Escape Across the Pond

Chapter 3

Dear Dad,

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you feel you just belong? Like there's nowhere else in the world you would rather be? Like opening your eyes after a long sleep and finding yourself home for the very first time in a long time? Yeah, me neither.

London is just as hectic and crazy as New York but with less attitude. I think I like it.

I catch myself staring out of the window of my taxi as we make our way to Grandmama Jennette's. I turned off and threw away my phone in the dumpster in the alley behind the bakery after texting Kate that I was leaving for the airport. So the first thing I did after getting off the plane was bought a prepaid phone to call Grandmama Jennette and Kate to let them both know I'd safely landed.

Grandmama was thrilled and cannot wait for the company. Kate, however, sounded a little more panicked on my behalf. "Hey! I'm so happy to hear you made it!" She exhales over the phone.

"Yeah, me too. I freaked out once in the airport thinking that he found me already." I say as I rest my head against the headrest of the taxi and close my eyes.

"Well," she whispers "I have not heard anything, but it's still early yet. I'm sure things will kick off later, but nobody knows how much we've actually been in contact over these last weeks. Hopefully, I'm convincing enough that he suspects you ran away without telling anyone, including me."

I can only pray she's right. I have no other friends than Kate. I was always such a homebody and enjoyed being in my kitchen trying to bake new things. I was always trying to make different pastries and desserts. I didn't go to college and make friends like most other people. And Elizabeth had my father pull me out of high school when they got married. Instead, she had the bright idea that I attend the private academy with Blair. I did not fit in there, and Blair made sure of that. She was only one year younger than me, but she was vicious. For example, there were times she would "accidentally" spill things on me in front of everyone in the cafeteria. Oh, and another time she and her friends threw gum into my hair during an assembly. That was a lot of fun. She was the epitome of a mean girl. The OG Regina George, if you will and she still has not grown out of it.

While Kate was helping with my dad during his final days, she saw firsthand what things were really like for me with my "family". How Elizabeth and Blair both would demand things of me when they finally came around at the end. How they would cut me down and make me feel less than when all the while I felt I, myself, was dying in that bed with my dad.

Kate couldn't stand for it and she didn't. Many times she would cut them off before they could belittle me. Or there were other times she would ask that they leave the room for one reason or another. But she could never be blunt and speak her mind for fear of getting fired and leaving me behind to struggle with the passing of my dad while being beaten down by two hateful shrews. So instead, during the many hours we spent alone with my dad, Kate tried building me up and was just an all-around genuinely nice person to me when I needed it the most. We connected on a level of friendship I had never experienced with another person, like a soulmate but a friend. She was there for me when I needed someone, and I would not have survived that time of my life without her. She never gave up on me just as she hasn't now. I can't imagine my life without Kate. Which was the first thing I ever put my foot down about to him. I would not lose Kate, but he certainly tried to end our friendship.

"Hello? Cora? Are you still there?" I hear Kate's voice over the line and it pulls me from my thoughts.

"Yes, I am but Kate, please tell me that if you even suspect for a second that he believes you know something, run. Please, promise me you will not try to stand up to him. Just jump on a plane and go!" I yell the last part as my heart starts to race. The cabby looks back at me like I've lost my mind.