Lola thought she was all out of miracles, but life might have some magic for the invisible girl yet...
***
It's been fifteen years since a wayward spell turned Lola Lawrence invisible. She might have learnt to control the magic but life isn't any ea...
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After shutting the door behind me, I walk into the flat. I expect to be hit by a barrage of noise. Maybe from the TV, or Gracie's toys, but the place is ominously silent. Mary is leaning over the counter, flipping through her script. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. Concentrating on her script or just ignoring my existence I'm not sure. She doesn't look up when I walk in. My stomach is knotted uncomfortably tight. I stand there for a moment, but she doesn't budge, doesn't acknowledge that I'm there. I exhale and drop my bag on the counter.
"So... I know we need to talk about what happened but... where's Gracie?"
She doesn't look up and doesn't speak for several seconds.
"In her room, having a nap. She was pretty tired. When we left the hospital, it dawned on her that her mum has known a man she's watched on TV her whole life and just forgot to mention it..."
I bite my lip, knowing this would come, knowing I deserve whatever Mary throws at me.
"I'll speak to her. I meant to at the hospital but Lachlan wanted to talk and then there was a bit of development... Billy, Lach's brother called me Laura. He knows what I do for a living. He might know about Chelsea and..."
Mary snaps upright, her palm slamming on the counter, and I flinch.
"Are you serious? You think you can drag me into your latest crisis before we've talked about what just the hell happened?"
I flinch and then nod, sinking down in the seat before her.
"I'm sorry I never told you. I never meant to keep it a secret all these years. It's just... complicated."
She rolls her eyes.
"It always is with you. He's your ex-boyfriend... clearly. When? I mean... you must have been what... nineteen, twenty when you met my brother?"
"Nineteen. Lachlan and I broke up a few months before."
"Darren never knew?" I lean closer, my elbows on the table, and Mary does the same. A knot forms between her eyebrows as she frowns.
"There was nothing to know. I mean, Darren knew I'd just come out of a relationship. He knew my ex was a boxer.... but Lach didn't win his gold at the Olympics till a few months before Gracie was born. Even then... I mean, he didn't become famous until he went professional. Darren was long gone by then."
Mary nods.
"I think he'd fought his first fight a few weeks after you showed up. I should have told you, I know that. But it didn't matter at first. Nobody knew who he was, but then..." I swallow, imagining all the times we'd sat in front of the television watching him fight. And I never said a word. I feel like a fool now. I think I always did. She stares at me, waiting for more. Knowing there's more. "I loved him. He was... my first love...but he was a lot more to me than that..."
"You're still not over him are you?" I swallow, not wanting to admit it but then finally, I nod.
"Not an easy thing to tell your ex's twin..." I mumble, still feeling foolish.
