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“Oh shit, okay. Let me grab a coffee and get us a cake. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
Chapter fifteen
I Have To Tell Her
Em
We walk back into Bruno’s and Millie orders two coffees and two pieces of chocolate cake to go.
It’s been bugging me since last night why she left so suddenly. I kept asking myself if I had said something out of turn, but I was only telling her how much my brother really wants to be with her. He has been bugging me for weeks, talking about her non-stop, going out of his way to help her, and even taking time off work for her. I think that’s the biggest surprise, he has never taken time off, and always worked so hard.
First, when our mum passed away suddenly from a heart attack, he helped support Dad when he had his breakdown. He worked any job he could, and then two years later, Dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer. Unfortunately, it was way too far gone to help him much. Just under two years later, Dad passed away in hospital.
It was such a hard time; Jack was only nineteen but he kept working, sorted it all out. He said I never had to worry about him. But I did, all the time. When our inheritance came through, Jack made sure everything was taken care of. We soldtheir house, and bought two smaller houses, one for each of us. When I went off to college, Jack had his master plan, and nothing would stop him from achieving it. When I went away to University, he left with Dan and built his empire, using some of the inheritance money. He never let himself relax, always moving onto the next property, the next business adventure, never a personal one. I think he saw too much pain, when it came to relationships. I think seeing our dad the way he was after Mum died, he never wanted to go through that, even though our parents’ marriage was a happy one.
There was a glimpse of hope when he first met Millie for that brief moment. I remember Dan telling of how he looked all over the island. It’s like his guard just went down and he let her in. That was a few weeks after Dan and I started seeing each other. God I loved that, sneaking around! Every time he flew back from Ibiza, he would stay with me; we would call and talk every day he was away. I would fly out every chance I got. After a year of doing this, we decided to tell Jack. Dan was so scared, I found it hilarious; his hands were shaking, and he kept trying to back out, saying we could wait, and that Jack didn’t need to know. Apparently, there is some bro code saying you don’t date your best friend’s sister; she’s off limits, beatings were implied, and friendships were put in jeopardy. When we told him, he laughed and said that he had known about it for about six months, and it was fun watching us try to hide it. He hugged us both and said that we made a great couple, but if Dan ever hurt me, he would kill him.
“Hello? Em, you in there?” Millie says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about when Dan and I told Jack we were dating, it was so funny.”
“What was his reaction? Was he pissed at Dan?”
“Quite the opposite,” I chuckle. “He said he had known for six months, found it funny watching us try and hide it, but did say he would kill Dan if he ever hurt me.” I laugh some more.
“Sounds like you have a great big brother.”
“I do, I really do. Anyway, enough about me, let’s go for a walk. So you can tell me all about it.”
“Can we go somewhere a little more private? It’s not something I have talked about before, so I may get a little, um….” She takes a big breath and sips her coffee, “Emotional, let’s say.” Watching her, I can see her hands shaking a little, every time she brings the cup to her lips.
In all honesty, I’m a little on edge, almost feeling scared about what she could be about to tell me.
“Okay, I have a great place, just down by the seafront, it’s quiet and secluded, we should be okay there,” I reassure her.
She nods and I lead the way. It takes us about ten minutes to get there, and when we do, Millie looks so nervous that she’s picked her empty cup to shreds.
She also rang work and told them she would be late, saying there was a problem with her apartment, so she didn’t lie, although it wouldn’t matter anyway.
I nod towards the seating area at the edge of the walkway. We walk over and sit on the bench; it looks over the sea in one direction and has wonderful evergreen trees surrounding it, making you feel safe. I used to use this place when my parents passed away, needing time to be by myself. This place would calm me down when the reality hit that I didn’t have my mum or dad anymore. Only Dan knows about it, he would always be the one to find me here and bring me home.
Millie takes in a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. I can see she’s still shaking, so I reach out and hold her hand. When she looks up at me there are tears in her eyes but she’s trying to blink them back. When a single tear falls onto her cheek, slidingdown her face, I have an idea of what she is going to tell me, but I don’t know the extent of it.
She tells me everything, from the day she met him to the day she left him. I cried with her and for her as she let it all out, told me and trusted me with what that evil prick had done.
I don’t know how she is even standing or how she survived and managed to leave him. It feels like it’s been hours, hours of horrific stories, stuff you would never even imagine. No wonder she freaked out at me and Jack last night; if I had known, I would never have said anything.
“I’m so sorry Millie, if I had known I would not have said anything to you about Jack,” I said to her, crying and Millie hugs me for comfort. I don’t want her to let me go. She looks worn out, tired of it all, and how it keeps affecting her. I don’t want to let her go.
“It’s okay, well it’s not okay, but you know what I mean.” Sighing, she stands and pulls me up with her, looking me straight in the eye.
“Now you know why I freaked out so badly, but please don’t tell anyone else. I can’t stand the pity looks, they make me want to hide away, it’s humiliating. And if I do that, he’s won.”
I grab her for another hug,how can she be so strong?I need to pull myself together, it’s not my story and yet I feel like I’ve been through it with her; my emotions are all over the place.
“Can I ask you one thing?” I say in her ear, “Please tell Jack, even if things don’t happen between the two of you, he needs to know, so he can understand.”
“But it’s so humiliating. He would never look at me the same way. I’m weak, broken and damaged, not the girl he first met. She was… a dream that… got squished.”
