My heart clenches. “What’s happened?”
“Elle, I’m so sorry.”
Immediately my throat goes tight. I sense Huan step behind me protectively.
“I can’t even tell you how sorry. My father is being an absolute arse. I tried to change his mind, but...”
“He doesn’t want you to go?” I whisper.
“I swear to god, I said everything I could. I tried every promise, used every tactic. I threw a fit like I was a toddler. But he won’t budge. He has a client who wants to sell his son’s flat in London. The man’s also on the admissions committee at UCL and now Father’s insistent that I come to the lunch. He says I need to charm him into liking me so he’ll overlook my ‘subpar academic performance.’”
“When’s the lunch? You know Sage is flying out late. You can come late too. It’ll be fine.”
I know I sound desperate. Will’s already trudging back toward the gate where we left his bag, but I refuse to give up hope. There has to be another solution. He can’t justleave.
“I already tried,” Will says. Everything about him is so controlled right now. His voice, his expression, even the way he walks. “The lunch isn’t until Friday, but Father thinks it’s too risky. And I’d have to fly back tomorrow anyway so there’s not much point.”
“There’s nothing we can do? No way for him to reschedule?”
“This is another punishment.” His control cracks and his voice gets louder, sharper. “He doesn’t trust me. He thinks I’m wanking about every minute I’m not with him.”
“What if...” I hurry to keep up with his pace. “What if you, you know, came anyway? I mean, I know he’s your father, but you’re also eighteen. You don’t have to do everything he says.”
“Then I’d get to Italy and have no place to stay. And no money to eat. I might be an adult, but I still... well, I still rely on him financially. I know he’ll cut off my credit cards if he has to. He’s done it before.”
“But...”
Dev sees us and comes over. “What’s going on?”
“I have to stay in London,” Will says, his voice harsh. “My father is insisting. He’s sending a car.”
“I’ll walk back to the entrance with you,” I say.
He wipes the tears off my cheeks with the back of his hand. “You’ll miss your boarding. Ring me when you get there. And I got my father to agree not to cancel the hotel reservation, so you lot should feel welcome to use it instead of staying at your hostel. It’s already paid for.”
“What if I came with you instead? Maybe we could spend the time in London? I’m sure there’s so much more to visit.”
His expression is so pained that more tears come and I have to turn away.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
“The school will go ballistic if you change plans,” Huan adds.He’s right, but I don’t care.
A flight attendant announces that our flight will be boarding soon. Will wraps his arms around me and kisses me on the top of the head.
“I’ll never forgive him for this. But I’ll also never forgive myself if I’ve ruined your holiday. Try to enjoy it. Don’t let him mess it up for both of us.”
I nod and try to speak, to argue, but Will is kissing me again. Then he walks away. There’s a small corner of my mind that’s relieved I won’t have to reveal everything to him this weekend, but I push that aside. This was supposed to be our time together. There’s another announcement, and passengers stand and move toward the gate. I search for Will but he’s already been swallowed by the crowd.
Huan and Frank step into line, but I don’t follow. Will’s not coming. He’s already gone. Dev puts a hand on the small of my back and guides me forward. In front of me, Huan’s and Frank’s backs are blurry through my tears.
“Your ticket?” Dev whispers, and I pull it from my coat pocket. I hand it to the attendant in a fog, only moving down the ramp and onto the plane when Dev steers me forward.
“Here.” He points to a seat on my left. I sit and he hesitates, looking back and forth between the empty seat where Will should be and a seat beyond mine. “Do you... maybe you want to be alone?”
“I forgot your coffee.”
“You can buy me two when we get there.” He points to the seat. “Should I...?”
