"Hard to forgive" ᵉⱽᵃⁿˢˢᵒⁿ ᵗʷⁱⁿˢ

xiv. "at the hotel"

Cecilia's P.O.V.:

Scarlett was still looking for suitable clothes when there was a knock at the door. I looked at her questioningly for a moment and she nodded, then I went to the door and opened it. Elizabeth appeared in the doorway.
I stepped to the side and let her in. I closed the door behind her.

"Lizzie, is everything all right? Do you need anything else?" Scarlett asked, rising from her somewhat awkward position to look at her friend. She had a pile of clothes in her hand and handed them to me.

"I thought you might need some clothes for Cecilia to sleep in. Since you're pregnant, your clothes might be a bit too big for her," she said with a grin and then winked at me.

Scarlett looked at her indignantly. "That's outrageous. Are you trying to say I'm fat?" she asked in an angry tone, putting her hands on her hips and I started to giggle quietly.

"Of course not, you're just..." she stopped for a moment, then continued "...chubby," Elizabeth replied and gave Scarlett a quick wink.

"I'm glad," Scarlett said, her voice dripping with irony, indicating that I should choose something from the clothes I wanted to wear to sleep in. I let the fabric slip through my fingers and looked at the different pieces. She had brought a large selection of clothes. There were clothes with long sleeves, but also short ones. There were pieces made of velvet, but also polyester and cotton.

Without further ado, I decided on a brown cotton jumper and matching brown trousers. I also picked up a white short-sleeved shirt and handed the rest back to Elizabeth.
"Thanks, I think that will be enough," I told her and she nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we should get you some fresh clothes tomorrow," Scarlett said more to herself than to us. Elizabeth nodded in agreement and left the room with a 'good night'.
Scarlett showed me my bed, which was adjacent to her and Colin's room.

"If you need anything, feel free to wake us up. Ok?" she asked and I agreed. I put Elizabeth's clothes on the bed and looked round the room briefly. Then I realised that Scarlett hadn't left the room yet and looked at her questioningly. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine now," she said dreamily and walked a few steps towards me.
"Can I give you a quick hug?" she asked and I hesitated. I thought hugs were awful, too much physical contact. Scarlett's smell of lavender was so calming, though. I looked at her in twilight and then saw in her eyes that she had already given up hope that I would agree.

I cautiously opened my arms. "But only for a moment," I said and she immediately pulled me into her arms. She rested her head on mine and ran her hand over my back.
"I love you very much," she whispered and briefly detached herself from me to press a kiss to my forehead. "I know this isn't going to be easy and Chris and I don't want to rip you out of your lives, but we want to be part of this one," she continued, looking at me with her green eyes. A few tears formed in them, but she seemed to have them under control. I nodded, but remained silent.
Then she broke away from me. "Good night, sweetie," she said goodbye and then ran out of the room. She left the door ajar so that a small ray of light fell into the room.

I quickly changed and ran into the adjoining bathroom. Luckily, Elizabeth's clothes weren't much too big for me, so it all fitted very well. I looked tiredly at my reflection in the mirror before washing my face thoroughly and quickly going to the toilet.
I then dragged myself tiredly back to bed and let my body sink into the soft cushions. I exhaled deeply and looked around the almost completely dark room.

My thoughts wandered to Felix and I wondered what he was doing. I pulled my mobile phone out of my pile of clothes and switched it on. The bright screen was quite unpleasant, but I didn't let it bother me. I tapped around on the screen and dialled my brother's contact.

Cecilia:
Hey, are you still awake?

I only waited a few seconds before I got an answer.

Felix:
Yup, can't fall asleep.

Cecilia:
Me neither.
It's all so strange.
But we have to set off tomorrow
on our way to Dad's tomorrow.

Felix:
This man is not our father, Lia.
We finally know that.

Cecilia:
He raised us anyway.
Don't we owe him anything?
He took us in.

Felix:
Maybe we owed him something once,
but he destroyed that himself when he
changed.

I sighed wearily. Felix was right, but at the same time it was all so difficult to understand. And what should we say to Dad?
'Thanks for raising us, but we've found the right parents and we're leaving'?

That would be ungrateful.

I switched off my mobile phone and put it on the bedside table to my left. Then I put my arms to the right and left of my body and closed my eyes. Tired, I surrendered to the darkness and emptiness.

****

Hey,
I'm really sorry that there hasn't been a new update for so long!
Honestly, at the beginning I didn't think anyone would read my books and then my personal life was pretty stressful and I just didn't get to writing.
Unfortunately, I can't promise that my updates will come on time, but I'll do my best.
Thank you for your support!
Hugs to you all! <3

~ Aurela