Forked Roads Back

43 - ARCHIE

I KNOW I SAID I wanted to come back with Millie, but I hadn't known what to expect.

I half expected there to be pitchforks, maybe a lynching, when I got to the airport. Or that I bump into someone from school and then it all got back to Tessa I was back.

What I hadn't expected was for it all to be really... calm.

Millie had said she was supposed to get a lift back from the airport from Tessa, but seeing as Pete had told us about the WEH fleet of cars we could rent, I decided to take the risk to drop her off myself.

Thankfully, our luggage was light, so they fit no problem into the back of the F-Type I'd chosen, but the car ride itself was so silent you probably hear a pin drop.

Neither of us had been properly able to process what had happened a week ago. I had processed most of it, the part I'd wanted to process - the part where we would be helping thousands of people - because that part was easy. It was the owning of a now-billion dollar company part I couldn't get my head around.

I'd always been resigned to the fact Dad didn't want anything to do with me, or want anything from me. I had never expected him to suddenly turn around and give us his company. His pride and joy.

It had all been a bit much at the start, but after a few days, Pete had emailed to say he didn't expect us to do anything before the end of summer, in terms of learning the ins and outs. I knew there would be a lot to get my head around, particularly as I'd be at college as well, but for some reason, I could feel something deep inside of me that wanted to do well... wanted WEH to be successful. If Pete had asked us last year, we would have opted for selling. Now though, we couldn't sell. Last year we wouldn't have cared if it had been carved up and sold to the highest bidder. Now, it was the last thing we wanted to do.

I kept telling myself, and Millie, that it had nothing to do with Dad. That it wasn't what Grandad would have wanted, as it had been him to get it off the ground... but I think a sick part of me still wanted to make Dad proud, even after everything he's done. It was something I hadn't told Millie, because I was ashamed to even thinking it, let alone admit it out loud. Of course, it hadn't stopped my brain from circling around it hundreds of times.

Now though, my mind was solely focussed on my task at hand, and as we get closer and closer to the Granger's house, my stomach starts to twist in all directions. Nerves are making it jump and flip, soon making my hands start to shake.

"Hey." Millie's hand assures me as she puts it on my shoulder. "You're just dropping me off."

"I know." I can barely recognise my own voice it's so shaky. "It's just been two years, Mils."

As I turn the corner onto their road, I find myself driving slower, trying to see how much had changed in those two years.

The bungalow at the bottom has now gone, surrounded by building fence, which means that Mr Goldman, the ancient previous owner had either changed his mind about selling it on, or had passed away. Given he was already ancient when we were teens, it was probably the latter. Some people had paved over their drives, and maybe there was a new neighbour or two, but the place hadn't changed that much.

"You sure you don't want to come in?" Millie asks as I finally come to a stop outside Tessa's house. "It doesn't look like anyone's here."

I shake my head quickly. As much as I wanted to, I knew it wouldn't be a good idea. If Tessa had been there, no doubt Jamie would be as well, that would be a confrontation or conversation neither of us were ready for. It would splinter things further, beyond any kind of repair.

"No, I can't." I'd booked into a small place in Harlow, where it was unlikely that I would run into anyone, and I was happy to just mooch around there by myself. "I'll be okay," I tell her, assuring her I'll be okay by myself. "Plus, I'm hoping you'll come visit though, right?"