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The hospital told me that Aunt Betty wouldn’t be out for at least a couple of days while they observed her. She may look as if she has a body of a teenager, but at her age, they said that they couldn’t be too sure. Also, both her and Wendy were vague about what part of the stairs she fell, because they were both intoxicated.
I knew that Daniel could take me and I wouldn’t have to face her either. The crazy part was I woke up this morning and I didn’t feel like eating Ben & Jerry. No longer did I feel the desire just to binge out.
I went up to the attic, the place that I used to find comfort when I was a kid and did the one thing that I loved to do.
Paint.
I’ve spent all day up there; I didn’t even know what the time was or even care. My phone was off, and the house phone was being picked up by the staff. Aunt Betty had kept all of my paints. I even think that there are some new ones. It’s as if she kept the room for me, whenever I felt the need to come back.
Maybe her surprise wasn’t only for me to spend it fucking Joshua, but for the room too. If she knew about my break-up with Sam, then she must have known everything else. That I had nowhere to stay and this was her way of making it better.
I didn’t even hear her enter the room as my mind starts to wander and I think about Joshua. I shouldn’t have expected anything different from a man like him. He’s probably playing with some other woman in his playroom.
Good for him!
I’m fed up of being used, and from this moment onwards I vow to never have another man in my life again.
I can’t believe something that I haven’t done for so long has flowed so naturally today. I knew my subject from the moment I sat on the stool. I have the natural sunlight and everything I need to do the one thing that I love to do, and that’s to paint.
“Good, you’re still here!” Aunt Betty hobbles into the kitchen with her walking sticks.
“What are you doing here? I thought that you needed to stay there for a couple more days.”
She nods, “This is my home. Besides if you left here feeling the way that you do, then I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“I’m waiting for Daniel to come back.”
She shakes her head, “He’s here. When I told him about what I’d done. He told me that I was wrong and I needed to apologize.”
“Okay, so you can do that and go back to the hospital.”
I turn around; I know that I'm cold and she doesn’t deserve it, but to say that I’m hurt is an understatement.
“You’ve been to the attic?”
I nod, but then I grab my drink and start to move in that same direction once again. Maybe I’ll just clean out my account and get a last minute ticket? Anything to get out of here. I didn’t think that she would be out now. And now she’s in front of me. I don’t know what to do. Well, I have a clue, I want to do one thing, and that's left.
“Scarlett don’t go. I can’t move that fast, and I need you to hear me out. Please?”
I stop for a minute; I take my time as I face her. I think about Joshua for a moment and the man that he is. The type that doesn’t have photos in his house and he probably has no friends. I scolded him when I discover that he’s alone and I realize that I’m not acting any differently to him if I don’t at least hear her out.
“Can I sit down?”
She asks as she’s clearly out of breath and it wouldn’t seem right if I didn’t hear her out. She’s been more of a mom to me than my mother, but then for different reasons and I should at least hear her out.
I nod, "After all it's your house."
She sighs, “Phew! If you said no, I think that I would hurt myself and probably end up spending a lot more time in the hospital.”
She’s laughing, but by herself and I want to say something, that she should hurry up. I’m working on a piece. Something dear from the heart and one that I don’t feel the need to stop right now.
“I knew about Sam’s stealing for a while. Before you lost your job.”
She’s nodding and looking directly at me. I feel numb because now I feel like a fool. She knew, and I lived with the man, and I didn’t have a clue.
“I look out for you. Maybe a bit too much. To cut a long story short. I overheard him one time when you were here.”
“At your annual barbecue?”
