Bliss

seventeen

The moment Mum got her hands on me, any potential plans Isaac might have had for our evening were cancelled. She hurried Henry, Essie and Elle out of the door, dismissed Isaac with a thankful smile, and somehow managed to glue me to my bed. While they all disappeared to the beach, their laughter taunting and welcome, Mum forced me to spend the rest of the evening watching her pack like the invalid I am as Paula offloaded her relationships woes onto us.

She's been in the same on-again-off-again relationship since her twentieth birthday. It would be exhausting if not for the fact that Raheem is her perfect piece.

Yes, you heard correctly. Her perfect piece.

They're both hyper-focused, highly involved individuals who want the best for themselves and anyone who manages to enter their dizzying orbit, including one another.

It's usually a match made in heaven, but the moment work gets in the way, they're off again, and Paula is left weighing up her options.

Take now, for example. Raheem was supposed to be on this trip too. I was excited for him, for them. But after a month of missing one another, things teetered off again. Paula seemed to be taking it well, although she seems to take everything well. Except now that she's spinning out, and I've been forced to act as a witness, let's just say that I think we're about to enter another on period.

I love on periods.

"I don't see why everything has to be so complicated," Mum sighs as she folds a pair of shorts. "You love one another. You're good together. That was all it took for your father and me to know things were serious."

"I don't think she wants to hear about you and Dad right now," I mutter as I shuffle to the edge of the bed.

"A." Mum jumps up, rushes over and gently pushes me onto my back before rearranging my feet so they're resting on her poorly constructed pillow tower. "You need to keep your legs elevated. And B, I'm just trying to help."

"It is helpful," Paula says, smiling softly. "But things aren't that simple."

"You young people love to complicate everything."

I roll my eyes and shoot Paula a pointed stare. "How did you leave things?"

She tugs at her middle finger and collapses beside me, her feet joining mine on Mum's wobbly pillow tower. "We said we'd reassess when I was back in London."

"So you're getting back together?" If Mum's trying to hide her glee, she's doing a shit job at it. It's painted across her face, causing her cheeks to swell and her plump lips to pull taut. Honestly, she's two seconds away from clapping her hands like a dribbling infant. It's gross how much she loves Raheem.

"We're not getting back together," Paula says.

Mum's face falls flat.

Serves her right.

"I don't think it's healthy anymore," Paula continues, her left hand wrapping around her right as the truth festers in the stale air.

"Not healthy? Not healthy? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That it's toxic," I hiss, my hand resting on top of Paula's mangled ones.

"I've seen you two," Mum says, folding my last bits with frothing fury. "You're the furthest thing from unhealthy. Lizzie and Spencer, now that was unhealthy, but you two are mature adults. You could work through your issues if you just applied yourself."

Paula untangles our hands and squeezes my thigh. "I don't think applying ourselves is enough this time."

Mum throws a forgotten bikini on top of the neat stacks of clothes that line my suitcase and struggles to her feet. "I suppose you know what's best," she says as she heads for the door.