Going Up | ✓

Shattered Sorrows - (19)

Maddie looks like she's about to protest, but obviously seeing the look on my face, she changes her mind. 'Em and Ky are coming round in a few minutes, so we can discuss a game plan.'

'Game plan?' I echo, a frown knotting my eyebrows. 'What do you mean, a game plan?'

She raises an eyebrow. 'Pops, we're not just going to let you sit around like this. We're going to take you out and you're going to love life.'

I shake my head in denial. 'No. I think that after the past two months, I need to spend some quality time with my son. I can't help but feel like when everything was going on Ivan, I kind of neglected him a bit. He didn't deserve that, so I'm going to rectify it.'

There's a pause and I frown. 'Well, today I'm just taking the day to let everything out and then he and I will spend some quality time together later on. I swear.'

Before Maddie can respond, the door bangs open and Ky rushes into the room. 'I'm going to kill him,' she announces before sweeping me into a hug. 'Honestly, who does he think he is?'

Em's a lot more subtle in her greeting. She just squeezes me into a tight hug, her smile sympathetic.

'Seriously,' Ky fumes angrily. 'I'm going to absolutely murder that man. Just you wait until I get my hands on him-'

'Ky,' I interrupt her. 'That's not going to happen.'

She freezes, turning to me with a frown on her face. 'What do you mean, that's not going to happen? I must be imagining things, right? There's no way that you're not angry at him.'

'Oh, I am,' I laugh bitterly. 'I'm absolutely furious, Ky, but he's not even worth my trouble. If he wants to leave, then good for him. I just have to move forward.'

Ky stares at me for what feels like an eternity, an absolutely stunned expression on her face. 'What?' she stutters. 'You're just... you're just letting this slide?'

I nod, running a hand through my relatively straight hair. 'Yes,' I confirm. 'I don't want to make this any worse than it already is, Ky. Let's just leave it at this.'

She studies me for a while. 'Okay,' she eventually relents. 'But one way I find really useful in getting all of my frustrations out is by going to the gym.'

'I don't have a gym membership,' I mutter.

'Excellent,' Mads jumps back into the conversation. 'We're going to get you one right now,' she bustles out of the room and returns moments later with a laptop, immediately beginning to type away on it. 'Which gym is it you go to, Ky?' she asks, her brows furrowed.

While the two of them lean over the laptop, looking for the website, Em quietly sits down next to me with her eyebrows raised. 'Really?' she murmurs softly. 'You honestly don't want to do anything about it?'

I shake my head, spreading my palms apart. 'What can I do, Em? There isn't anything I can do that will make it any better other than moving on.'

She nods understandingly. 'That does make sense,' she reasons.

I exhale, running a hand through my hair. 'I mean, I appreciate them being absolutely desperate to jump in there all guns blazing, but what good would it do? In the end it was his decision and there's nothing any of us can do to change that, you know?'

She smiles lightly. 'You have a good understanding of the world, Poppy.'

I refrain from raising an eyebrow and telling her that it comes at a huge price. Instead, I just smile at her. 'Thanks, Em.'

Before our conversation can get any further, Mads grabs my arm excitedly. 'We've got the website, we just need you to fill this stuff out,' she explains, pushing the laptop towards me.