I got dressed into some other clothes and fixed my hair into a ponytail because it's not like I would be in the presence of the king anymore. I threw on a sweatshirt and grabbed my backpack throwing some things in it including Zayn's jewelry and the book she gave me as a gift.
I went downstairs and found mum in the kitchen sitting at the island with her computer in front of her. She was holding a cup of tea as she did whatever it was she was doing on her laptop. She turned at the sound of the squeaking in the steps. I stopped in my tracks as she closed her laptop.
"Emerald, come here," she said motioning to the seat next to her. I slowly went into the kitchen taking a seat next to her. She looked at me with tired eyes. "You have to know I'm upset with you and your actions."
"I know," I nodded folding my hands and resting them on the countertop. "I'm sorry, Mum."
"I know baby," she said and looked me over. "Are you heading somewhere?"
"Just out," I shrugged standing up. "I'm not walking to the castle, Mum. I'm not welcome there."
"Okay," she said with a nod. "Be safe."
"I will," I nodded walked to the front door leaving.
The chilled air met my lungs captivating me. After the long day I had, the fresh air made my head clear. I crossed my arms over my chest taking in deep breaths as I walked through the village. I pulled my hood over my head hoping to conceal myself from passerby's. People knew who I was and I didn't want to explain why I was here and not in the palace. It wasn't something I felt like explaining. At least not today.
The part of town Trish lived in was small and seemed like a tight knit community. There were young children playing out in the middle of the street. If a car passed, they would yell and scamper off to the sides of the road and wait for the car to clear. Each house had a gate in front of it. I saw a little white button, I pressed it and a doorbell noise sounded in the house.
Someone opened the front door and poked their head out. It was Trish. When she saw me, her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face. She opened the gate and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. I buried my head in the crook of her ne'ck embracing her tightly.
"Come on inside, Emerald," she said closing the gate behind me. She walked in front of me and held the door open. "I hope you're hungry! I am making a curry for dinner and everyone is here."
"Thank you," I smiled. I noticed the pile of shoes by the front door, and I took off my shoes.
Trish's house was different than what I expected it to be. The walls were a dark orange and all of her furniture had a Spanish-style feel. It felt like a homely kind of place. Photos of her family were plastered to the walls all smiles on everyone's faces. The aroma of food wafted through the air. I could practically smell the spices.
"I am going to assume everyone is in the kitchen," she laughed to me motioning me to follow her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm not quite sure," I sighed looking at her. "It really hasn't sunk in yet," I said honestly. She gave me a kind smile giving me a side hug and kissed my cheek.
"It's going to be alright," she grinned. "Things happen for a reason! Let's go eat our feelings," she laughed pushing me into the small kitchen that was crowded with people.
Zayn was sitting on a countertop with Perrie standing between his legs. She had small flowers stuck in her hair circling around her messy bun. The girls were all making food and there was a tall man who looked like Zayn. I assumed this was Trish's husband.
"This is my husband, Yaser," Trish smiled motioning to her husband. "You know the rest of the family."
"Hi Emerald!" Everyone smiled. I gave a small smile to everyone as I stood in the middle of a large family business.
"Pez, why don't we bring Emerald into the living room?" Zayn asked. "It's kind of crowded in here."
"You don't mind do you?" Perrie asked looking up at me.
"No, not at all," I shook my head.
"Before you go in the living room," Trish said putting her hand on my shoulder. She squeezed between me, and grabbed a tall wine glass and filled it with some sort of alcohol. "You need this, Emerald. After the day you had, you need this more than my children."
"Thanks," I smiled taking the glass sipping the liquid.
"Zayn," she said handing him the bottle. "Keep refilling it."
"Will do," he nodded wrapping his hand around the bottle. "Break up remedy at its work."
"We didn't break up," I said walking out of the kitchen with them trailing behind me. "We're just separated because of King Desmond."
"That's rough," Zayn said turning into the living room. "I've never actually met him yet. I have met the girls a number of times."
I nodded continuing to drink the alcohol. I could feel the effects of the alcohol coming over me. My brain felt slightly fuzzier than normal and as fast as I drank the stuff in my glass, it was refilled. So the wine or whatever it was, never ended and I felt myself becoming more emotional as time passed on. It was weird. I was allowed to get drunk because I essentially was just dumped by my boyfriend's father.
