Chapter 25
Milly left that afternoon. She managed to book a ticket on a flight leaving that evening and headed to the airport immediately not wanting to be in the house when Theo returned.
As she sat in the airport, waiting to head through security, she hoped Theo might charge in, like something from a movie scene.
He’d rush through the crowd, spot her and fall to his knees, begging her to forgive him and come back to the café.
And she would. Even though she hated showy gestures.
Unlike Tom, she knew that she and Theo were meant to be together.
That they had a solid, wonderful future ahead of them if he’d just be brave enough to take the leap.
Something deep and heavy was holding him back.
Some emotional baggage he’d been dragging around and hadn’t yet dealt with.
She pulled up the old Instagram account and looked at the woman in the picture.
Whoever she was, Milly suspected she had a lot to answer for.
When she couldn’t put it off any longer, Milly forced herself out of her seat and through security, knowing that now, there was no way Theo would be able to find her even if he wanted to.
All through the queues and boarding, she stared at her phone, wishing it would ring, but it remained horribly silent.
By the time she landed in a dark and dreary England, tired and emotionally wrung out, where summer had most definitely ended, she wasn’t sure she could face the trek from London to Milton Keynes, then the reality of her flat and her old life.
She’d turned her phone on as soon as they’d landed, but despite her hopes rising, Theo hadn’t called, texted or made any contact whatsoever.
When she finally made it home, there were no more tears left for Milly to cry.
Instead, she left her suitcase by the door, walked into her bedroom, kicked off her shoes and crawled under the covers, hugging them tightly around her.
She closed her eyes, not expecting sleep to come as thoughts of Theo – his face, his body, the words he’d said – all flittered through her mind, but somehow oblivion engulfed her.
Noise seeped into Milly’s tired, addled brain. She had no idea what time it was and for a moment, wasn’t quite sure where she was, when the dim light sliding through the curtains reminded her she wasn’t in Copenhagen anymore, she was in England. Alone.
Sleepily, she rolled over, grabbing her phone.
It was Ada. Milly wasn’t sure she could cope with all this right now.
Her emotions were raw, her heart ripped open.
She loved her best friend, but she couldn’t deal with speaking to anyone.
She just wanted to pull the duvet over her head and cry, but what if something was wrong with Ada?
What if something had gone wrong in the Arctic?
What if one of the foxes had bitten her!
‘Hey,’ Milly said, rubbing her eyes. They were blurry and out of focus. Not to mention puffy and red from all the crying.
‘Hey you, what’s—’ Ada stopped dead. ‘Where are you? That isn’t my bed.’ She gasped. ‘Are you in Theo’s? Oh my God, I’m hanging up!’
‘No! No!’ Milly sat up, suddenly more awake and very aware of the horrible coldness in her heart.
She fumbled around the duvet, trying to locate her glasses where she’d just taken them off the night before and thrown them to one side.
She knew Ada would have to find out sooner or later.
The last thing she wanted was another surprise visit home for her to discover Milly gone and Theo alone at the café.
She’d be so cross Milly hadn’t told her what had happened.
‘No. I’m not in Theo’s bed. I’m not … I’m not in yours either. I’m not even in Copenhagen anymore.’
‘Why not? What’s happened? Is someone ill?’
‘No. No.’ She pulled her knees up and balanced the phone against them, then pushed her hands into the heels of her eyes. She’d hoped to push back the tears, but they kept coming. Milly wiped them and grabbed her glasses so she could see her friend better.
Ada’s face was contorted with concern. ‘Milly, what’s going on?’
She sucked in a breath. ‘Theo and I – it’s over. It’s all over.’ She collapsed into tears once more, and Ada hushed and soothed her.
When Milly finally lifted her head, pulling her hands away from her face, Ada said: ‘What happened?’
She outlined everything. Nikoletta’s comments that seemed to have wedged themselves between them, Tom turning up and then finally, Theo’s hurtful words that her job there was done, and she might as well go home. Ada’s eyes widened with each passing minute.
‘You do realise this is all because he’s scared that he’s in love with you.’
Milly barked out a laugh. ‘He’s got a funny way of showing it.’
‘I’m sure this is something to do with the café and the investor who pulled out and him moving into the canal house, which is when I met him. He’s clearly just trying to push you away to protect himself and what did he say about Tom?’
‘He said Tom was better for me than he was. Which we both know is absolute rubbish.’
‘Theo’s an idiot. Honestly, this is the most childish, unadult thing I’ve ever heard. I’m going to speak to him.’
‘No!’ Milly almost knocked her phone over she moved so quickly.
‘Please don’t do that, Ada. I get what you’re saying, and I thought something similar myself.
I think it’s got something to do with the woman from the café’s original Instagram account, but having a go at Theo isn’t going to do any good.
The fact of the matter is, he hasn’t messaged me, called me, done anything and he’ll know by now I’ve left.
He clearly doesn’t want me and thinks our time is over. There’s nothing I can do about that.’
Another sob strangled her throat, and she reached for the glass of water by her bedside. Her head was pounding already, and she knew that as soon as Ada was off the phone she’d be going back to sleep, or at least attempting to. Anything to forget what a mess her current reality was.
‘But you love him, don’t you?’ Ada said, pleading. ‘And I know he loves you. Maybe he’ll tell me why Nikoletta’s article scared him so much.’
‘Please, Ada. Just leave this one alone. I loved my time in Copenhagen, and I’m so pleased you encouraged me to go, but it’s over now and I just have to deal with that.’
‘But—’
‘No, Ada, I mean it.’ Her friend had never heard her speak so firmly but Milly couldn’t let her contact Theo. She pushed a hand into her tangled hair. ‘Just … let me get over this. I will eventually. I got over Tom, didn’t I?’
They both knew that this was nothing like what had happened with Tom. Her feelings for Theo had been so different. Deeper, stronger, and she’d thought more formidable. But clearly not. And no amount of pushing from Ada would change that. In fact, it would probably only make Theo retreat even more.
The fact was, he was lost to her. He’d decided she wasn’t worth risking his heart for and if she couldn’t convince him otherwise, no one could.