He stopped pacing and looked at her.
‘You don’t know my parents. My dad would have wantedjustice. My mom, even with her quirks, would have supported me. But what about your parents? Surely you could have told them,’ he replied.
Shona looked away.
‘That was not an option. Sen, listen to me. He just felt us up. It was scary and wrong but we were okay. You think Anni and I didn’t think about justice? The day after you left for school, we realised that we were so worried that he would do something worse to another girl that we demanded to know more about him from her mother. I’m ashamed to say we even bribed her with a bottle of old brandy, stolen from my mother’s baking cupboard. But Moira didn’t talk. Then one afternoon, about two weeks after it happened, Anni went home to find her mother inconsolable. The bastard had died in a bar fight. It seemed like justice to two teenage girls.’
Sen walked to her side of the bed and sat down.
He reached for her hand. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she took it and felt comforted by the gesture.
‘I was scared that day. I still think about it. I always felt like I could have done more to protect you both,’ he whispered.
Shona squeezed his hand.
‘You saved us, Sen. That was more than enough.’
Sen studied her face. She looked so beautiful yet so fragile. But also powerful. There were so many shades of Shona.
‘Let’s have some ice cream,’ she said. He nodded and stood up.
He watched her get out of bed, pull on a sleep shirt and leave the room.
For a few seconds, he didn’t move.
What was going on? No strings attached wasn’t supposed to feel like this. No strings attached wasn’t heavy talk. He shook his head and followed her.
Shona rubbed her eyes. For the first time in years, she woke up spontaneously and not because of the ghastly whine of her alarm. She stretched and then quickly remembered that she was sharing her bed.
She turned to look at Sen. He was awake.
He smiled.
‘Don’t make this weird,’ she said.
He laughed. ‘How am I making this weird?’
Shona pointed to his soft, brown eyes. ‘By looking at me like that,’ she replied.
‘Like what?’
‘Like a weirdo,’ she replied.
Sen laughed again and pulled her to him.
‘Am I looking at you like I want to devour you?’ he asked before he claimed her mouth.
Shona responded. She was putty in his hands.
Sen suddenly pulled back. ‘Don’t you have to be at work?’
Shona avoided eye contact. ‘Not today. But I’m starving. Let me cook us breakfast.’
She shoved off the duvet and pulled herself out of bed.
‘You’re definitely not working today?’
Shona nodded but didn’t look at him.
