38 #4
“Yes, yes you told me, Jez.” The tears that Dani had kept at bay finally dripped down her cheeks.
He was beginning to sound drowsy, the effect of the painkillers finally kicking in.
Jez continued to talk randomly, becoming more disorientated, repeating the same words and phrases over and over as Dani drove home.
Telling her he missed her and that their home was empty without her.
He babbled on and Dani listened to the words that cut through her heart, every syllable a twisting knife in her chest. She’d never wanted to hear his words of apology because she knew what they would do to her, how they’d make her feel.
How much of what he said was true and how much of it was drug induced she didn’t know. Regardless, they affected her deeply.
Dani pulled into the driveway of Chloe and Adam’s house and cut the engine.
“You must get some sleep, Jez.”
“Sleep yes,” he slurred.
“Jez? You need to hang up now.” why was he hanging on?
“Don’t go. I need you… love you… so sorry.”
Dani clenched her eyes shut, the pain of listening to words she didn’t want to hear, too much.
“Jez? Jez?”
“Dani?”
“I’m here, just hang up. Go to sleep. I’ll call you tomorrow okay?”
“Sleep… tomorrow.” Then the line went dead.
Dani disconnected her phone from the car and buried her face in her hands, allowing herself to sob freely after holding back for the entire journey home. The tension of the phone call and her tiredness swept over her like a wave.
Her sobbing was interrupted by her phone vibrating and Dani’s heart sank.
Looking at the screen she saw it was a message from Rosa wondering where she was.
Dani quickly wiped her eyes and typed back that she was very tired and had come home but she’d see them all at Kuch’s party.
Rosa’s reply was almost immediate telling her she’d call her and make arrangements for tomorrow evening.
Dani sent back a thumbs up emoticon, then turned off her phone and headed into the house.
Exhausted and emotional Dani entered her room praying sleep would numb the torrent of emotions she was feeling.
For the first time since she’d started at La Casa she was glad she had tomorrow off.
JEROME PINCHED THE brIDGE of his nose trying to keep calm, he’d just strapped Kara and Alessandro into the back of his car.
Liz was acting erratic again and though she’d promised she wasn’t taking the slimming pills, he just knew she was lying.
Short of searching through her things, there wasn’t any way he could prove it.
In an attempt to calm down and to give himself some much needed space, he decided to take his children out for a few hours, leaving Liz at home to calm down after his inquisition.
The last thing he wanted was for his children to hear them arguing.
What worried him more was that after three days of peace, he was now edgy and irritated and back to walking on eggshells in an attempt to keep Liz happy. The thought depressed him.
By early evening, once Jerome had returned home, Liz seemed to be less anxious. She blamed the stress of waiting for word from I-Gea as the cause of her mood and being away from home. An hour long Pilates workout and a twenty-minute run on the treadmill had helped.
Jerome wasn’t entirely convinced but he had to admit she looked calmer and her hands and legs weren’t twitching. Thankfully Nina was back, so the children were going to spend their time with her in the playroom.
Jerome looked at his watch, it was almost seven and Liz hadn’t made a move to go and change for Kuch’s party. He headed to her room and pushed open the door.
“We need to leave in half an hour.” He found her laid out on her bed watching TV.
“I’m not coming,” she said.
“Why not? You never come to these kinds of things.” He was trying to sound cool but he was tired of going to events without her. He’d always supported and accompanied her, whenever she had to go to work related functions, however dull they were for him.
“I’m tired and I’m really not good company. You know it’s not my thing.” She sat up and hugged her knees. She hated going to events where she had to mingle with Jerome’s staff. She had nothing in common with them.
“Haven’t you been sleeping?”
Liz shook her head.
“You hardly ate anything today. I’ll make you something.”
Liz glared at him not wanting to start on the same old argument.
“Something light. I’ve some chicken soup,” he suggested.
“Okay. I’ll have some soup.”
“Some salad? With avocado?”
“Fine.”
“Good. I’ll bring it up. Are you sure you don’t want to come? It’ll take your mind off everything,” Jerome coaxed.
“No, I really just want to have a bath and try and get some sleep.”
Jerome sighed deeply, “You want me to stay?”
Liz narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of what he actually meant.
“I’ll stay if you like,” he shrugged.
Something in Liz’s demeanour and a small spark in her eyes made Jerome realise she’d misunderstood his comment and had read more into it.
“I mean, I’ll stay and help out, with the kids. Make sure you get some rest,” he clarified, the last thing he wanted was to send her mixed messages.
“Oh. I see.” Liz’s eyes frosted over at the obvious brush off. “No, I’ll be fine. Nina’s here and once I’ve eaten and had my bath I’m sure I’ll sleep well.” She pursed her lips together and looked back at the TV.
“Okay, then.” Jerome turned and exited her room, then made his way to the kitchen to quickly prepare her paltry dinner. His stomach was in knots again, the last few days of calm seemingly disappeared, leaving him feeling wretched.