Chapter 48
GENIE
Now
Despite the slight awkwardness of when Ed and I first reconnected where he mistakenly called me Evie (I guess I’ll always be Evie to him) and then when he first tried to hold my hand to comfort me when I got upset revealing exactly why I left London, we have thankfully formed an amicable relationship and surprisingly Ed and Gray do get on reasonably well, all things considered.
Cassie and Will were slightly star struck when they first met Ed, but they are now quite used to seeing him at the house when we all catch up for updates in our continued search for Milly.
The children have both been sworn to secrecy about our search for their half-sister, although I’m sure that their best friends Mel and Tommy have been privy to a lot more information than we’d like.
They’re both good kids so we’ll just have to hope for their discretion.
The Mountaineers’ Reunion Tour seems to be a roaring success, and Ed has mentioned that Netflix are currently filming some of their rehearsals and gigs.
He’s suggested that we possibly give a joint interview about our renewed friendship and our search for our daughter in the hope that the media exposure might lead us to our daughter.
I’m hesitant for the moment as I’m just getting used to reuniting with Ed.
Gray also thinks it’s a good idea, but I’m still not convinced.
I’m just not ready to have that amount of media intrusion in our lives right now.
Media wise we have managed to keep our ‘relationship’ a secret.
When Ed comes to see us, Jez drops him off around the corner from the house.
Ed always wears his standard anonymous uniform of jeans, hoodie and a baseball cap and depending on the time of day, a pair of dark sunglasses.
Knowing our somewhat robust neighbourhood watch round here they probably think he’s a potential burglar casing the joint!
I’m still hoping that Ed will bring Jez with him one evening as I’d love to see him again.
I often ask about him and Mark who were all such a part of my early teenage years.
The good news is that Ginny (or Virginia) as she now goes by, and I are back in touch and have plans to meet up for lunch next week.
She’s still so apologetic about her ex stealing her photos and selling them to the tabloids.
With everything that has happened, a few unflattering photos being published is the least of my worries.
I’m so excited to see her again and find out all about her, away from the tabloids.
We were as thick as thieves at one stage.
Being identified by Amira Malik as being #thegirlinthesong seemed at the time to be the worst thing that could ever happen to me, but it’s in fact been almost cathartic.
My husband and children now know the real me and despite everything, they still love me unconditionally.
Seeing Ed again hasn’t been as terrifying as I had first thought.
He’s always had that void in his life as to why I left and the not knowing almost destroyed him.
But he rose above it and although he possibly didn’t go about things completely the right way we have now managed to reunite without any recriminations.
And of course, the search for our daughter continues… ..