Though deep down, I can’t deny it. Bonnie’s comments have given me an out. I’m panicking. I don’t know if I can do the whole relationship thing. The risk is almost as big as the reward.
I don’t know how to fully trust another person.
All the comments from Penny and Frank and the rest of the Jacksons weigh on my mind.
‘You guys are already a sure thing. Trust me. I’m never wrong.’
‘It’ll be you two next.’
‘You guys are perfect for each other. Even if you don’t know it yet.’
We were perfect for each other. At least it felt like it, for a while. Before I knew she’d been stalking me.
What if my original assumptions were right? That nothing lasts?
What if Ava’s parents are the anomaly?
Hours pass before the door to the suite opens and Ava creeps in. I close my eyes and pretend I’m asleep, wishing to God I was. The sound of metal unzipping slices through the air and every cell in my body yearns to look, to touch, but I don’t trust her, and I don’t trust myself.
She slips across the room and under the sheets beside me.
I don’t reach for her.
And she doesn’t reach for me.
The incessant buzzing of my phone wakes me from a fitful sleep. I snatch it from the floor, squinting at the time and the name Mam on the screen.
Worry slivers through my stomach. It’s six am. Something must be seriously wrong.
I slide open the balcony doors and step out into the dark, freezing morning.
‘Mam?’ Panic taints my tone.
‘Cillian, sorry.’ My mother sobs across the phone.
Every hair on body pricks with an ice-cold fear that makes the winter morning feel positively tropical. ‘Is it Phoebe?’
‘No. It’s your dad. He had a mini heart attack last night.’ She hiccups. ‘He’s okay. Unfortunately. The rotten bastard took ill in Irene Benedict’s bed.’
‘Irene Benedict?’ The words trickle out in slow motion.
Alex’s mother?
My mother’s friend of thirty odd years?
This is despicable behaviour, even by my father’s standards.
‘Cyril arrived home from the gentlemen’s club to find an ambulance outside his house and his wife in her nightdress apparently. Oh God, son, I’ve been such a fool for all these years. They’ve been having it off for years.’
Being right gives me absolutely no satisfaction at all. The only thing that will give me satisfaction, is when I take him to court, and wipe the floor with him.
She swallows hard. ‘She was my friend, Cillian. Well, I thought she was. I’m such a stupid fool.’
‘You’re not Mam. He’s the stupid fool.’ And I’m going to make sure you’re free from him once and for all.
‘They didn't even deny it. They’ve been sneaking around under my nose for years.’ She sniffs. ‘I want him gone, Cillian. Enough is enough.’
Finally.
