Adriana's Corner

Chapter 11

"That was nice of him."

"Mmm. His daughter is coming over this afternoon too so...I don't know." I start opening all the other curtains. "What do you do with a seventeen year old?"

"I don't know, it's been a while since I've been one. This is today?"

"Yep. I told you I would pick myself up after the funeral. I'm a woman of my word which reminds me, what do you drink?"

There's a pause.

"Why?" he asks back. I let out a sigh as I open a few windows.

"Curious." I shrug.

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?" he asks again.

"Wow, this is mature. Just answer the damn question."

There's a silence.

"Coffee."

"Yes, but what do you enhance it with?"

He laughs.

"Scotch."

"Ah yes...all the good ones do. I would have been worried if you said Gin. Dodgy people drink Gin; my ex boss for one...actually he's the only person I know who drinks Gin so that's probably not saying much."

"Right and why do you want to know?" he asks chuckling again. I stand in the middle of the lounge and put a hand on my hip.

"Sheesh! Miles! How hard is it going to be for me to get you to tell me about yourself when you won't even tell me what you drink? This is going to be a very one sided friendship."

"I'll tell you whatever you want. I have nothing to hide." he says lightly. I scoff at this, going back to the kettle.

"I had to practically beat the word 'scotch' out of you. How hard is it going to be for me to find out about your gritty stuff?"

"Like what?"

I lean on the bench in thought, wondering how to take full advantage of this.

"What was you father like?" I decide to ask. There's a bit of a silence. Wrong question maybe? There's a painfully long, strenuous deep breath at the other end of the line.

"He was and still is a money-grabbing scoundrel who's out for all he can get."

I raise an eyebrow at the curiously sedate way he says this.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sucked me into it for a while but I shot back out when I realized what he was like."

"And your mum?" I ask even more intrigued.

"Uhhhh, not sure. I was never told."

"Are you serious?" He doesn't answer so I stand there, mouth agape. "Wow. That's rough. Sooo, parents not in the scene then and your sister is..." I urge, rubbing my neck again and going into the cupboard.

"Half sister. We got on alright so that's something."

I frown into space.

"And you're sorting out my problems?"
"Mine are old. They were dealt with years ago. Yours are new and you have me to help you so..."

"And I appreciate it. Sorry about yesterday, I just totally broke down and you wouldn't have understood me anyway."

"And you slept in the hallway." he adds, with a hint of that worried tone again.

"Yes, didn't quite make it to the bed." I admit as I pour hot water onto some strangely flavored tea.

"Nina...I wish you would have let me talk to you. It sounds horrible."