TW: Mentions of E.D.s, anxiety, abuse and vomiting
It's been about a week since I watched Bridget Jones' Diary with Thomas. Two weeks since Will's phone call that changed everything. A week until Will and my father come to visit. Five months since I ran away. Four years since my mother passed away.
As the week progressed, I just got more and more anxious. After three weeks of not a single cigarette, I was up to multiple a day. My grades were lowering and I spent the majority of my time with my head in the toilet, chucking up practically everything I had consumed that day. Which was not a lot. In fact, it had turned into nothing.
My mind was a mess. My life was a mess. After five months of feeling nearly safe and having a break from the constant nausea, I was back to square one.
It had gotten to the point where I was considering moving out because I did not want my father to know where I lived.
On some nights, when I had finally managed to get to sleep, I would wake up and see his face. I would hear his words, feel his fists.
I was tired and struggling so much.
At 5pm on Friday, I decided that I needed to take control of my life somehow. Sure, I couldn't handle solid foods at the moment but I could have tea. Or coffee.
I pulled on my rain coat and boots as it was currently pouring and made my way to my favourite coffee shop. Where Jack was.
"Oh my God, it's been ages!" Jack exclaimed from behind the counter as I entered the coffee shop. Several customers' heads turned his way but he ignored them, striding over to me and squeezing me into a hug. If I had to admit it, I needed it. "You're so thin, have a cookie." He said, rounding the counter again.
"I'm alright, I just came for a drink." I said, a sheepish smile on my lips.
"What can I get you, then?" He asked expectantly. "Tea?"
"Yes, please." I said, pulling my card out.
"Don't be rude." He scolded, taking out his own card and paying for it with his own money.
"Thank you, Jack." I said, giving him an appreciative smile.
He only nodded and shouted, "Linda, I'm going on my break!" He grabbed the tea and a coffee that he had made for himself and sat down at one of the tables by the window. A small candle was in the middle of the table, lighting up his warm smile.
I sat down opposite him. "So, how's that school of yours? Have you met anyone?" He said, sipping his coffee while giving me a mischievous smile.
For some reason, the first person that came to mind was Thomas. I had no idea why. Did he even fit into that category?
"Uh, not really." I laughed nervously.
"That sounds like complete bullshit." He said, giving me his bullshit face from across the table.
"What?" I spluttered.
"Mable came in the other day. She said you met someone." Jack said, sipping his coffee, watching for my reaction.
I choked on my tea. "She what?!"
"Yeah. And not just anyone. Thomas. Verner." He said, raising his eyebrows. "When were you going to tell me this?! And quite frankly, I'm hurt that you lied."
"Oh my God, we are just... friends."
"You do realise how unsure you sound right now, right?" He said.
"That's not because we're... lovers-"
"Oh my God, never say that again." He said, giving me a disgusted look.
"Look, okay, I don't even know if we're even friends. I just tutor him and we share a class. That is literally it."
"But you do know that he is Thomas Verner."
"I am aware of this, yes." I said, rolling my eyes.
"Right, then you know that he just inherited a hotel empire and 254 million dollars."
I stared at him blankly. I blinked once, then once again. Did I hear that right?
"I'm sorry?" I said.
"He has a hotel empire worth millions, if not billions, and has just inherited 254 million dollars." He said, giving me a confused look as if I should know this.
"H-he owns a hotel empire." I said, to be sure.
"A very big hotel empire." Jack clarified.
"And how many millions?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"Two hundred and fifty four." He said, enunciating each number slowly. "I don't know how you don't know. It was all over the News. He inherited it on his twentieth birthday party."
Something in my brain clicked. His birthday party. The fact that none of his friends were there, although Thomas having friends wasn't really his thing. He had acted a bit different ever since that happened. This was probably why.
"I can't believe this." I said quietly.
"If I were you, I'd make the most of it. There aren't really any shortcuts in life except marrying rich." Jack sighed.
"As I said, Thomas doesn't like me like that." I clarified.
"Whatever you say." He said, taking a long sip of his coffee, a knowing grin on his lips.
---
On the way home, the rain got slightly heavier so I pulled up my hood and hurried quickly back to my apartment.
However, as I was trudging through New York's murky streets, mentally preparing myself to not upchuck whatever little food I had in me left, I heard a noise to the right of me.
I turned to look and there, on the ground was a black cat. I bent down to look at the cat and saw that on his collar was his name.
"Graham." I said, smiling. "Funny name."
Graham meowed at me, wanting me to stroke him.
I held out my hand and just as I was about to stroke his head, the keys that were in my hand fell out and landed in the drain that I now just noticed with a loud clatter that sent Graham skittering away.
