Globetrotter Ingrid gets a fabulous fresh start when her job takes her to Melbourne, Australia. Here she meets wise and sweet Oliver, who makes her forget she doesn't have a heart.
This successful stability prompts Ingrid to accept an invitation to...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
July 2006
Ever since getting a room at her high-school's dorm, Ingrid had little to no reason to return home. She would have stayed there even during the summer break, if not for the unbearable city heat. Come July, she headed out to the countryside with the Ionescus, who were kind enough to put her up at their house.
The rose bushes of the Ionescu garden were in full bloom, and some yellow sunflower heads dotted the greenery, but Ingrid hauled an old blanket across the road, spreading it on the grass under the shade of her grandma's lilac shrub.
Lilacs were some of Ingrid's favourite flowers, and she used to love playing in the grass under the shrub's cover when she was a kid. Lassie also used to be chained nearby. Just like her, the dog had suffered abuse from her grandfather, and so they both hated the man. Lassie kept her safe.
The dog had passed away after she'd left for high school. He was old and ill and neglected in her absence. In the two years since, the weeds and wildflowers had begun to reclaim the land where Lassie had dwelled, and without Granny Lena's tireless trimming, the overgrown grass carpeted the entirety of their yard.
Ingrid didn't mind. It made for a soft bed as she stretched beneath the arch of the lilac, its branches heavy with dense foliage and blossoms withered into seeds. Leaves rustled with the breeze, birds chirped, and insects buzzed... Ingrid only kept her eyes open because the sky was too brilliantly blue to look away from.
"Hey. Care if I join you?"
She smiled up at Filip and scuttled sideways to make room for him on the blanket. He lay down on his side, head propped on his palm. He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, then blew a raspberry on her neck. She giggled at his chest.
"The countryside ain't so bad, huh?" he murmured.
"No..." She rested her hands on his heart. "Not too bad."
His finger brushing the hair from her forehead moved under her chin, to tilt it into a kiss. It then settled on her hip for a minute, before sliding under the summer dress Ingrid had donned when leaving the city.
"Filip..."
"What?"
She gulped, unable to voice her thoughts even as his hand advanced. He kissed her again, his fingers between her legs now. Splinters from a forgotten life whizzed through her brain. She gasped into the kiss, but Filip misunderstood it and pushed harder.
Why couldn't she tell him to stop? Did she even want him to stop?
Filip secured one of her knees down on the blanket, her leg folded at a right angle. Her other knee he pushed upright and she had to roll on her back to be able to keep it there. He climbed over her, kissing her neck, and hooked his finger into her underwear.
Ingrid watched the lilac seeds sway on the wind. Up and down, up and down... Clouds floated high above it, but from where she lay, it all seemed stitched together onto one big canvas. Filip raised his head to meet her eyes. Something swirled in them that Ingrid didn't know what to make of.