"You want to know something, Zayn?" I asked looking at him. "I would marry Harry in a heartbeat. We both have or had disgusting men that are our fathers. At least mine apologized to me. But no, he gets His Royal Highness, King Doucheypants for his."
"Did she just call the king Doucheypants?" I heard Perrie ask Zayn.
"I did," I said holding my glass out to Zayn. "And you know what? I'm completely okay with it! You know why? Because he's already fucked my life up and left me with nothing. Do you want to know the punishment he gave me? I'm never allowed to get married! How cruel is that? He wants me to be a lonely women with five thousand cats and get fat. Well news flash! I can do that while I'm married!"
"Wow, she's a lightweight," Safaa said walking in the living room.
"Leave the poor girl alone," Trish said walking up to us. "Emerald? You should have some water."
"I am perfectly fine, thanks," I said holding up my drink. "You know what? You, Harry, and your girls are my favorite people from that place. I love Gemma and Anne too. But the king and the bitch Priscilla can go fuck themselves. They're pains in my asses and can get their heads chopped off for all I care."
"That's nice, Emerald," Trish said sitting down next to me.
"I love Harry, he's the best thing that has ever happened to me. So you know what I say to all the people who hate us? Fuck you. They can all go in the fucking dungeons and fuck themselves. King Desmond and Priscilla would be in the center of all those god damned people," I said taking a swig of the glass.
"I think we're done with the tequila," Trish said taking my glass away and handing me some water. "You need to sober up."
"But you said—"
"The idea was to get you drunk so you could vent," she laughed. "We definitely managed that."
"I want a haircut," I said looking at Perrie. "You can cut hair can't you?"
"Yeah, but you're drunk," she said and I shrugged.
"I don't care. Can you cut my hair? I want it just above my shoulders," I said taking a long drink of my water. "Come on I won't be angry."
"Okay," Perrie said standing up and grabbing a tall bar stool chair, and dragged it to the kitchen.
"We need to wash her hair first," Trish said to Perrie. Trish got the sink running as Perrie went to presumably grab the shampoo and conditioner.
"This will definitely sober you up some, Emerald," Trish said dunking my hair under the water. "You didn't deserve this, you know. Getting kicked out of the palace."
"He made me feel as if it was my fault, Trish," I murmured looking at the textured ceiling. "I was the one in the wrong. I'm a slut for having consensual intercourse with his son. His son gets to be revirginized in the name of God and gets to be forgiven. I'm the town whore."
"You're not a whore, Emerald," Trish whispered. "You're just a girl in love with a boy who irrevocably loves you back."
"I miss him," I said feeling the welling in my eyes. "I miss him so much."
"I know," Trish said running her wet hand over my cheek. "I'm sure he misses you too. I can't imagine what the both of you are going through."
"He collapsed to the floor as they took me away. I've never seen anyone look so broken before," I said as Trish wrapped a towel around my head. "I wanted nothing more than to go back, and give him a hug and tell him everything would be okay, but I couldn't. I was the reason for his sadness."
"I'm not sure if this will help, but my mum told me this quote. I'm not sure who it's by, but it truly is relatable," she smiled. "'When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, and nobody can keep them apart.'"
I looked up at her, and smiled at the quote. She knew Harry and I were destined to be, and she knew there was nothing that could separate us. We would find a way back to each other. We always will no matter how many times we were ripped from each other's grasps.
I sat down on the tall stool as Perrie combed through my hair getting some of the knots out. The length she pulled it down to made me realize just how long I've been growing it out for. Practically my whole life. I have always wanted to cut my hair to a short length, but always refrained from doing so. This time, though, I was going through with it.
"You ready?" Perrie asked. I hummed a response, and that was when I heard the soft snipping.
Every time she cut, I could almost hear each individual strand of hair being separated from the rest of my hair. I looked to the ground to see my long, black, curly locks of hair fall to the ground in a messy pile around me. My eyes widened at how much was on the floor. I wasn't expecting that much hair to be cut off. Then again, I wanted it above my shoulders. New chapter, new me.
"Done," Perrie said after what felt like a lifetime. She held up a mirror.
The girl that stared back looked like me with hair at her chin line. I touched my damp hair almost not believing that this was me. But when my fingers reached the ends of my hair, it dawned on me that it was me. I was this girl with a short haired look now.
"What do you think?" Perrie asked.
"It's perfect."