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Loucas nodded, already setting off for some of Andrew’s favourite areas in the villa’s extensive walls. He couldn’t let his mind think about the steep cliffs that led to the coast in some parts. Damn it, he should have handled this better. Mikey should not be leaving. Andrew should not have to be saying goodbye to the woman he loved.
He ran until his lungs burned, searching under bushes, up trees, behind furniture sets.
He crossed paths with Nanny Paxton just as the rain began. “Anything?” He shouted, his clothes quickly becoming soaking wet.
“No,” she shook her head, running further and faster. “I’ll double back and check inside with the housekeeper.”
“Wait!” He held a hand up. “Do you hear that?”
She strained to listen. A voice carried on the breeze. Quiet at first, and then louder. “It’s Mikey!”
They ran towards the beach, in the direction of her cry.
“I don’t want you to go,” Andrew said, staring up at Mikey. He was sobbing, his slender little body wracked with grief that she hadn’t seen in him for weeks.
“Oh, Andy,” she hugged him, not caring that she was drenched. Her hair was plastered to her face. “I’m so sorry you found out that way.”
“Don’t go, Mikey. I will miss you too much. Please, please, don’t leave me too.”
“Sweetie, listen to me. I want to talk to you about this, but right now, you need to go inside and have a warm bath.”
Nanny Paxton and Loucas emerged. “Here, let me take him,” Nanny begged, wrapping her arms around the boy she’d cared for as her own for years.
Mikey went to follow but Loucas grabbed her arm and held her glued to the spot. “No,” he shouted. “No. We need to talk.”
“But Andy...”
“Is in Nanny Paxton’s very capable hands. He will wait a few minutes.”
The adrenalin of the search for Andrew evaporated and Mikey began to shake. “God, I can’t believe I was so careless. What a terrible way to break the news to him.”
“Mikey,” he groaned, tilting his head back and looking at the storm clouds overhead. They matched his mood. “Don’t go. I’m begging you. Please, stay.”
She shook her head, but tears had begun to fall. They mingled with the raindrops on her wet face. “I can’t stay. It’s just postponing the inevitable.”
“Every day that you’re here is another day Andrew will improve.”
“I can’t stay for Andrew,” she shouted back at him. Her heart was breaking. “Don’t you get it? I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to leave you. I can’t stay, Loucas, because you’ll hurt me. Just like you said you would.” She had to yell even louder to be heard above the din of the rain, and the beating waves.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You will. You already have. It’s not your fault.” She sobbed, and looked away from him. “I should have known better than to fall in love with you. You gave me every reason in the world why it would be stupid, but it turns out, I just couldn’t help myself.”
“You love me?”
“YES! Of course I do. Who wouldn’t?” She dashed at her tears, and stared at him, imploring him to understand. “So you have to let me go. Don’t you get it? Every day I spend with you is just making it harder for me leave.”
“Then don’t leave, baby.” He pulled her against his body and ran his hands over her hair. “Please don’t leave.”
“I have to,” she whispered now, but he heard it loud and clear.
“I don’t think you should stay for Andrew. I need you to stay for me. I need you.”
Her heart flipped over in her chest, but she shook her head. “For how long, Loucas? You’ve said it yourself. You’re not made for relationships. You hate the idea of being tied down. You want me now, but you know as well as I do you’ll change your mind in a week or two. And by then, I’ll be so far gone that I don’t think I’d be strong enough to leave you.”
“I’ve changed. You’ve changed me. All I can think about is life with you, Mikey. I want nothing more than to hold you in my arms for the rest of my natural life. Please, please, don’t leave me.”
She bit down on her lip. The stubborn part of her brain refused to believe he was saying these things. “You’re hurting me now,” she whispered.
