The Eleventh Hour

Chapter 39

Everybody, say hellooo to Rodrigo! [picture of him on the side]

I stepped off the plane into the soft warm breeze of Alicante.

It was the end of November, but the afternoon sun was still pleasantly warm. I felt groggy as I reached the bottom of the metal stairs leading to a plush cream leather interior coach, provided by the Spanish airport to everyone in first class.

Going through security and collecting the suitcases was conveniently quicker too – maybe it was the fact I’d worked at Manchester airport for five years, but I never liked standing around in airports too much going to and from vacation.

When we walked through the Arrivals’ doors, of course, the first thing we heard was our mother. She was squealing excitedly, jumping up and down manically waving her hands above her head, as if by some miracle we’d actually miss it. My dad stood next to her looking a little sheepish, glancing at the people around him apologetically. I definitely knew where my shyness came from.

We were several feet away when my mum came charging up to us, her arms outstretched. “Oooh my babies! I’ve missed you so much!”

We were choked into her iron grip embrace for a long moment before she finally released us. Her eyes flashed straight to me as she pulled away and her smile disappeared as her face paled. She gave me a once over from head to toe and her face dropped further. “Oh Lol, look at you. Come on. Car. Now.”

I cringed as she turned and stalked towards the exit. Something tells me my current appearance didn’t exactly sit well with her. I rolled my eyes then greeted my dad, pulling him into a more suitable hug. “Hey kiddo.” He smiled, though his eyes looked strained.

“Hey dad.” I tried my best to force a wide smile.

“Dad.” Joey beamed as he pulled my dad in to a quick hug.

“We better join your mum, looks like she’s off on one.”

 ~

“Lola Rose Rachel Summers, when was the last time you ate?”

My mum was still lecturing me in the car on the way to the villa. I looked out of the window in the backseat, choosing silence to be the best policy. I’ve learnt over the years that the best thing to do during situations like this was let her get everything off her chest at once.

“How much weight have you lost?” she continued ranting, “you look as though you’ve lost about fourteen pounds. That’s a stone Lola, a stone! Your face is gaunt and pale, the bags under your eyes are so tremendous you look like you have two black eyes. All your curves are gone, you’re skin and bones!”

The sound of her voice bounced off the otherwise awkwardly silent car. She turned in the passenger’s seat and I flinched, only to find her glaring at Joey, not me like I’d expected. “And where were you while your sister was turning herself into a malnourished vegetable, hmm? How could you allow her to get herself like that?”

Unlike me, Joey was quick to defend himself. That was the only major difference between Joey and I – Joey had my mum’s flare, whilst I had my dad’s laid back approach to things.

“I force fed her every day!” he complained loudly, “that’s why I brought her out here so quickly, to see if you could knock some sense into her. Because you’ve already pointed out it clearly didn’t work for me.”

“Thanks, Joe.” I muttered sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes at me as my mum turned back to me again. “If I knew you were this bad, I would have brought you out here sooner. Just look at you, Lol. You’re a mess. And all this because of a man! I never pinned you down as this type after a break up, especially after Liam. This one must have been pretty darn special make you act like this –“