Drenched | ✓

ocho

I rolled my eyes.

"Tim, actually," he said, defensively. He returned his eyes to me. "Julie, mind explaining this?"

"I don't think she has anything to explain to you," Nicolás's voice sounded, snatching the words right out of my mouth. "Why don't you let us get on with what we were before you interrupted?"

"I can't believe you're not saying anything, Julie!"

"I don't have anything more to say to you, Tim. Go home."

"Not without you," he said, stubbornly.

I was tired and not in the mood, so without much more thought, I slammed the door in his face.

Nicolás was watching me, amused and triumphant.

"You can wipe that grin off your face," I told him, going back up stairs to find my clothes.

He followed me into my room. "I don't know why you're annoyed at me," he said, pulling on his trousers whilst I did the same. "I defended you."

"You wouldn't have needed to defend me if you'd done what I asked you."

"No 'thank you, Nicolás'? No 'I really appreciate what you did, Nicolás'?"

I rubbed my head, feeling a migraine coming on with all this arguing in such a short space of time. "I told you to wait in here. The one thing I ask you, and you can't do that. You don't respect me enough to just stay in here."

"This isn't about respect, Julie," he said, suddenly very serious.

"That's exactly what this is about!"

"So because I come down to the door," he said, pointing downstairs. "I don't respect you?"

"Look, I've really had enough of all this today," I said, picking up the remainder of his clothes and pushing them into his chest. "Just leave, please."

"I didn't mean to upset you, Julie."

"Please," I repeated, already feeling my eyes begin to stream.

He didn't bother putting his clothes back on at all, just simply walked down the stairs and a short while later, I heard the door open and slam shut behind him.

I held my head in my hands. What a mess.

☼ ☼  ☼

"You can't hole yourself up in your room all day," my grandma said, giving me my fourth cup of tea of the day, before one o'clock.

"I am not holing," I told her. "Simply... waiting until the time is right to leave."

"And when will that be?" She asked, seating herself on my bed.

"Whenever I feel like it."

"Well," she says, tugging me into a sitting position. "I say you feel like it now. It's a lovely day, spend some time outside, okay?"

"Fine."

She gave me a small smile, which I couldn't help but return, and went back out through the door.