“Why do I have to do this?”
“Leo, come get into position right now.”
As Leo reluctantly gets out of bed and goes to stand next to her, I look from one to the other in confusion. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll see,” Ruby declares, connecting her phone to my speakers and putting her beer bottle down.
Leo puts his hands on his hips and shoots me an apologetic look. “This wasn’t my idea.”
“We’ve been working on this all week,” Ruby informs me. “Are you ready?”
“I guess so.”
She presses a button on her phone and then shoves it down on the desk. Britney Spears’s “Stronger” starts blaring out of the speakers, and Ruby and Leo launch into a dance routine. I use the words “launch” and “dance routine” lightly. I burst out laughing as Ruby bops about with full enthusiasm, all the while encouraging Leo, who half-heartedly joins in with the arm movements and hip swings. I sit up to appreciate the full show, unable to stop giggling.
“You see?” Ruby cries happily. “I told you it would cheer her up! Now, Leo, ready for theDirty Dancinglift?”
“Rubes, I really don’t think—”
She runs full pelt toward him and he does his best to lift her before they collapse in a tangled heap on the floor. I shriek with laughter, clutching my stomach. In that moment, everything seems just that little bit better, and that means a lot.
Because a few days ago, in the worst moments, I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel like laughing again.
CHAPTER THREE
A week later, I return to the London flat.
Standing in silence in the middle of the hall with my bags at my feet, I instantly regret insisting I do this alone.
All my things are just where I left them back when I was in control of my life, before my blissful ignorance was shattered. But all of Matthew’s things are now gone, leaving bizarre empty spaces scattered around the flat. Like the photo frame of his parents, making the mantelpiece look uneven. The PlayStation that sat under the TV stand, gone. The bookcase has random gaps in it where his biographies used to fit. He only read biographies.
Part of me didn’t think he’d actually go through the effort of moving out. Part of me thought he’d walk in here and be reminded of the life we’ve built together, which would make him realize that he was making a huge mistake.
“Oh my god,” I whisper out loud as something dawns on me, “he took Percy!”
Okay, I was sad there for a second. But now I’mfurious.I get my phone out of my pocket and call Ruby. She answers on the second ring.
“Hey! Are you at the flat? Are you all right?”
“He took Percy!”
“Huh?”
“Percy! He took him!”
She gasps. “No!”
“Yes!”
“Thatfucker!”
“I know! I can’t believe it! He just took him! He’s gone!”
“Surely you should get custody!”
“Obviously! What do I do?”
I hear Leo in the background ask Ruby what’s going on.
