Chapter 21 #2
Her shock was quickly replaced with anger.
“What the bloody hell are you doing?” she shrieked, causing Mindy to jump.
“What are you doing here?” Mindy answered in kind.
“It’s my house!”
“But you’re usually at work!” Mindy barked.
“Obviously not this morning. Why are you in my kitchen?”
“I came to set up a surprise for you, if you must know,” Mindy huffed.
“Why?” Evelyn bellowed. “We haven’t spoken in over a month!”
Both women were interrupted by Alyssa, who poked her head into the kitchen. “So, I’m gonna go…”
“No, Alyssa—” Evelyn began.
“It’s cool, Evie. Speak later.” And with that, Evelyn’s morning got tanked. She rounded on Mindy with fury in her eyes.
“Mindy, what in the ever-loving fuck are you doing in my home? You don’t live here, and we are not together!”
“Evelyn, don’t you think it’s time you forgave me? Come on, I made a mistake, but we’re supposed to be together.”
Shaking her head, hoping to dislodge the insanity of the conversation, Evelyn took a step towards Mindy. “Mindy, listen very carefully. We are over. I do not love you. I do not trust you.”
“Well, that’s charming. After all the shit I had to put up with?”
“Are you referring to my late nights at work?”
“You bet your arse I am. I waited around for you all those months and one minor mistake on my part and that’s it. I’m kicked to the curb?”
“If by waiting around for me you mean partied it up several times a week—on my credit card—then yes, you’re right.
How very difficult for you. Let me take a wild stab in the dark.
This new woman you were shagging isn’t as well off as you thought?
Hm? Can’t provide the life you became accustomed to with me? About right?”
Evelyn knew damn well she was right. The blush on Mindy’s face only confirmed it.
“So because you’ve found another body to warm your bed, I’m toast?”
“Alyssa, the body you are referring to, is so much more than a bed warmer. Although after this little stunt, I won’t be surprised if she wants nothing to do with me.”
A frustrated growl rumbled in her throat.
Evelyn and Alyssa hadn’t even had the chance to talk about their relationship, if that’s what you could call it.
Evelyn knew it was going to be a tricky discussion anyway with Alyssa’s aversion to commitment.
How the hell would they broach it now? Maybe seeing Mindy in Evelyn’s kitchen would reaffirm to Alyssa that she was better off in casual set-ups. Christ, Evelyn wanted to scream.
“Evie, come on.”
“Get out. Now!” Evelyn’s tone left no room for argument. Her glare also squashed any protests Mindy was about to unload. Evelyn waited until she heard the door shut, before letting out a scream of frustration. Her perfect, perfect time with Alyssa had been utterly ruined.
Rushing back to her bedroom, Evelyn scooped up her phone and hit the call button.
Please pick up, please pick up. Nothing.
It rang until the voicemail kicked in. Great, Alyssa was ignoring her calls.
And why wouldn’t she? How was she supposed to act after witnessing Evelyn’s ex-girlfriend making herself at home in the kitchen?
“Bug!” she exclaimed. Running from the kitchen to the living room, Evelyn’s heart bottomed out. Alyssa had taken Bug with her. Dropping to her settee, Evelyn surveyed her empty home. “I’m always going to end up alone,” she sobbed.
Lunch time was an acceptable time of the day to be drunk, right? Ah, balls to it. If Evelyn had to suffer through the stupid festive season all alone, then she was going to make sure she was well lubricated.
After the third unread text message to Alyssa, Evelyn gave up. She’d apologised and explained. What else could she do?
So, instead of trying to get hold of Alyssa, Evelyn cracked open a bottle of wine. Then another. Not a very good look for a CEO, but so what? Evelyn would go back to work tomorrow, then the next day, and so on until she died a lonely old woman.
Drinking two bottles of wine evidently wasn’t good for her morale.
What would make her feel better? Well, Alyssa talking to her for one. Failing that, she needed to rant. The phone rang. Shockingly, for the first time since he’d left, Richard Crawford answered a bloody call.
“Hey, honey, how are you?”
Anger raged through Evelyn’s body. “Where the hell have you been?” she barked.
“I have been trying to get hold of you for fucking weeks!” Evelyn never swore at her dad.
“How dare you just swan off and leave me in the shit? I have needed you and you just vanished with that trollop. How could you be so selfish?” she screamed.
Silence.
“Evie…I…”
“You what, Dad? What could you possibly say? You left me in charge of the business without consulting me. You left me at the mercy of a board that doesn’t want me there.
You neglected to tell me about a bloody working relationship with a goddamn pet rescue.
You left me to organise the Christmas party. You. Left. Me!”
“I’m sorry, love, I just… I couldn’t be around the business…I needed space.”
“And what about what I needed? You think I want to be here? Alone, with no support? At least you have your floozy. I have no one.”
“She’s not a floozy, Evelyn.”
“Sure, because your vast wealth holds no interest for a woman half your age and who has nothing in common with you. It must be love,” Evelyn scoffed.
“Evelyn, have you been drinking?”
“You bet I fucking have. My life is in the toilet because of you. I never wanted to be CEO, Dad.”
“I didn’t know that lov—”
“Why would you? You never asked. You never talk to me now Mum’s gone.” A sob ripped through Evelyn. “You just forgot about her and then forgot about me.” Tears streamed down her face.
“I could never forget about either of you,” Richard’s voice cracked. “Roslyn is one love of my life and you are the other. Milly knows the score.”
“What does that mean?” she hiccuped.
“Milly will never replace your mother. No one will. I take her on holiday and spend money on her, but that’s it, Evelyn. She’s company for me, nothing more. I could never be with another woman that way. Never.”
Evelyn wiped her nose on her jumper sleeve and then her eyes. All this time, she’d thought that her dad had simply found someone else, someone younger than her mum.
“You’re not together?”
“No, we’re not. Milly has no family. We bonded over our mutual grief.
Neither of us want more than friendship.
I should have told you, Evelyn. I should have done a lot of things for you, but I was—and still am—so lost without your mum by my side, honey.
The thought of being home at this time of year is agony.
But I should have thought of you, too. I could only see my pain.
I didn’t do a good job as your dad. Are things really that bad at the office? ”
“I’m constantly stressed. I know I’ve put myself under a tremendous amount of pressure since you left. I can’t do it anymore, Dad. I’m burning out.”
“Alright, sweetheart. I’ll sort it out. I’m sorry, Evie, truly.”
“I miss Mum. I miss her every day, but it’s worse this time of year. I know that, but Dad, everything is ten times harder when I feel alone. I need you, too.”
“Oh, darling,” he cried. Evelyn’s dad hadn’t cried in front of Evelyn since her mum’s funeral. “I’m coming home.”
A rush of emotion spilled out as Evelyn shattered. The years of hurt and loneliness coupled with Alyssa and Bug’s departure came flowing out. Evelyn listened as her dad laid out his plan to get home. With a ringing in her ears and her heart palpitating, Evelyn disconnected the call.