OLIVIA IS SITTING on the balcony, with her arms wrapped around her knees, looking into the void, probably gathering her thoughts and trying to make some sense of all those things I told her.
"Liv?" I call her softly and she tilts her head to the side, startled. Her eyes are red, her face flushed and swollen.
I grab a blanket from the sofa and go outside too, to sit next to her. "Here, wrap this around your shoulders. It's freezing."
"I couldn't sleep. I was suffocating inside..." A sob escapes her throat.
Neither of us says a word for quite a while, there's only this strained silence filling the space between us as we keep looking at the heavy rain falling down.
"I apologise for being a jerk. For spilling my guts like that." I rest my hand on top of hers and squeeze it gently.
She interlaces her fingers with mine. "I'd left my phone in the doctors' lounge. On charge. That's why I didn't see any of your calls until later in the night. And your texts, for that matter."
"All right."
"It wasn't your father who talked me into coming home. Sure, I wasn't happy about the whole thing – would you be? – but I was already getting ready to come and give you a good morning kiss when he called me. For some reason, I thought you'd be there. Or I hoped you would. And I'm so sorry too, if I disappointed you and even made you question if we wouldn't be better off apart and–"
"I didn't mean any of that, Liv." I pull her close to me and hold her. "That was the hurt talking. You know that, don't you?"
"What about those texts, the things you wrote last night? Did you mean any of that?"
What texts?
"I've no idea what you're talking about, I'm afraid last night got a bit blurry."
She takes her hand back gently, in her eyes a sad expression.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I hold her head in my hands and let the pad of my thumb brush her lip. There's disappointment written all over her face.
"You really don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"
"I'm sorry, but the last thing I recall, I was... Come inside with me, I want to show you something."
I hold her hand and take her to the nursery room.
"Let me introduce you to Bernie, the coolest elephant I've ever met. The poor fella put up with me the whole night and never complained!"
Running her hand along one of the white wooden cribs we picked last week, Olivia looks around with a tiny glint of happiness in her eyes. Then she studies the details on the large painting.
"Ah, look at the twigs and the rope! You've done an amazing job! And Bernie really looks adorable. Thank you."
I return the compliment with a brief thanks while I'm checking if I have my phone with me, in my jacket. It's not. In fact, I have no idea where it is.
After a bit, Olivia pulls her own phone out of the jeans pocket and swipes the screen before handing it to me.
"Well, it's not one of those grand proclamations of undying love or anything, I know, and..."
Brian | Monday, December 14 | 00:22 > U r the best thing in my life
Brian| Monday, December 14 | 00:33 > Miss u so much.
Brian | Monday, December 14 | 00:42 > Come back home and marry me goddammit
Oh shit.
YOU ARE READING
Where the Stars Fall
RomanceHow far would you go to protect the ones you love? A successful architect with a promising career in London, Brian's world spins out of control when the man he always saw as a second father betrays him in the most unexpected way. Left without closur...
