How many women has he been with in the last ten years? Has he loved anyone else?
So many questions swirling around my mind, but no answers. And no Zayn. He’s fallen off the face of the Earth since he dropped his bomb-shell and imploded my life.
We were just kids before. Two kids in love, but that can’t last ten years, can it? Do I try to accept his reasoning, and then let it go? What other options are there?
I can’t love Zayn,I decide.I don’t even know him anymore.
I know I didn’t sound convincing to my own ears, so naturally there wasn’t a chance I was fooling Anna.
“I’m livid,” Anna says, her jovial tone a complete contradiction to her words. “He returns after adecadeand then thinks giving youmorespace is a good idea? I always had him pegged as having more intelligence than a moth.”
I roll my eyes and almost roll my ankle dodging another puddle at the same time. “Don’t lie. You’re not livid at all. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you so happy.”
“Happy? I’m not happy. I’m ecstatic!” She squeals. “I always knew you two were meant to be. And I don’t even believe in monogamy, but this love story is justtoo good.I loved you two together then, and I love it now.”
“Love story?” I scoff. “You’re mistaken. Somewhere along the way it turned into a horror story. Drama, at best. Tragic of course.”
“Tragic?” Anna asks, affronted. “The man come back for you as soon as he could after his noble mission to protect his sister.”
I pull my phone away to make sure it’s Anna I’m speaking to and not my mother. Nope, definitely Anna.
She continues, “The only thing tragic about this whole story is Daniel.”
Ah yep, there she is.
“He’s a stain on an otherwise heart-achingly perfect love story.”
I can’t help the chuckle that spills from my lips, and it’s refreshing to feel laughter bubble amongst all the anxiety that’s been brewing inside me for weeks. “How long have you been waiting to call Daniel a stain?”
“Ten long years,” she sighs dramatically. “I’m just glad you finally came to your senses there.”
Her comment makes me realise I need to change the topic, stat. There’s still a lot Anna doesn’t know about me and Daniel that I’m not willing to divulge, but I know she will pry if given the opportunity.
“You realise Zayn and I are nothing more than a lawyer and his client, right?” I say, my own words grating on my stomach like an ulcer as the white-washed walls of the Hope House cottage come into view. I spot something black and shiny in the driveway that makes my heart rate flutter. “Ah, fuck.”
“What?”
I proceed carefully, both physically and with Anna. “You know how I told you I’ve started volunteering at that women’s shelter?” I start slowly, making my way up the cobblestone front path.
“Yes,” Anna draws out the word suspiciously. “The shelter you say you happened upon by accident?”
“Yes, that one. Well I’m back here to talk to the owner about some fundraising work I’m helping out with and I’ve just spotted Zayn’s car out front.”
“Oh, yes!” Anna squeals, positively delighted. “We are overdue for the latest instalment of the Zayn and Gianna show. I finally understand your excitement when your chapter thingies get released.”
“Are you actually comparing my life to fan fiction?” I ask, incredulous.
“Yes, but better! Wait -” she falters, “why is Zayn at the shelter?”
I check the letterbox as I pass, pulling out a few letters addressed to Sam and popping them under my arm. “He’s helping out one of the women here after an incident with her husband. Pro bono, of course.”
“Riiiight,” Anna says, somehow managing to drown the word in suspicion. “Let me guess? You asked him to.”
“Of course I did,” I respond briskly as I faff around outside the front door. “How else would he have ended up here?”
“How else, indeed.”
“What? You’re not even making sense anymore.”
