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“No. I still have a couple of months to work that out though. It might be I just go and visit them on holiday for a bit while trying to find some work. It might be easier to look once I’m over there.”
“What does Max think?”
My eyes fly to the phone affixed to the air vents; I had completely forgotten we were linked to Max and Laurence. “It’s not come up yet,” I whisper, hoping we got away with it.
Through the phone comes a mildly amused: “Max will need to talk to Ava about this at the weekend.”
I pull a face at Josie, mouthingFuck,as she roars with laughter.
We reach the nearest town, the roads still packed with snow. It’s clear more cars have travelled here, some stuck on the side of the road after colliding. At one point, we need to be towed by Laurence. It takes us an anxious thirty minutes to reach the main motorway, where only two lanes are cleared. It’s better than we could have hoped for, and the further south we drive the less snow there is.
We visibly relax as the journey continues and I end the call to Max, telling him, “I’ll speak to you soon.”
“I’ll call you tonight.”
“Okay,” I say smiling. Coyly, I ask, “Any message for Jose, Laurence?”
“I hope it goes well. Call me after,” he asks, and I have to assume that he means after she’s ended things with Kyle. There’s lots to like about his supportive attitude. Last night, her and Laurence talked for hours. She seems to value his impartial advice, mentioning something about a lawyer’s logic.
“Bye!”
The line disconnects. “We already agreed I would call him afterwards,” Josie says sadly as I punch out a text to Tilly giving my ETA.
“If you need some Dutch courage,” I say, thinking of Max and his Dutch connections, “then you can always call me. When will you tell him?”
“Tonight.”
“Will you tell your parents first?”
“Hmm, not sure about that.”
“Well, I’m here if you want to go over anything. I would be very happy to repay all the support and worrying you did for me.”
“Oh, Ava. These are completely different situations. You might have been lost to us forever, someone's slave until they killed you because you got old or tried to escape or something.”
We’ve always spoken frankly about what might have been my fate, but now that I’m getting some clarity on what I went through, it seems all the more horrifying. It feels all the more real, too.
“I was a bit blunt there, sorry.”
“Don’t worry. We can’t dance around this. There are other women out there that need my help, and the reality is that I escaped something indescribably evil and depraved. I’m grateful I got away, but at the minute it’s like I don’t realise how grateful. Does that make sense?”
She nods, reaching for my hand. “You’ll remember. I know you will. And it looks like Max will be there to comfort you.” She inhales, contemplating something. “Let’s hope he’s notyourrebound.”
I loose a happy laugh, the heartfelt, direct conversations I’ve had with Max at the forefront of my mind. “He’s not. But if I am rebounding, I won’t be getting away. That man is like super glue.”
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
AVA
Isla reaches for me,wanting to give me a cuddle which I am down for. I’ve missed this little cutie with her wispy blonde hair and dark blue eyes.
“How have the nights been?” I ask my sister.
“Great actually. She woke up as usual around 1.00 AM, but Nate went in and settled her. And last night she didn’t even wake!”
For the next forty minutes, Tilly grills me about my weekend while Isla is on her play mat for tummy time. There’s a lot to share. Concentrating on the more important topic of my misfiring but partially returning memories, Tilly watches me enraptured.
“This is great! I’m so pleased, Ava. You’re on the road to recovery.”
