Life After The Villa

3. Mystery Man

"Mama!" I hear, waking me up from a heavy sleep. I groan as I do so, not wanting to get out of bed. The doorbell rings again, and I know that Sofia is waiting for me to go down and answer the door, because I told her never to open the door without me, just in case.

"I'll get it." James says, then places a gentle kiss on my forehead before rolling out of bed and heading out of the room. I watch him go and I just think about everything that happened yesterday. Meeting James' mum for the first time gave me reassurance that I didn't know I needed. She made me feel so secure within our relationship, and now I feel like we really are going to work on the outside world. Because even though we've been living outside of the villa for a few weeks now, I did have a slither if doubt that we wouldn't work in the long run. But all of those doubts are gone now, so it's no surprise that I'm laying in bed with a wide smile painted on my face.

"Vee!" I hear James shout, snapping me back to reality. "It's for you, an old friend called Evan."

I immediately furrow my brows at this, who on Earth is Evan? I don't think I've ever met anyone named Evan, let alone have an old friend with that name. So I throw the duvet off of me and make my way downstairs to see who this mystery man is. As I turn the corner into the hallway, I can't quite see who it is at the door. But as I take a step closer, I see his face in the light of day and my heart sinks to my stomach. "Oh my god." I whisper to myself, at an absolute loss for words. I just want to burst into tears right here right now, but I know I have to be strong for Sofia. "Take Sofia upstairs." I command James, and he does as I say immediately.

As soon as James and Sofia are out of earshot, he pipes up, "Look, Violetta-" He starts, but I interrupt him.

"No, you look." I say angrily, not wanting to put up with any of his bullshit. "You have no right to be here. How dare you turn up like this after what you did?"

"I'm sorry." He says, and he looks genuine but I can't believe a word that comes out of this man's mouth. "And I don't expect you to accept my apology but I just wanted you to know that I am truly sorry for what happened."

"You're right." I admit, bitterness laced in my voice, "I won't accept your apology. And I never will. What you did was vile, and it has literally torn my life apart. What do you expect me to say to my daughter when she asks who was at the door?" He seems speechless, wondering how he should answer that question. So I give him a possible answer, "Sofia, meet your dad, Evan, meet your daughter." As I say this, my voice cracks about ten times just saying one sentence, and the tears are falling one after the other.

"I don't expect that, I never would." He finally says, "but I just want you to know that I was stupid, and I was a child. I didn't realise what was happening and I thought it's what you wanted that night at that party, and I was stupid to think that." Hearing his explanation doesn't change anything, but I do like hearing him say he's an idiot. At least he doesn't think he's done nothing wrong.

But that doesn't calm the rage building inside of me. "I don't know if you learnt this at school so I'll teach it to you now." I start, hatred spitting out with every word. "Sex takes the consent of two people, not one. If one person is lying there not doing anything but the other is having sex with their body, it's rape."

Those words fill the air with silence for a moment, and when he speaks he sounds more apologetic than ever. "When I heard on TV how you interpreted that evening, I realised what I'd done and that I needed to speak to you and clear things up."

This shocks me, I didn't realise what he thought happened that evening. "You genuinely thought that?" I ask, a little more calm now. "You didn't know?"

"I promise that I had no idea. I didn't even know I was a dad all these years." He explains, but that doesn't mean that I forgive him for what he's done. I physically can't, the thought of forgiving him makes me feel sick.

"I'm sorry, but this doesn't change anything, I'm not going to introduce you to her and pretend like nothing has happened." I tell him, tears still falling down his face. "Maybe one day I'll change my mind, but for now I just can't."

"And I completely understand that." He admits, "but can I at least have your number to stay in touch? Otherwise I know I'll never get to see my daughter."

I consider this for a moment. But I realise that when I was in the villa, I missed Sofia so much that it hurt, and I was only away from her for two months. I would be distraught if I could never see her again, so it's not fair to make him lose all hope of seeing his daughter. So I take his phone off of him and type in my number, "I'm not making any promises." I remind him, my heart still torn. I hand his phone back and go to close the door, "goodbye Evan." I say, then close the door on him. And as soon as the door is closed, I rest my back against it and slide down until I'm sat on the floor, my head in my hands, and tears streaming down my face.

I can hear myself sobbing loudly, I've imagined how I would react when I met him again, and I never thought it would be like that. There are so many things I wish I could have said but I was almost paralysed, and I felt like my throat was closing up and no words could escape. At this point I'm crying so loudly and hysterically that I don't even hear James coming down the stairs, it's only when he places his hand on my shoulder that I realise he's there. I lift my head from my hands, and see him squatted down in front of me, his eyes locked on mine. "Vee, what's wrong? What happened?" He asks, his voice as soothing as ever.

I try to breathe in between sobs, and try my best to get the words out. "It was him." I say, the words barely coming out. "Sofia's-" I stop myself there, not physically able to finish my sentence.

"Father." James says, finishing my sentence for me. "He was Sofia's Father?" He questions, and I nod my head, and his face instantly drops. "How dare he?" He angrily states, and I can see the frustration boiling inside him.

I reach out and place my hand on his leg, "let's not talk about this right now." I tell him, trying my best to stop crying. And then what I least wanted happens, I hear my daughter's footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Mama?" She asks in her sweet, innocent voice. "Who was that?"

And just like that my heart hits the floor again. I wipe the tears from my eyes and be strong for her, she can never know what that man did to me. "Just someone I met at a party once when I was younger." I tell her, not wanting to lie. "He just came to talk about the old times, that's all."

"Come on Sofia," James starts, standing up from the floor, "let's go back upstairs." As he says this, I stand up too, wanting everything to go back to normal. He leads Sofia upstairs, standing just behind her, with his fingers intertwined with mine, squeezing tight.

"Thank you." I whisper to him, so that Sofia won't be able to hear. Then I say it one more time, not knowing what else there is to say. "Thank you."