Lola’s soft expression hardened, her eyes narrowing the longer I stayed silent. When I pushed back my shoulders and stoodtaller, she understood there would never be a conversation about all the things wrong with me. I wasn’t talking.
“Coward!” She wrestled the umbrella from my hand. “You’ll get no forgiveness from me! Find some other way to ease your guilty conscience, Aiden.”
She almost smacked me in the face with the umbrella when she spun on her heel.
And off she marched.
I should have collapsed on the road, a broken shell of a man, but the sight of my brave girl charging ahead with the black umbrella bobbing above her kept my spine straight. And when I saw her snuggle deeper into my oversized shirt, warm and sheltered against the wind, I smiled.
15
She Saw Two Endings
Lola
Unknown
Did you think I wouldn’t find you?
I stopped.
My hand stalled mid-air, the white picket gate just out of reach. When I turned, the red door gave nothing away. I couldn’t see down the hallway or into the kitchen. A heavy thud echoed in my chest.
Did I lock the back door?
It didn’t always catch. I had to flip the deadbolt too, and sometimes, I forgot. My thoughts muddled as I replayed the steps I’d taken that morning—breakfast, a load of laundry, a quick shower, I got dressed… But… Maybe I’d forgotten thedeadbolt after hanging the last basket of linen on the washing line?
I clapped a hand over my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut, fear tightening in my lungs.
Breathe, Lola. Just breathe.
I swung my bag onto my shoulder and scurried down the path. Yolanda hovered by the fence. The jet of water gushing from her hose pointed at her rose bushes, and her face stayed hidden behind a puff of smoke, but I knew she was watching me.
Forcing a laugh, I blurted out, “I forgot something.”
My hand shook as I stuck the key in the lock. I shoved my shoulder against the front door and barrelled inside, almost tumbling to my knees in the hallway.
My sanctuary had to stay safe. Ithadto.
Dashing from room to room, I checked every window, every door, running my fingers over the catches and double-checking every lock.
I knew this day would come, but I still wasn’t prepared. Running away from a man like Chris wasn’t like the movies. I couldn’t fake my own death or change my identity. I needed to work. I needed tolive.
Stupidly, I’d hoped this time he’d eventually just…give up. Why did he even want me? He wasn’t short of women fawning over him. He was wealthy and successful. People admiredhim. Me? I did nothing right.
But the other times I’d attempted to escape, he’d hunted for me. A day. A week. He always found me and convinced me to give him another chance by crying promises that he’d change and finally get help. He never did.
I glanced at my phone. The message stared back at me, but my hand had stopped shaking when I hit “Block.”
“It’s over this time,” I said to the screen. “Forever.”
After a few swipes of a brush through my hair, a fresh coat of lip gloss, and a big breath, I yanked open the door to start my day again. I turned the key and rattled the knob.Definitelylocked.
“Is that a new dress?” Yolanda called as I headed back down the path.
“Oh, um… yes…” I smoothed the polka dots, suddenly even more self-conscious under her steely eyes.
“Decided to get pretty for your date with the Hollyoak boy, eh?”
