off the floor and close the door, get you inside, get you warm, and then maybe we can figure out what’s going on together. Okay?”
Nova nodded and began to push away from me. I held her hands steady as she shakily got to her feet. Amelia was next, and then she wrapped her arms around Nova’s hips. The two of them took the few steps needed before they were sitting on a couch. I got to my feet and closed the door.
“Who were those people?” I asked.
“What people?”
I glanced at Amelia. I was supposed to be a good example for my daughter, but those people were hateful. “Some harpy with long, dark hair and an asshole who needs a haircut.”
Nova started to laugh. It was a nervous laugh that soon transitioned back into crying.
“You ran into Veronica and David. She was supposed to be my best friend. Actually, until… how long has it been? Whatever. Until this morning, she was my best friend. And that man is the reason I took the job at Wentworth. I had to get out of Atlanta to get away from him.”
“Your best friend?”
“Yeah. We’ve been friends since middle school.” It took Nova a while to continue talking. She was devastated and constantly crying.
I didn’t try to rush her, letting her speak when she felt like she could. She had clearly had a very difficult morning. I pulled Amelia to the side and began helping her take her jacket off. I took mine off and threw it on the back of the couch. We were going to be there for a while.
“It turns out she was the woman he cheated on me with. And she was keeping it a secret until today. Because she wanted to ruin everything for me.” Nova crushed one of the throw pillows to her chest.
“She’s my best friend. I told her everything, and she used everything against me. She waited until I was at rock bottom before she started kicking me. She knew how hard it was to be up here alone at Christmas, without family.”
“But you’ve got us,” Amelia said.
Nova reached out and took Amelia’s hand. “Thank you, sweetie. That means a lot, but I don’t have my family with me.” Nova collapsed in on herself and started sobbing more.
“But we’re here,” Amelia said again. Her voice was small, and she turned her eyes, wide with concern, to me, uncertain of what to do.
I picked Amelia up and set her on the couch next to Nova. “You pat her back, and I’ll get her some water.” I stepped into the small kitchen area. I found the filtered water pitcher and poured a glass of water. I knelt down before Nova and held the glass out. “Here, try to drink some water.”
She took the glass from me and gulped it down. Her breathing was still ragged and hard, and only occasionally would she sob or whimper out as if she was still crying.
My heart broke for her. Betrayed by her best friend, away from her loved ones, this was one sucky Christmas for her. I could only hope that the reason we were here would make her happy.
Nova handed the glass back to me. Our eyes met. She then looked at Amelia and then back at me as if she hadn’t even seen us before.
“Why are you even here?” she asked.
“You need to come home with us for Christmas,” I said. Even if, in the end, she wasn’t coming home to be with me, she was coming home with us. There was no possible way I could leave her alone, not in this condition.
Nova shook her head. “I set everything out in the kitchen. Weren’t my instructions clear enough?”
“Not for that. Not for food. You need to come home to be with us. Amelia can’t have a merry Christmas if you aren’t there.” I hesitated. “I can’t have a merry Christmas if you aren’t there. I don’t care whether you cook or not. I’m not so helpless that I can’t heat up what the cook left in the refrigerator with instructions.” I gave her a sly grin and a wink. “It’s not home without you there.”
“Please, Nova. You have to come home with us,” Amelia pleaded.
“It’s not like I have plans,” Nova said. She tried to laugh but started crying again.
I wrapped my arms around her and let her sob as much as she needed.