AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She felt Loukis jerk back in the chair as if struck.
‘But mynewdaddy—’ she seemed to roll the words into one ‘—calls me Anna. He’s silly.’
Her statement hit the room with the force of a tornado Annabelle couldn’t even have imagined.
‘Your new daddy?’ Loukis demanded, his voice shaking with anger.
Annabelle looked uncertain for a moment. ‘That’s what Mummy calls him. My new daddy,’ she replied, as if confused and unsure as to why Loukis’s reaction was what it had been.
‘Are you having fun?’ Célia rushed on, trying to cover his discomfort. ‘What have you been up to?’
As Annabelle chatted away about visits to shopping malls, where she was given Jameson, and a trip to the zoo, where she saw tigers, bears and snakes—her favourite was Diego the skunk—Célia was painfully aware of the tension and frustration that filled the air on this side of the world, Annabelle thankfully oblivious to it. Or at least she had been until her voice trailed off a little and her small fingers started to twist in the bright pink fake fur of her toy.
‘But I... I... They don’t have dolphins. Not like the zoo in Greece.’
Célia’s heart ached. For Annabelle and Loukis, both desperately trying to navigate this new dynamic.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dolphin,’ she remarked into the awkward silence.
‘You haven’t?’ Eyes wide and childishly outraged, Annabelle demanded that Loukis take her to see the dolphinsright now.
‘Ma chérie,it is nearly three-thirty in the morning. I don’t think the zoo is open here yet.’
‘But it’s still light outside?’
‘Not here, my love. You’re so far away that the sun is in a different place and it’s a different time. What are you doing tomorrow?’ Célia asked, trying to get some of the happy enthusiasm that had filled the little girl’s voice. But sadly it didn’t quite work. Her joy was as dimmed as Loukis.
‘How is Meredith treating you?’ he demanded, his voice rough and begrudging.
‘She wants me to call her Mummy.’
All the man beside her could do was nod.
‘Is that okay with you?’ asked Célia, keeping her tone as light as possible.
Annabelle narrowed her eyes, the weight of the question being given serious consideration.
‘I think so?’ She darted a look towards Loukis as if to check that she had the right answer and, once again, Célia’s heart ached just a little more.
‘You call her what feels right for you,oui?’
‘Wee? Why did you saywee?’ Annabelle cried, pealing off into another beautiful giggle.
‘It is how I say yes,’ Célia explained with a smile.
‘You talk funny,’ Annabelle accused.
‘You have funny friends,’ Célia replied, pointing to Jameson.
‘Heisfunny. And silly. And pink!’ she exclaimed.
After a few more minutes, Loukis too quiet to be able to continue pointless conversation, they agreed to video call again tomorrow and signed off.
When Loukis closed the laptop’s screen, the living room was shrouded in a sudden darkness that left spots dancing in the backs of Célia’s eyes and a weight against her chest that burned.
She understood why Loukis was so angry, but also was frustrated that he’d revealed some of that anger to Annabelle. She was a ten-year-old child and shouldn’t bear the weight of adult emotions. Not when she’d soon have enough of her own to deal with.
‘What?’ Loukis demanded in the darkness. ‘I can practically feel the waves of your disapproval.’
