A Fractured Echo

Chapter 18

The days after the date, which I'd christened 'the cluster-fuck', were beyond hectic. Monday saw me working a full shift for Ruby, who wanted all the 'gory' details of my night out. She hadn't quite expected the details to be gory for all the wrong reasons. As I shared the events and revelations of my evening, the colour slowly drained from her face. Horrified at what transpired, she shakily moved to sit on the stool behind the counter.

"Why have you come in today?" she questioned, bewildered at my presence now she knew the full story.

"Because I prefer to be busy, you need me, and I'm not going to let his ignorance derail me more than it did when it happened," I stated plainly.

It was the truth. I'd taken Sunday to gather my thoughts, figure out how to deal with him, and I wasn't prepared to let it occupy any more space in my thoughts until I saw him on Wednesday night. There'd been too much of that in the past, and I'd come to the realisation that rather than allowing those events to grip me tightly, holding me hostage, it was time for me to own those moments, and dictate how much importance they were given. I was taking back my fear and insecurities, and embracing the progress made instead.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Holly?" Ruby gasped, her eyebrows shooting towards the ceiling.

Quickly assembling a plate of cake off-cuts and a mug of hot chocolate, I repeated her actions from the day we met. She was in shock. Sugar was good for shock, right?

"I'm just tired of feeling helpless. I want to be in control of things, and that starts with telling him it's over." I shrugged.

Getting angry about things actually helped massively to crystallise my resolve. I wasn't going to be a complete cow about things, but I would certainly be having my say, leaving him in no uncertainty over where we stood.

Ruby studied me intently for a moment. "I'm guessing he knows he screwed up, but it will be good for him to hear just how much of an arse he was."

Smirking at her blunt assessment, it was exactly where my thinking was at. She didn't raise the subject after that, which was perfectly fine with me.

Tuesday saw me having a ridiculously productive meeting with the manager at Factory. True to Jackson's promise, I had every resource available to me and a wealth of suppliers keen to have our business. Walking through the venue during the daytime was a completely different experience. Without the heaving crowd, the vast potential of the space was infinite, leaving me fizzing with excitement at the possibility of what we could put together for the event. Armed with my notebook, idea after idea flowed from my pen onto blank pages as I perched myself on the stage after a second walk through. What had once been a very simplistic notion in my head, blossomed into something with the potential to reflect the scale of what we were hoping to achieve with the centre itself. With a head full of excitement, Wednesday was spent working on a range of options for Constance to consider while she was out wooing some of Gerald's old artist friends to get them involved.

By the time I was ready to meet Tristan, exhaustion was beginning to set in thanks to such a thoroughly productive day. I was beyond satisfied with how things were shaping up. Grabbing an apple from the kitchen for the walk, Constance was sitting at the table doing the crossword from today's paper.

"You all set?" she enquired, knowing exactly what I was heading off to do.

Nodding, I gave the apple a quick wipe with some kitchen paper. "I should only be an hour. A major heart to heart isn't on the agenda."

"Oh, I know." She agreed. "Where're you meeting him? Just in case you need me to rescue with some dire emergency that won't wait."

I shook my head at her concern. "The pub at the end of Tavistock Road, near the tube station. I should be fine."