Without You

Chapter 2

"There once was an answer out there I swear

Tied to a bottle I swear, I swear

And you can ask Madonna if she cares, she cares

But she's hooked on the bottle

I swear, I swear..."

"Mama the door, the door!" Amelie shouted excitedly. I reluctantly unplugged my earplugs and followed my daughter downstairs so that I could answer the door.

"Chloe, Tiff, Lola, Leo, Penelope, come on in," I exclaimed ushering them into the house. Chloe and Tiff were my sisters and the others were their kids. Lola and Leo were Chloe's kids and Penelope was Tiffs. 

When Mum and Dad disowned me, my sisters stuck by my side through everything and I can't thank them enough.

Amelie ran around with her cousins as they all played together. I sat down next to Tiff. "You've lost a lot of weight Josie, how come?" She asked looking genuinely concerned.

"Have I?" I asked surprised. Whenever I looked in the mirror, I could only see fat. She was probably trying to help me, but I didn't need it. There was no need for her to be worried about me.

"Mummy, mummy!" Penelope called her mother looking annoyed. Tiff looked at her and sighed.

"Yes darling?" She said watching as her four year old daughter tried to snatch a toy out of Amelie's hands.

"She won't give me the toy." Tiff picked up Penelope and gave her a kiss on her pouted lips.

"Go play with something else then baby, come on I'll play with you." Tiff got up and began playing princesses with her daughter. They were so cute.

I watched for a while as Chloe and Tiff played with the four children and Lola lay sprawled on my sofa. She's now thirteen and I couldn't believe how much she had grown. I still remembered when she was a baby. I smiled to myself and got up. I went and began getting things out so that I could cook some food.

I made my famous homemade lasagne with garlic bread. It looked delicious, but I wouldn't be eating any of it. If I ate it then I would feel like a failure, after all my hard work, I couldn't give up hope. Hope that some day I would be thin and all of my dreams would come true.

"Guys it's time to eat," I called as I put the last of the food on the table. Tiff, Chloe and Lola walked into the room and sat down quietly. They looked worn out after playing with the kids. "Where are the others?" I asked slightly confused, they were playing not so long ago.

"Asleep," Chloe said putting some lasagne onto her plate and grabbing some of my homemade garlic bread.

"So Lola, how's school?" I asked trying to start a conversation with her.

"Boring," she said looking down at her food. She looked as though something was wrong, so I thought I'd ask her about it later.

"Josie why aren't you eating?" Chloe asked looking at me.

"I'm not hungry, I ate before you guys came." Chloe nodded and carried on eating. I hated lying to my sisters, but they would make me eat if I told them the truth and I didn't want that.

Afrer they had eaten, I cleared the plates up and asked if Tiff and  Chloe could go in the other room while I talked to Lola.

"What's wrong Lola, you're not acting like yourself?" I asked. She sighed, just shaking her head. "Please tell me Lola, I want to help you," I said.

"I broke up with my boyfriend," she said bursting into tears. I pulled her in for a hug and tried to reassure her that everything was going to be ok.

"Thanks Aunt Josie I needed to get that off my chest," she said once she had calmed down.

"Don't worry, you're beautiful, you'll find someone better soon," I said smiling at her. She nodded giving me a smile as we both went into the living room. 

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