Page 30 of Sit, Stay, Love
Her mother huffed and looked away.
‘Come on, you two. Let’s not fight,’ her father said in the overly bright voice of a perpetual peacemaker. ‘Sweetheart, if you need a little bit more money to tide you over, you know you can ask. Right, Lydia?’
‘Of course. And Idoappreciate what you’ve built, but I don’t want you throwing years of your life away on something that might not survive. You have a good education. You’re bright and could put your mind to anything.’
Sera slammed her glass down with a loud clink. ‘I need to pee.’
‘Darling—’ her mother said with a shake of her head.
‘Sorry. I need to “visit the little girl’s room”.’ She curtsied before stepping off the balcony and into the house, wondering how long she could stay in the bathroom before her mother would be at the door asking her if she was having ‘women’s troubles’.
She should have cancelled. She was in no mood to tackle her mum. She had to be in top form to face that barrage of disappointment, and she was not in top form. Far from it. And sitting around all pouty and shitty wasn’t fair either; they only wanted the best for her.
When her phone rang, she grabbed it from the corner of the bathroom sink and answered without thinking.
‘Hey, you,’ Ethan said. ‘I got your text messages. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA.’
Great.She cringed. He had to ring while she was sitting on the loo. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I just wanted to make sure you were okay.’
‘I’m fine. A bit embarrassed, but fine.’
‘That’s why I didn’t call. Toby said you’d probably be feeling like that. He thought you’d want to be left alone.’
Oh shit.
Now he knows she’d told Toby.
He took a beat. ‘Really? Hmm. You’ll have to thank him for his concern.’
She frowned, catching the note of sarcasm in his voice. ‘I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything to him.’
‘It’s okay. He’s your friend. He knows what’s happening, and if you trust him, then I guess I do too.’
Her eyes scrunched. She wished this conversation wasn’t happening with her undies around her knees. ‘Anyway. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m the one who screwed up. I thought it would be helpful, but—’
‘Sera, you’ve got no reason to feel bad about anything.’
She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. ‘I’ve been thinking. You might be better off seeing a professional, someone who actually knows what they’re doing.’ Ethan was quiet for so long, she said, ‘Hello?’
‘I’ve tried a professional. A couple of times. I don’t want to see a therapist; I want you. This morning, I was thinking about pulling the plug, but I don’t want to do that. I made a commitment and I intend to honour it, and I’m hoping you’ll do the same.’
A weight lifted off her, and her shoulders dropped from around her ears. ‘Of course. I always honour my commitments. I’m just not sure I can help you.’
‘I think you can. We’ve had two goes at it, and sure, both were kind of disastrous, but I’m still willing to give it another shot, and that’s progress. Right? Just… no more dips in the lake or dog death matches. Deal?’
She laughed. ‘Deal.’
‘Where are you? You sound echoey.’
‘I’m… um… in the bathroom.’
There was a beat of silence. ‘In the shower?’
‘No.’ She was suddenly rather warm. ‘I’m at my parents’ place. I’m… I’m in the loo, okay?’
‘You’re on the toilet?’
‘I’m hanging up and calling you back.’
