Chapter Forty
Fallon
We did it. Within an hour of deciding what to do next, Layla and I spoke to the police.
Now, it's in their hands over what happens next.
The worst-case scenario is that he has it on record for any woman who comes along next and wants to know about him.
Best case… he gets prison time, but that might be a stretch.
They are going to help Layla get a restraining order against him, which will help her relax a little bit for now.
“Thank you again. I feel so much lighter, more so than I have in a very long time,” Layla says, standing at my car door. We have just dropped her off at home.
Luke has arranged for a locksmith to come around to her house later for her. Not that John will rock up here after the police threaten him, but it’s a little peace of mind. She looks a lot happier in herself. Her head a little higher, shoulders a little straighter.
“You have my number. It doesn’t matter the time, if you need me, I'm only a phone call away,” I smile. “Now go and get yourself inside, have a long soak in the bath and eat all the ice cream you can find.”
She laughs. “Don’t you worry. That is exactly what I have planned.”
We wait until her front door closes behind her before pulling away from the pavement.
Although last night didn’t end the way we had planned, I do feel relieved.
Relieved that Layla is going to be okay, that some form of justice is going to come from it, and most importantly, that Luke finally knows.
I haven’t had much time alone with him since he found out, but so far I feel as though he has taken it well.
He hasn’t made out like he wants to run away yet anyway.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” Luke says, breaking the silence. I turn to look at him, unsure what he means. “It takes a lot to do what you did this morning, and to speak to me about it. Thank you for trusting me with your past.”
I can feel my cheeks heat. I have never been good at taking personal compliments. A man telling me I am sexy? That I can deal with. Anything else seems to be out of my comfort zone.
“Thank you for listening to me,” I reply.
“It is one of my favourite things to do. Good job really, as you never shut up,” he teases.
“Hey! I’m not that bad,” I roll my eyes.
“You even talk in your sleep, Fal,” he laughs.
I can't control my own giggle. I can’t even deny it. My mum has told me how bad I was for that when I was younger. He is lucky I don’t still sleepwalk and trash the place.
“I wish you didn’t have to work tonight,” I pout.
“I wish I didn’t either. At least I get to spend all of next weekend with you.”
I never imagined this would be my life. It's something I thought was never destined for me. But I am so happy that it is. I just wish that my brain wasn’t always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It just seems too good to be true. Luke is too good to be true.
The days drag by without seeing Luke, even though I speak to him at every opportunity I get.
I made a point of working longer hours this week to keep myself busy, but tonight is girls' night, and I honestly cannot wait.
It's my turn to host, which has given me a reason to speed clean my entire apartment, which led to me also decluttering my wardrobe.
The girls will have a field day when they get here and see the bags of clothes they can rummage through.
The three of them arrive at my place together, not bothering to knock.
“I’ve got the snacks,” Gracie calls, shaking a shopping bag filled with junk food.
“I’ve got the facemasks,” Maya adds.
Blair is the last to enter, cradling her own shopping bag. “And I have the best, most precious cargo. The wine.”
We all giggle as we file onto the couch.
We usually take turns in cooking on these nights, but they know they’ll never get that from me.
The pizza arrived five minutes before they did.
I have set it up on the coffee table in front of us, along with our wine glasses and our designated blankets laid out.
I wonder at what age we will stop doing this? I hope that we never do.
“So, Gracie,” Maya says around a bite of pizza. “I saw that Freddie was in with you today.”
“Oh, erm, yep, he was,” Gracie replies, shovelling food into her mouth so she doesn’t have to say anything more.
“And? Have you said yes to a date yet?” She raises her brow.
“How is it that you have been back in the salon for less than a week and you are already pestering me as much as those two bitches over there?” Gracie groans, making a point to side-eye her sister.
“I know you missed me really,” Maya grins.
It has been amazing having her back. I didn’t realise just how much workload I had taken on without her around.
It did cross my mind to start looking for another stylist to join the team, but I would hate for anything to come between the group that we have.
It wouldn’t have felt right seeing someone else working behind Maya's chair.
“Are you planning to stay up here now?” Gracie asks.
“I know that you already know the answer to that, since I told you we are building a house on the Meadow we love. Stop changing the subject,” she raises her brows at her. “Spill the tea.”
“Urg,” she groans. “I said no.”
“Why?” I ask, seeing the way she worries her bottom lip.
“He is just… a lot. It isn't normal for a man to be built like a brick house, as gorgeous as a model, and as kind as a saint,” she leans further into the couch. “I just don’t feel like we match.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You are gorgeous, smart and kind. Maybe not as gorgeous as me, but you can't have it all,” Blair says as seriously as possible. But it only lasts a second before we're all giggling.
“Nothing like a bit of big-headedness, is there, Blair?” I say.
“Someone has to state the facts,” she flicks her hair over her shoulder.
“I don’t know how you manage to stay standing with a head as big as yours.” Gracie shakes her head, smiling.
“It’s a skill, that’s for sure.”
We finish our food and relax with shitty TV for a while.
Playing a game of snog, marry, kill with all the characters that come on the screen.
It’s nice, sitting here just enjoying each other's company like the good old days. I hate that I'm holding such a big secret from them. These are the people I trust the most, yet I haven’t even told Maya what occurred last weekend. I know she is in a better place now that all her drama is over, but I still don’t want to burden her with anything else. At least for a little while.
She looks so relaxed, slumped over the arm of her chair, a fluffy blanket snuggled around her. I haven’t seen her like this in such a long time. Since well before her ex ever came on the scene. She deserves this peace, and I won't be the one to spoil it.