The Stand In

Chapter 36

There's no way...

There's simply no way!

I've argued with myself all the way back to Zak's house, not believing Sophie for a second. Mia is a close friend, a sister, a- there's no way!

Pulling onto his drive, I grab my things and head in, giving Gracie a scruff as she totters up and says hello before shooting into the garden.

Sophie's revelation has made me question every action, word and gesture from Mia. From being kind and caring, to always being the one there when I needed anything, especially after a seizure.

We were friends. Best of friends.

Mia has always been overprotective when it came to men, but I always put that down to Cole. Women would ride and die with their girls if a man broke their heart. Cole broke my soul, made me feel feeble and worthless. But Mia pulled me back to the present, to the here and now. Shook me into reality and supported me when the seizures turned nasty. Came to my yearly reviews with a list of questions, wanting answers when I was wracked with worry.

Mia always hyped me up, commented on how beautiful I looked when I made the effort and always supported my decisions, until Zak.

If we ever went partying she would always hang off me, hold my hand and keep me close but it's Vegas, there are unsavoury characters in this city of sin.

All women accompanied each other to the toilet, shared taxi cabs, protected each other's drinks and scared off men who thought you were there for their entertainment only.

How could I not notice? I would have noticed! I couldn't see what everyone else was seeing and it was frustrating me endlessly.

And Zak knew and never told me?!

That was another piece to the puzzle I couldn't work out! Why wouldn't he tell me? He knew and kept that to himself, for what purpose? To use against me in some weird way? To throw at me in an argument? Maybe he thought I would change my mind about being with him and go with Mia instead?

Or... Maybe he was respecting her feelings and not telling me because it wasn't his secret to tell?

Only showing what a decent guy he really is...

"Surgery?"

Zak's voice makes me jump a freakin' mile, I spin looking away from Gracie in the garden to find him looking at the leaflets the doctor has given me. I've kindly dumped them on the coffee table...

"El, what's all this?" He asks lifting them up.

"Nothing."

"They clearly are... Are you considering this for your epilepsy?"

"What if I was?"

He scans over the leaflet before shrugging "Want to go through it all? We can look it all up online together, see the benefits?"

Even now he is being the nice guy, when I've came off a bitch. This morning I barely gave him the time of day, and now he is here, offering his time to talk about a surgery I hope not to have.