AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where in the south are you going?”
“Just south, I haven’t figured it all out just yet.” He spends a few seconds looking at me. I can see the cogs in his head going round. Suddenly his face erupts into a gigantic smile.
“Thank you, Rose. I would be really happy to travel with you. I was starting to panic.” His mood is significantly better than five minutes ago. I also feel better. After years of having only fleeting hookups, I’m finally going to have someone to talk to. Chris might only be around for a few hours, I have no idea, but it’s more than I’ve had in months. Let’s just say the women I meet aren’t up for long stints of conversation.
“Come on then, let’s go.” We haul our bags in the back of the car. I pile my sweets onto the backseat. Chris is impressed with my mountain of goodies, his eyes light up. “Good job you’re here, really. I’d probably end up in a sugar coma if I ate all this by myself.”
We set off. In all honesty, I’m happy that I ended up pointing to Spain in that little café the other day. Spain is one of my favourite countries. I’ve visited many of the large cities and a lot of the small villages. The country has always felt as close to home as possible. There is nowhere in the world that truly feels like home to me now, though.
I’ve been laughing my ass off for the past ten minutes. Chris is a sarcastic little shit and I love it. We didn’t take long to warm to each other. He feels like a kid brother. The one I always wanted. We haven’t spoken about his dad since leaving Barcelona. I don’t see the point of bringing that cunt nugget up again. If I ever saw him, I would happily share my opinion on his parenting skills, ideally with a knee to his junk.
The sign for Granada sails by. I’ve been driving for eight hours and my eyeballs are drier than a nun’s… er, never mind, they’re just dry. It’s only two and a half hours to Torreguadiaro. I have never been there before. It’s a little town between Malaga and Gibraltar. I need some sea air. To be fair, Malmö was by the sea, but the North Sea is a far cry from the warmth of the Med.
“I’ve only ever been to Barcelona. This is awesome.” Chris is pressing his face against the window. He’s like an excitable puppy. It warms me to see him so giddy. I love discovering new places, it’s thrilling. Watching him light up at the unknown land around him makes me feel like I’m discovering it again for the first time.
The anxiety and worries that flooded my body since Sweden are gone. I know it’s only temporary but I’ll take it. I will be ready for whoever is after me, I can guarantee that, but right now, in this moment, I’m going to enjoy my time with my new travel companion in this magnificent country.
Chapter 4
Daisy
Penny’s face lights up my phone. We haven’t spoken in a couple of weeks due to my schedule and her upcoming wedding, which has turned into a battle of the in-laws. Penny was assigned as my interpreter at university. I’d never had one before and my first instinct was to rebuff her help. Thankfully, she persevered, and we became close friends. It was the first time in my life—except for Callie—that I had someone there just for me.
“Hey there, lovely lady.” Penny always signs to me regardless of the fact I can converse with her perfectly well through lip reading. She helped me accept my difference and be proud of it. All my father and his fucked up adopted family ever did was make me feel less than. Penny made me feel worthy, and I will be forever thankful for her friendship.
“Pen, my love, how are you?” Penny looks like she’s not slept in a week. The war of the wedding must be bad.
“Oh, you know, psychotic mums waging war over flower arrangements. My soon-to-be husband showing how much of a yellow belly he really is by leaving me to deal with them both alone. The usual. How are you? Better yet where are you?” Oh, right, I didn’t let anyone know that I was leaving the country on a woman hunt.
Penny knows the bare minimum about my life before university. She knows that my mum was absent and my dad was a loser scumbag that had no interest in raising a “deaf kid.” Parent of the year right there! Seriously, that’s how I was introduced. Not by name, but by the thing that made my dad so disappointed to have me as his child.
“I’m in Sweden.” Penny’s eyebrows rising into her hairline make me grin.
“Pray tellwhy, are you in Sweden?”
“I finally have a lead.” An explanation isn’t necessary. Most of the information Penny knows about my life in the Dales is based around Callie. She was the one that comforted me when I found out that Callie had vanished.
“And it took you to Sweden? Wow, Daisy, you’re sure it’s valid?”
“Yes, I saw her.” I am regretting holding back. I could kick myself now. I should have just gone to her and talked. If I had, I wouldn’t be grasping at straws trying to locate her again.
“Oh, Daisy, that’s excellent. Did you talk to her?”
I shake my head, Penny creases her eyebrows in confusion. Great, now I’m going to have to explain that I panicked and followed her instead of talking to her. She beats me to it. “You didn’t approach her, did you?” My face burns with embarrassment. I shake my head again. “Is she still in Sweden?” Jesus, can Penny read my mind or has she bugged the room?
“No, she fled. Clearly she knew someone was following her, and she spooked.”
“Daisy.” Then she signs a bunch of things that I won’t repeat. Penny isn’t a shy person, and she never holds back telling me what she thinks even if that is a string of expletives.
“I know, I know. I still have some info to follow, though. It’s not all lost.”
“And what does pervy Gary say about your little excursion to the land of IKEA?”
“I’m pretty sure that the population of this wonderful country would like to be known for something a little more than their flat pack furniture. What else is Sweden famous for?”
“Clogs?”
“Isn’t that the Netherlands?”
