How To Stop Smoking

Comfort Nutella

Chapter Sixteen

Olympia

I checked my phone, a week earlier I would have had a text from Rob informing me of a new TV show I should watch or some ridiculous idea that I have to persuade him not to try out. But today there is nothing.

For the past few days Rob and I have spent less and less time together, it seemed to be a conscious effort on his part to keep his distance. I tried hard not to be offended, Rob passed it off as needing to spend time doing work, or with his friends. On the other hand, I'd feel guilty if he abandoned his friends to spend time with me.

It was a constant battle to not let myself be fooled into believing that what me and Rob have is real; I tell myself not to get carried away, it's for a few more months and then it's over. Soon after that he'll be off to university and I'll still be at school, trying to forget the days I spent with the bad boy smoker I turned around.

Sounds like a bad novel.

Getting fed up of staring at my phone till I get a notification, any at all. With a sigh of boredom I put my phone down and headed downstairs in search of comfort Nutella. When I entered the kitchen I instantly regretted it, Valentina sat at the table scrolling on her laptop, face etched into a pout.

I tried to back-track silently, but fail as I possess all the elegance of a baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time.  Valentina spots me before my foot has even made contact with the ground.

"Oh, Olympia, I didn't expect to see you here"

I raise an eyebrow and step into the room like I wasn't just trying to high-tail it out, "I live here, which is more than I can say for you."

She barely looks away from her screen as she talks, I question how she even noticed me. "I'm picking up mum, we're off to look at flower arrangements."

"Lame." I mutter and Valentina shoots me a glare.

"Why are you here anyway? Where's your little boyfriend?"

I rolled my eyes as I scanned the contents of the fridge, "He's busy."

Valentina snorted, "Is that code for bored? Wouldn't be the first time one of your boyfriends got bored would it."

I let the fridge door slam shut as I turn to face her, still typing away on her computer, completely indifferent to the harsh words she'd just spoken.  The words that had cut me like nothing else could.

"What?" I demanded, Valentina looked up with a smirk on her bright red lips.

"I hate to say I told you so Ol, but Rob's bored. Boys like him can do better, get better, than you. It's no wonder really that he's bored, what have you got to offer that he can't get somewhere else?"

I gulped down the tears that threatened, I refused to cry in front of her. Valentina has always been bitter, people put it down to not being the oldest or the youngest, the highest achieving, the prettiest. Though it's not as if life dealt her a tough card at all, she was stunning and now she's marrying one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Though I can't help but wonder if it's more the size of his bank account than his heart that enticed her.

It would have been better if she'd stopped there, but in typical Valentina fashion she kept on going, "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to make up for it now, surprise you with dates and stuff to keep you on side. It's what they do, Ol. But, I'll always be here for you."

She smiled sweetly at me and I felt like throwing up, I swiftly left the kitchen and ran back to my room. Grabbing a jacket and my phone, I went back downstairs and out the door, slamming it for emphasis.