Twenty-One Night Stand ✓

24 / let's be honest

 Legs crossed and hair tied up in a loose bun on top of her head, Maddie sat in the middle of the sofa with her elbows on her knees and her eyes closed. Silence surrounded her and she basked in it, her mind at peace at last. It felt like forever since the last time she had truly felt at peace: after the ongoing stress of her degree, she had thrown herself straight into a relationship that she had forced too much to be something it would never be. Now her life was almost back to normal, and she had never appreciated her idea of normal so much.

As she meditated to the sound of the occasional bird, the rumble of an engine and the slam of a car door interrupted her peace, followed by the scrape of a key in the lock and the shuffle of her father's feet on the doormat. He poked his head round the sitting room door, dropping his briefcase in the hall and heeling off his shoes.

"Everything ok?" he asked Maddie, rousing her from her calm.

"Very much," she said, lowering her hands and opening her eyes, giving her father a genuine smile that reflected in his own lips. "How was work?"

"Same old same old," Jung-min said, hanging his jacket on the hook at the foot of the stairs before fully stepping into the sitting room. For him, work was just that. The daily grind; a monotonous repetition of the day, the week, the month before. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Maddie nodded. In eighteen hours, she was due to meet Posy at Farnleigh train station to begin their escape from reality with the train to Brighton. Today had been a home day, during which she had packed and done a rather excessive amount of self-reflection. For a solid three hours, she had blasted a playlist of the current charts while singing along to the ones she vaguely knew, dancing as she folded a handful of outfits into her carry-on bag.

"Excited?" Jung-min asked, digging two fingers into the knot of his tie to loosen the corporate noose.

"I can't wait," Maddie said, unfolding herself to stand. "It's been weird not seeing Posy every day. It'll be nice to have some us time."

Her father nodded. "And, at risk of putting my foot in my mouth, how is the whole Peter situation?" He winced in anticipation of Maddie's answer, already regretting the question.

"Resolved," she said. Her father had been so late back from work last night that they hadn't had the time to catch up. Nothing was hidden from him: over the years, he had become a somewhat awkward but reliable confidant, fulfilling more roles than he ever should have had to.

"In a good way?" he asked, and Maddie nodded. "I'm glad, ttal. I hate to see you so distressed."

She snorted laugh. "I hate to be distressed. But it's all good now. Turns out we make more sense as friends." She pressed her lips together and reminded herself to relax her shoulders, letting them drop as she remembered that there was nothing to stress out about now.

"As long as you're happy," Jung-min said. "You know the rule."

Her father had many rules, none serious, and she always knew exactly which one he was referencing any time he said that. This rule went along the lines of him being happy as long as she was, and that she should never do anything that makes her unhappy. Of course, as an insolent teenager she had thrown that back in his face any time he had reminded her to do her homework.

"And you?" she asked. "Are you happy?"

"Of course," he said, with a smile for good measure as though she would be unconvinced without it. Maddie had never been too sure of how happy her father really was, especially since she had been at university. With no wife or girlfriend and a job at which he merely existed, she worried for him.