Chapter 6
Milly bid Theo goodbye, her mind working overtime.
She sensed he wanted to be alone, and she needed some time to think too.
More importantly for both of them, she needed to make some content.
She’d missed engaging with her community, and there were messages sitting in her DMs needing responses.
She always loved talking to people and finding out if her tips had helped.
There was one particular follower she wanted to check in on and see if her advice had worked.
She also wanted to restart the café’s Instagram account.
As she walked through the city, exploring the different alleyways and side streets, she saw the sheer number of cafés and restaurants Lykke was competing against. But Theo’s food was undoubtedly more amazing than any of theirs – and his drinks too.
She could feel it in her gut that there was a way he could not only survive but also thrive if they could just figure out how to get the word out.
On a particularly beautiful street, filled with the coloured townhouses the city was famous for, but this time with ivy and willow growing outside them and bicycles parked all along one side, she stopped and recorded a short video.
As usual she got some strange looks from people passing by, but it wasn’t the sneering she often encountered, which was a nice change. She turned her attention to the screen.
‘So you guys know I’m in Copenhagen for the summer. Well, just look at this gorgeous place.’ She spun, showing the beautiful architecture of the picturesque houses all huddled together on the cobbled street. ‘Now for today’s money-saving tip—’
She went on to outline a great fact she’d learned about shopping around for currency conversion and then ended the video. She didn’t want to be distracted as she strolled through more of the city. There was so much to see.
Milly found herself in Frederiksstaden in front of a majestic church.
Its remarkable verdigris dome was one she’d seen from her bedroom window.
The roof would have originally been copper but after centuries in the wind and rain, it had turned an astonishing shade of green.
The church was known as Frederik’s Church or the Marble Church because of the stone it was made from.
It was breathtaking and it gave Milly a thrill to know that later, when she looked at it from her bedroom window, she’d know what it was.
After more wandering, she decided to head back to the canal house and get ready for dinner.
Just as she walked inside, her phone rang.
Her heart jumped, wondering if it was Tom, but then she remembered she’d blocked him.
As she looked at the screen, her stomach dropped to the ground, full of guilt. It was her mum.
She closed her eyes. Deep down, as she stood in her temporary home in her temporary home city, she knew she had to answer.
‘Hi, Mum,’ she said cheerfully. ‘How’re you?’
‘When were you going to tell me you’d split with Tom?’ Her mum’s tone was sharper than one of Theo’s kitchen knives and Milly winced, moving the phone a little away from her ear.
Oh no. How did she know already? Who’d told her? Ada definitely wouldn’t, which left only one option. Milly’s jew clenched. She closed the front door behind her and made her way up the stairs to the kitchen and living room on the first floor.
‘He came round just now,’ her mum continued.
‘Saying something about a sabbatical and that you hadn’t been at work, asking where you were and how to get in contact with you.
I told him I didn’t think your number had changed but then he said something about a misunderstanding and blocking him!
I didn’t really understand what he meant but then I googled, and I couldn’t believe what I was reading. ’
Jane’s tone had grown increasingly high-pitched, and a second pang of guilt shot into Milly like a dart. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, I’ve been meaning to call.’
‘Why don’t I pop round. This might be better face to—’
Milly almost fell off the top stair, crashing against the wall. ‘No! Don’t do that.’
‘Why not?’
She took a breath, knowing things were only going to get worse from here. She should have been honest with her mum from the start. She’d been stupid to hide this from her. Milly righted herself and moved to the kitchen, flicking the kettle on. ‘Because I’m not there.’
‘What do you mean you’re not there?’ There was a scuffling in the background and Milly could just imagine her mum getting up from the sofa to walk around as she spoke. She always did that when she was agitated. ‘Where are you then?’
Even though Milly knew the question was coming, it was fired at her with such force that she pulled back in surprise. ‘I’m in Copenhagen. At Ada’s.’
‘Oh, you’re on a mini break! Why didn’t you just tell Tom that? That’s very odd, Milly, I’ve got to say—’
‘Mum, I blocked Tom because he cheated on me. We’ve split up. For good. This isn’t just a break.’
Silence. Down the other end of the line, she could hear her mum’s breathing.
