Page 40 of The Forbidden Fling

She breathed in deeply, and on the exhale, said, “Yeah, sure,” with far more enthusiasm than she’d intended. “I’ll catch you later, Quin.”

They flashed their finger guns, then headed towards the reception, probably to try to connect to the dodgy Wi-Fi and report back to their dad.

Here we go.

Faye wiggled her toes in her sandals before picking her gaze up from the stone slabs. Most people had left the courtyard, heading down the steps to the beach or back to their cabins. Riley was conversing with a man by the fountain. Faye wondered if she’d pick up on a distress signal if she gave one—though judging by the man’s crossed arms and the huffs escaping his chest every few seconds, it looked like Riley could use a distress signal of her own.

Stop looking for a way out, Faye.

The half an hour until their support counsellors suddenly seemed far too long. What were they going to talk about for thirty minutes? They’d barely exchanged a sentence in a year.

“Shall we take a seat?” Molly indicated the bench where Faye had found Diana yesterday.

Faye frowned. She didn’t want to taint the space with something that was definitely not going to be fun.

But Molly didn’t wait for an answer. She walked towards the bench, hips swishing in another pink dress, in a way that didn’t have any effect on Faye whatsoever. She blinked as that hit her. At some point, whatever minuscule hold Molly still had on her—the tatty tendrils Faye was still holding onto for no other reason other than masochism—had been cut.

She breathed a little easier as she took a seat beside Molly on the hard wood, keeping a nice distance between them. Maybe getting closure wouldn’t hurt? But could she handle the brutal truth right now?

Molly turned to her. “I might as well just come right out with it.”

Oh. Faye wound her fingers under the hem of her shorts, trying to swallow back the nerves threatening to surface.

“I’m sorry for what I did. For ghosting you. That wasn’t cool.”

Faye’s automatic response of it’s fine stopped at her lips as the memory resurfaced… Lying in bed in darkness, checking and rechecking her phone, wondering what she’d done to push Molly away. Rereading the unanswered messages, overthinking every word, telling herself she wasn’t good enough. That she would never be good enough for someone to love.

It wasn’t fine at all.

She forced herself to meet Molly’s blue eyes, seeing herself reflected in them. She sat a little straighter. “What you did really hurt me. And I know we were only together for a few months—you might not even count it a relationship—but I thought you cared about me. For you to just disappear without reason or explanation, well, yeah, it wasn’t just ‘not cool’, it was extremely shitty.”

Now the words were out there, a tight ball in her chest loosened. That actually felt good.

Molly nodded, folding her manicured hands in her lap. “I know. I’m sorry.” The hush of the waves rolled in the distance before her voice softened. “I just didn’t know what to do.”

At the change of tone, Faye glanced at her, noting her pinched eyebrows, her bottom lip threatening to wobble. She looked away, following the zigzag path of an orange butterfly while she waited for Molly to continue.

“Have you ever woken up and felt like you couldn’t breathe?” Molly asked. “Like you’re in someone else’s life and not your own? Everything was wrong. I realised I was going into the final year of a degree I didn’t want, and I had no idea what I did want.” She shot her a shy look. “You were included in that. So I quit. Everything. Overnight. Packed up and went back to my dad’s house. I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I couldn’t. I was too embarrassed. How could I talk about it when I didn’t really understand it myself?”

Molly’s words hung in the air as Faye tried to process them. She understood how it felt to wake up and feel like her life wasn’t her own. Despite everything, she didn’t want Molly to be sad. She’d always assumed she’d just found somebody better than her.

“Assumptions can be very damaging.” Maybe Senhor Arenoso had a point.

The butterfly landed on a flower tangled around the pergola before fluttering away over the cliffside.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mol. I wish you’d talked to me. Maybe I could’ve helped you through it, but…” She sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. I do appreciate the apology, though.”

“It does matter.” Molly reached for her hand, and Faye flinched. “Don’t you think there’s a deeper meaning to this? I mean, what’re the chances of us being here at the same time?”

A slow swell of nausea rose in Faye’s throat. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Us, silly. Surely, this is a sign for us to try things again.”

She pulled her hand away. “I…er—I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Faye’s mind fuzzed. A few months ago, she might’ve welcomed this reconciliation. Anything to feel like a real human who someone desired. But as she sat here with Molly, she knew it wasn’t what she wanted anymore.