AllFreeNovel
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“Then you need to find a way that works for you, because whatever this is”—she gestures in my general direction—“isn’t healthy.”
“I’m too old to change now, too long in the tooth.”
“You’re twenty-six!” she says in disbelief. “Natasha, I’m serious. I’m not going to address what happened with you out there just yet, I’ll give you a few days to gather your thoughts first, but I need you to know I’m worried about you.”
“Honestly, I’m done,” I lie, and she knows it.
“Today isn’t all on you. We had a bad game, we all made mistakes, and this is our time to reflect on that so we can move forward.”
“Davison, you’re up,” Physio Phillipa comes to my rescue when she calls across the room, letting Brooke know it’s her turn for cold water therapy.
She pats my shoulder before she heads off to the ice bath and I sulk for a little while on my own. I try to breathe like Brooke taught me, but just as I feel my muscles relaxing again, the intrusive thoughts return.
Chapter Two
Luke
“I’ve organised the plants together to make it easier for you,” my sister Hannah says the second I walk through the door to her open-plan riverside apartment. Natural light floods through the French windows leading to the balcony.
“Hey, Luke, lovely to see you. How are you doing?... Oh, I’m fantastic, thanks so much for asking... You look great, bro... Thanks, sis, I had my hair and beard trimmed this morning like you told me to because you said I was starting to look like Bigfoot,” I converse with myself sarcastically, but she pays no notice.
“Mmm-hmm, great. These plants here need watering once a week and spritzing with the spray in the morning and afternoon.” She points to a number of potted plants crammed onto the kitchen windowsill and fixes me with a stern look, checking I’m listening. “Rotate them daily so they grow evenly.”
“Got it.”
“I’ve organised their food,” she continues.
“Food? They’re plants.”
“Plants need food. Orchid food, rose food and everything else food,” she instructs, pointing to the bottles lined up on her cluttered bookshelf. “Don’t worry, I’ve left you a binder with instructions.”
“Wonderful. Now, don’t you have a plane to catch?” I clap my hands twice in encouragement.
“Don’t forget Stanley, he’s on the balcony,” she adds as she pulls on her coat and rucksack.
“You’ve named them?”
“Yes, they all have names. They’re written on the little lolly sticks in the soil.” Of course, they all have names. “Okay. I’m ready,” she adds with a squeal of delight.
I haul my sister’s backpack down to my car and place it in the boot. She’s heading to Australia for three months to conduct research into her master’s in sports psychology and is leaving me in charge of her flat and herbabies,aka her plants.
Her trip couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I sold my house to move into a bigger one, which isn’t quite ready yet, and by that, I mean it’s still a building site. So, instead of paying for a hotel for three months, I’m moving into her flat in Sunderland city centre. It’s a win win for both of us.
It’s mid-morning when I drive her to the airport. Luckily the traffic isn’t too heavy and we make it to the airport with plenty time. We head straight for check-in and then Starbucks for one last coffee together.
“You’re going to be okay, right?” she asks as she pours sugar into her cup and stirs, her eyebrows knitting together.
“You’re the one going off to another country, I’ll be in the exact same spot you left me in when you get back.”
“That’s my worry!”
I’m a gamer. I program and design games specifically for PlayStation and Xbox. It’s intense work, especially when designing the initial concepts and coding. Therefore, I’vedeveloped a habit of dropping off the face of the earth for days at a time until my baby sister drags me back to the land of the living.
“I’m a twenty-eight-year-old man, I’ll be fine.”
“Well, I’ve set alarms on Alexa to give you reminders anyway.”
The next ten minutes pass in companionable silence as we people-watch and drink our coffees until it’s time to walk Hannah to security.