‘I’m switching this to video call,’ Jane replied, and Milly dutifully did the same. Her mum’s concerned face filled the screen, her eyebrows pinched tightly together. ‘Now, what on earth’s been going on?’
With one hand Milly made a cup of tea while calmly explaining everything about Tom and Claire and the stationery cupboard, the sabbatical email, and Ada’s call. ‘It just all seemed to fall into place, Mum, and I needed a break from work after what happened with Tom.’
Her mum’s frown softened. ‘I suppose I can understand that. How could he do that? What a stupid, stupid boy.’
He wasn’t a boy, Milly thought. He was a grown man and perfectly aware of the choices he’d made.
‘But this is just for the summer, right?’ her mum asked, a little calmer now she knew the full situation.
‘Yes, Mum. Just for the summer.’
‘And you’re safe. This person Ada lived with isn’t … odd or anything?’
Milly chuckled. While her mum’s concern could sometimes show as interference and occasionally judgement, which could be wearing, she did have the best of intentions.
‘No, Mum, he’s fine.’ Fine in both senses of the word, she felt like adding, but knew it would be inappropriate so soon after Tom, and also not something you say to your mother.
As she’d expected, Jane then launched into a tirade about how lovely Tom had been and it must have been a silly mistake.
‘Is there no way you two might get back together? You’ve been with each other for, what, five years? That’s a lot to throw away.’
Milly knew her mum meant well but bit back the frustration mounting inside her. ‘It’s four, but it’s over, Mum. He cheated. That’s it. Game over for me.’
‘Yes, yes, I can see that but—’
‘No buts, Mum.’ Now she was pacing, walking back and forth to ease the tension in her muscles.
Her dad had been half out of the door before the accident.
Before … she gulped, stopping the thought before it hit, hearing the screech of car tyres in her ears.
She swallowed heavily, a chill running down her spine.
Then after what had been the most painful time in her life both emotionally and physically, her dad had grown more and more distant, leaving Milly and her mum to cope alone.
Eventually, he’d left. Milly knew her mum just wanted her to be settled – to have the security she never had – but there was settled and then there was settling and she wasn’t prepared to do that. ‘I know you liked him but—’
‘It wasn’t just him, darling. He had a good job; you could have got a nice house somewhere lovely. You would have been set.’
‘Set but unhappy.’
Jane sighed. ‘I do just want you to be happy, love. Happy and … safe. But I get it’s your life, darling, and if you’re sure—’
‘I am.’ Milly smiled to herself.
Her mum always did come round eventually.
She really shouldn’t have put off telling her for so long.
It was her life. Her life and her decision to make and to be honest, she was enjoying being a bit more adventurous.
She’d always taken the easy option, the path of least resistance when it came to her mum and here she was, late twenties and her life had become a tiny, narrow lane she didn’t particularly want to stay inside.
For a moment she thought about telling her of her Insta sideline but decided that might be too much for her poor mum to handle in one day.
Jane didn’t mean to be as difficult as she was.
It all stemmed from love; Milly knew that.
Love and fear over the accident, but that had been a long, long time ago.
Her brain began to replay the circumstances that had brought them all to this point and quickly buried them deep in her mind again.
Going back over what had happened wasn’t going to help anyone.
‘Look, I’ll call you again tomorrow, Mum, okay? I’ve got some stuff to do before dinner. But I promise you, I’m okay and I’m actually having a really nice time here already.’
‘All right, darling. You know I love you.’
A smile tugged at Milly’s mouth. ‘I love you too. Speak tomorrow.’
She hung up and took a seat at the small kitchen table, her hands wrapped around her cup of tea.
Well that had gone better than expected but she would have liked to have told her mum herself.
It was so typical that Tom would have gone round there.
She should have thought of that and stopped hiding from the inevitable.
Rather than pain, she felt indignation at Tom being so high-handed as to go round her mum’s house trying to look for her. What had she ever seen in him?
A few hours later, Milly had just about regained her equilibrium when Theo arrived back from the café.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked.
‘Yep.’ She hadn’t bothered getting changed but was in the sundress she’d been wearing all day. ‘Where are we headed?’