Chapter 28
Fia
I had no memory of the flight or the drive back home. I slept in Everly’s bed, letting her hold me, shush me to sleep, and moisturise around my eyes because “the last thing you want is dry skin.”
A noise that would have once sounded like laughter came out of my mouth, but it was raspy and broken.
Everly held me tighter.
On the fifth day, while she was out, I left her room for the first time, refusing to face the matted mess of my hair in her en-suite.
My muscles were stiff from staying horizontal for so long. My stomach muscles hurt from all the crying.
Stairs were a chore.
I needed a coffee and a massage.
The second I got to Nana’s after the French track, I put my phone facedown and didn’t pick it up again.
Finally back home, my only entertainment was Netflix, which Everly put on in her room.
We watched our favourite comedies on repeat.
Phone hidden, warm under the duvet, only taking breaks for naps, I’d got through the first three seasons of New Girl easily.
Tears dried into the pillowcase.
Tissues covered the floor.
I’d picked up a smutty fantasy, but when they mentioned the male character’s huge cock and burly bad-boy energy, I realised I was crying onto the page.
So, I’d switched to thrillers. Murder. Mystery.
But then I wanted all the characters to lock themselves up like I had, safe and untouchable.
And it was making me worse.
In the kitchen, I poured myself an iced coffee and admired the flowers on the kitchen side, rolling the soft petals between my fingers as I heard Dad shouting on the phone.
“And my word should be enough!” he roared. “I have told you enough times, she is my daughter, and I know exactly what she is and is not capable of.”
The lavender smelled fresh, just like the summer in Zoltán’s garden by the lake.
And our parents’ wedding.
Fear started to bloom in my stomach.
“No, no, she’s not his daughter. He didn’t raise her. She wouldn’t do this for him. She has integrity. Loyalty.” A pause. “She’s a fucking Bacque!”
Twirling the vase round and round, I found the card. It would be from Luca to Ever. It had to be. They were so loving in private. In public, they were good at keeping their hands off each other, which I would need them to do for the rest of my life.
The envelope was unopened, my name scrawled on it: ‘Fia.’
And I swiped them away, out of my sight, until glass shattered and flowers flew across the floor, water splatting my leg.
“Fuck sake,” Dad cried, but when he came to the kitchen door, he hung up the phone and crunched the glass beneath his slippers to hug me. I sobbed, unable to look away from the broken pieces on the ground.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” he soothed.
“I don’t want him— I don’t want anything to do with him—I can’t—”
“They were from Jordan,” he said. “He came by yesterday after his shift to see how you were. If he had sent anything here, it wouldn’t be here for long.”
My breaths calmed, but Dad held me tight and guided me to the living room to sit on the sofa. He fetched my drink and sat beside me, stroking my shoulder as I stared at the faint red marks on my arms. They itched.
“How do you feel about getting out of the house for a bit?” he asked. “We could get a real coffee, or go for lunch. Or we could go out on our bikes?”
The scoff didn’t sound like disgust. More horror.
I would never ride a motorbike again.
Because all I could picture was Zolt on that dirt track, grinning.
“Okay. We could go back to Nana’s for a bit. Portugal. Wherever in the world you want to go—”
“No. Here.” My voice was dry. Crisp. “I don’t want to run.”
“A holiday is not running.”
I raised my brows.
“Okay. Right. No running.” He paused, gearing himself up to speak, sighed, then did. “Well, I spoke to your university.”
I sat upright.
“The placement at the hospital will have you back. It would mean restarting the placement, and you’d have to work over the holidays and into next academic year, most likely, but… The offer is there.”
I nodded, clasping my hands around his. “Yes. Yes, I’d like that.”
Something I could fix. Something normal, away from the cameras. Maybe I could rebuild what had been wrecked.
“It’s not StormSprint, but—”
“I couldn’t go back. Not with—not before—”
“They’ll clear your name, Fia,” Dad said softly, kissing my hair. “You didn’t do this.”
Mum stood at the doorway and smiled weakly at me. “How’s my girl?”
I shrugged, and then my lip was wobbling again. She sat at my feet and placed her hands on my knees. “You are more than welcome to go back to bed. I can bring you up some lunch?”
I nodded. “Can I… can I have my phone back, please?”
They shared a look, and Mum nodded before leaving and coming back momentarily. “Before I give you this… I can put blocks on certain words, if you would like.”
“Like my name?” I laughed, but it came out strained.
“Yes, like your name. And his.”
My heart rate picked up, but I shook my head. “I need to know, Mum.”
And I scrolled through to find headline after headline of the downfall of a man I’d once loved.