The Retribution Chronicles

M i r i a m | t w e n t y - e i g h t

Miriam was certain of two things. First, she needed to speak to Ade if she had any hope in hell of winning Wes back. And second, doing so would perhaps be the hardest thing she'd ever done, for if Ade was anything, it seemed that he was adamant on ignoring her. Bar from showing up at his house and banging down the door, Miriam wasn't sure how she'd get him to hear her out. Kojo had been so easy, accepting her explanation with a quick shake of the head and shrug, but just as Ade had been the hardest to make fall, it seemed he'd also be the hardest to make forgive.

The first thing Miriam did when she woke up was call him. It had been two days of this, sitting cross-legged, listening to an automated voice and inane beep. With the call out of the way, she slipped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. With Wes gone, Abi had stayed, spending her nights curled against Miriam's side and her days distracting her as best she could.

"I was thinking we should go to yoga or something," she said while Miriam turned on the kettle.

"Yoga was yesterday," Miriam said, dumping two heaped teaspoons of coffee into an olive mug.

"Well, the gym then. You can finally show me your crazy walking workout."

Miriam raised a brow. She'd been trying to get Abi into the gym for months now, each offer rebuffed with more disgust than the last. Who knew all it would take was Miriam's world imploding for her to agree. "We'll take it easy," she promised.

"You better," Abi said. "Daniel and I have plans tomorrow night."

"Plans?" Miriam wiggled her brows. Although Abi denied it, Miriam knew that her involvement in Miriam's revenge plot threw some sort of spanner in her and Daniel's relationship, if only for a moment. But it was a moment too long; a moment Miriam didn't want on her conscience. But this, these plans, well they were good news. News Miriam so desperately needed.

Somehow, despite never using Eastford's state of the art gym, Abi timed their arrival to sit perfectly between the usual mid-morning and lunch time rush. They shoved their things into one locker then headed out onto the gym floor. "So?" Abi clapped her hands once they reached the row of treadmills in the centre of the room. "This is going to give me Kim Kardashian's arse, right?"

Laughing, Miriam shook her head. "Nothing's going to give you Kim Kardashian's arse."

Abi pushed her bottom lip out into a pout while climbing onto the treadmill to the right of Miriam's. "Do I press this button?" she asked.

Miriam glanced over and rolled her eyes while Abi's finger hovered over the large, red, emergency stop. "Obviously not," she said, leaning over to press start. Abi squealed, causing Miriam to laugh harder, but started walking in time with the conveyer belt nonetheless.

Halfway through, sweat pouring down both their bodies, Abi began fanning her face. "Why do you like this?" she groaned. "It's fucking torture."

Miriam shrugged. "I guess it's my time to not think. Just let go and focus on my burning thighs."

"Burning is one way to put it," Abi panted.

"Trust me." Miriam upped the incline on her machine. "It's worth it."

When she eventually stopped and stepped off, she felt herself fill with a rush of joy. A dizzying mix of relief and accomplishment sprinkled with enough dopamine that the realities of the past few days faded into the background while her mind quietened and clung to the euphoric feeling currently zipping through it.

"Is that Ryan?" Abi's voice sliced through the peace, allowing reality to leak in through the ever-expanding cracks. She was pointing across the gym at a person who was unquestionably Ryan. A Ryan who wore oversized beats and lifted heavy, mean mugging in the mirror.