An Unbreakable Bond

Chapter 15 - Surely Not?

Claire spent the whole day with me. I told her everything about Aaron, the type of person he portrayed himself to be, and the callous way he just walked out on me. No matter how many times she would say he is probably feeling guilty about walking out, it still hurt me. He had no reason to do it. We were about to become a family, and he walked out like it meant nothing to him, like I meant nothing.

But, I still love him.

All these dreams I've been having, since the fire, have given me a longing to be with him. Maybe Claire was right. Maybe he did feel guilty. Maybe he is out there now looking for me. Paul was the only familiar face from my past that was actually caring enough to come. But, it's not good enough, the longer this drags on, the more I want my family, my friends, Aaron. The only thing keeping me alive, is the fact that Taylor is still out there somewhere, and the hope that I will soon find him.

"Listen, Annabel. I can't give you sound advice on relationships, because my history is littered with bad mistakes. But what I can say is, Aaron might be seen as the bad guy in all of this, but please, one day your paths will cross again. When they do, give him the chance to explain."

"I know Claire. It's just hard. I feel so lost right now with Taylor gone. Everything good that has ever happened to me has either walked away or been taken from me. I just want something right to happen to me, and the good feeling it gives me, to stay."

"You're still young Annabel. You have a long life ahead of you. You will get Taylor back, and once you do, maybe you can start on Aaron. At the very least, get closure from it and move on. Maybe start spending more time with the people closest to you."

"I think you're right. I need to stop running away from everything and start taking control of my life. For to long I have just followed and allowed myself to get hurt, and when it gets to much, I run."

"Then concentrate on Taylor. When this mess has ended, live your life according to you. Look, I been up here all day and Andrew must be getting bored by himself. I will come and check up on you after dinner if you like?"

"That will be nice Claire, thank you so much."

Claire was really nice. It felt good to have the girly chat thing going on. Most of the people I ever really spent time with were guys, and I couldn't really fully open up to them. They would just turn everything into sex or sports and had no time to be listening to girl problems.

I decided to venture downstairs and see Mrs. Tennant. Not seen her all day, and was getting hungry. Not ate much since the fire and was starting to get my appetite back. The Hostel was really nice. It had a kind of Victorian feel about it. By the looks of it, they wanted to keep this place traditional and not modernise it. I liked it. It felt homely.

I saw an old couple in the sitting room playing chess, and heard Mrs. Tennant in the other room talking to Claire. All I could make out was Claire asking about problems and how I was sleeping. I ran into the sitting room, as I heard the door open. Didn't want to come across as nosy. I sat next to the old couple and the man asked if I wanted to play next. Yeah, because I can see that happening. I said I was just watching and laughed quietly.

"Oh, Annabel, it's nice to see you up and about finally."

"Just thought I would stretch my legs Mrs. Tennant. Also, I was wondering if I could get a sandwich or something?"

"Of course dear. Come with me to the kitchen. Lets see what we can rustle you up."

Her kitchen was huge. I was surprised. I expected just the standard small kitchen for a place this size. It was very clean aswel, I can tell she liked cooking more than anything else. This place was amazing, every chefs dream.

"Your kitchen is very impressive."

"Thank you. This is my husbands little adventure. He is the master cook around here, when he is here. Always said he wanted a kitchen to be proud of. What kind of sandwich would you like?"

"Anything really, I don't mind. When is your husband back?"

"He should be back in a few days. If you are still here, you can meet him."

"That would be nice. Am I, and the old couple in the other room, your only guests?"

"At the minute, yes. We don't ever get too busy in the spring. As soon as summer comes, the tourists fill the rooms."

We sat at the kitchen table whilst I ate. She talked more about her husband and how their retirement was coming up. She was worried about handing the business over to her daughter. Her daughter never really liked this industry and didn't show much interest, so they were considering putting it on the market.

"Is that your phone dear?"

"Oh, sorry, I have a message..[Hope you are holding up Annabel. Had a hectic couple of days. Should be popping in to see you later, just have to pick up a few things. - Mike]."

"Was that a smile I saw then?"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"Not once have I seen you smile. As soon as you looked at your phone, there it was. I may be getting old, but I have had that smile many times before. I hope he is a good man."

Surely she is wrong. I mean, Mike was good looking, he was nice, mature, had a career, had everything. No, what am I thinking. Not now, this is crazy to think that we could be attracted to eachother. Maybe she is right.