I can’t say anything, sure I must have misheard.
“A lot of money is at my disposal, and you appear to be short on that front. Can’t we come to an arrangement?” Another sip of coffee before his eyes stab at me again. “I want my son to be happy.”
I hop off the stool, my left ankle rolling as I hit the floor. “No, thanks. I’m not for sale.”
“Everyone’s for sale.” His fingers clench tighter, digging into my wrist. “Name your price. You were worried about your sister, right? Maybe I can help. An application for guardianship might look better if I greased a few wheels.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.” I snatch my arm away, rubbing where his fingers dug hard enough to leave bruises.
“No, I’m not. Whatever is going on between the two of you, I’m sure you can work it out. Don’t you want Zach to be happy?”
I laugh and back away, slipping my shoes on to leave black scuff marks on the bright white floor. At least I now know where the malice comes from. Until today, I thought Zach was messed up from finding his mother, but the man standing in the kitchen now holds pride of place.
A metre away from the front door and it opens, Zach’s eyes widening as he walks inside.
“How’d you stuff this one up?” his dad calls from the kitchen.
“Sorry,” Zach says in a quiet voice, frowning. “I thought I’d be back before you woke up.” He moves in to kiss me and I jerk away, my skin buzzing. “I didn’t want you to wake up alone.”
“It’s fine.” The inane words propel me into action again and I sidestep, but he catches me before I can move around him.
“I’ll give you a lift.”
About to protest I can catch the bus, I give in. What does a short drive matter?
“Sure. If you could take me to the flat, that’ll be great.”
Outside, he tries to catch my hand and I try equally hard not to let him. “Were you and my dad talking?”
“He wants to know how much to pay me to fix this.”
Zach catches me by the shoulders and forces me to a stop. “Are we broken?”
As I stare at him wordlessly, I see misery settle into his eyes. “What d’you think?”
“That we can move past this.”
I shake my head, getting into the passenger seat and waiting for him to join me in the car. His shoulders slump like he’s been dealt a blow and I wonder if he really thought I’d accept this like I have his other transgressions. If he does, part of that rests at my doorstep. I should have called it quits sooner.
The drive passes in silence and when we draw up outside the flat, I quickly escape inside, shutting the door before Zach can follow. There’s a ping on my phone and I dread looking at the screen but finally force myself.
A message from Trent contains a link to a cloud service. The video.
Instead of watching, I take another shower, then shut myself in my room. Snuggled under the covers, I wait for the day to be over.
Eventually, it is.
* * *
I don’t seeZach the next day at school or the day following that. Not that I need to see him in person. He’s already haunting my dreams.
Trent waves to me in the corridors but doesn’t approach and I don’t go near him. Caylon is nowhere in evidence and in my calculus class, I overhear two girls discussing how he’s signed out and won’t be back.
On Friday, I glimpse Zach at the far end of the hallway and retreat, walking around the outside of the building before entering at the far doors to access my class.
That night, getting dressed for work, I worry my job circumstances might have changed. Stefan isn’t someone who welcomes replies to his texts; I hope I can get through the night without bumping into him at all, the only sure way for it to not be an issue.
But luck isn’t on my side. When is it ever? The moment I’m through the club doors, I bump into Stefan emerging from a back room.