"No!" I shouted, trying to squeeze my fingers into the drain, ignoring the disgustingness of it all. When I had no luck I let out a half sigh, half sob and reached for my phone, using my clean hand to turn it on.
I went straight for Mable's number and called her. Voicemail. I was about to call again when I hesitated. She obviously didn't want to answer and was very busy with Marcus. Who was I to interrupt that? Selfish, as per usual.
My finger hovered over the call button for a second more before I decided against it.
"Just my fucking luck." I said as a lump clogged in my throat.
Tears were threatening to spill.
I was alone, in the rain, locked out and I had no one to call.
Sniffling, I walked back to my apartment, knowing that Mable was with Marcus and I was alone in the rain.
"For fuck's sake." I said, as I sat down on one of the steps out of my apartment building, chin in hand.
I could try some of the neighbours but who would I be to ruin their night.
Selfish brat. All you ever think about is yourself. That's why your mother died. My father's words echoed in my head.
Of course this would happen to me.
I sat there, ignoring the ache in my stomach, thinking about what Jack said about Thomas, about what Mable and Marcus were doing right now (I had a few guesses) and finally about Thomas.
About whether maybe, just maybe, Jack could be right and Thomas liked me a little bit, even as a friend which I wasn't sure I even was.
I checked my phone, 18:24, surely Mable would be back soon. Or maybe she would call me back.
18:49.
19:18.
19:33.
It was just reaching 19:35 when I heard another one of the many cars driving past, except this one was stopping. In front of me.
Shivering slightly, I looked up. The rain, cold, and lack of food inside me was making me extremely tired and not quite ready to fight off a potential kidnapper. So be it.
A very tall man with dark hair climbed out of the black car that I had just now noticed was a Porsche.
"Valerie?" A familiar voice said.
I looked up to see Thomas looking at me, worry etched into his face. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm locked out." I said lamely. "I dropped my keys in a drain when I bent down to stroke Graham." I said, still sniffling.
"Graham?!" Thomas said, reeling back. "You bent down to stroke a man that was lying on the street?!"
I looked up, "What- No! Graham is a cat. I bent down to stroke a cat."
Thomas let out a deep laugh. "Only Valerie Fawkes would lose her keys because she had to pet a cat."
I frowned. "I don't see the issue. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me."
"How long have you been out here?" He said, his brows knitted in concern.
I checked my phone again. 19:38.
"Um, like seventy four minutes."
"Over an hour?!" Thomas said, his face now morphing into something that resembled anger. "Where's Mable?" He asked, his gaze softening when he looked at my face, slightly drenched from the rain. His eyes snagged on the wet hair that I tucked behind my ears.
"She's with Marcus. I tried calling but I didn't want to be selfish and ruin their time together so I thought I'd just-"
"Sit in the rain on a dark cold night, waiting for her to come back?" He finished.
"Yes?" I said.
"Come on." He said, nodding towards his car.
"What?" I said, confused.
"I'll take you back to mine."
"There's really no need to do that." I hurried to say.
"Yes there is. I can't leave you out in the rain by yourself."
"You can."
"I really can't." He said, an unreadable expression on his face.
"I don't want to be a bother-"
"You're never a bother. Not to me." He said, smiling. His hand was held out towards me. "I'll carry you if I have to."
Ignoring him and his hand, I stood up and made my way towards his car. Once he was in, I said, "I'll just stay until Mable comes home. Then I'll be out of your hair."
"Or you could just stay over." He said, his eyes on the road as he began driving. I had to admit that his car was warm and better than the cold steps. Especially with the heated seats.
"Very funny." I said, rolling my eyes.
"I'm being serious. There's plenty of room for the both of us."
I looked over at him and realised that he was being completely serious. Why was he doing this?
"Really, it's fine." I insisted.
"Look, Mable and Marcus will be doing whatever they're doing, for a while. So you might as well just stay over. It's no big deal."
It was to me. I was about to say something in response when I shuffled around in my seat and it made a wet squeaking noise.
"Oh my God I am so sorry, I'm making your car wet." I hurried to apologise.
"Valerie, it's fine. I'm glad you're here with me and not out on the street." His hand tensed on the steering wheel as he said the last part.
"I just don't want to be a nuisance."
"You aren't, don't worry."
I nearly laughed at the last two words he said. Recently, it was hard to do anything but worry.
"You can borrow some of my clothes when we get to mine."
"Really it's fine-"
"It's not fine, you're going to catch a cold."
"Whatever." I grumbled, making him laugh.
Looks like I was going to Thomas Verner's house. Again.
---
Hey guys, it's been a while. I'm really really sorry about the lack of updates recently, the last few weeks have been kind of crazy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't worry, there will be regular updates from now on.
Word count: 1942