Page 27 of One Night with the CEO

“Well, if I was healthy, I wouldn’t be here now, would I?”

“I suppose not,” Patrick conceded. “Tell me more about your mother. Have you heard anything else from her?”

“Not in the last week. Getting the neighborhood watch involved was a good idea. I’ve seen from the messages in the group that she’s been chased off a few times by their patrols, but I don’t imagine that’ll deter her for long.”

“You can’t control her actions; you can only control yours. What do you think you’ll do when you next come into contact with her?”

“Well, telling her to go to hell clearly hasn’t had any effect. I was thinking of threatening legal action if she keeps harassing me. I know the police won’t do anything to help, but she doesn’t necessarily know that. Maybe if I hit her with an official letter from a lawyer, it’ll scare her away.”

“Do you think that’ll work?”

Mia sighed. “Probably not.”

“What do you think will work?”

“If I knew that, don’t you think I’d do that?”

“Have you considered talking to her?”

“This entire exercise is so that I don’t have to talk to her.”

“I know that you don’t want to pick up a relationship with her again, and I agree with you on that. I just think that perhaps if you talked to her, it might help. She clearly doesn’t realize how badly she fucked up with you. Maybe if you explained it to her, she’d understand just how far past saving your relationship really is.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, but Mia didn’t like it. She didn’t want to bring up the past with her mom. That would surely only make things worse… but what if it was the only way to dissuade her?

“I’ll think about it.”

“You do that. Our time is up, but I’ll see you next week.”

“Thanks, Patrick,” Mia said grudgingly. She left the office, grateful as she always was to be out from under Patrick’s scrutiny.

It had been four weeks since she saw Genevieve, and the hole Genevieve had left inside her was as large and painful as ever. It was like the best parts of Mia had been ripped out, and she had no idea how to get them back. She wished she could see Genevieve’s lovely blue eyes again. She missed them. She missed losing herself in Genevieve’s kindness and the safety that she felt when she was with her.

The nightmares were worse than ever, and she was even having trouble with her art. That, more than anything, bothered her. Art had always been her solace, but it seemed like the passion she had for it had gone out of it. Mia had had plenty of passion for her work before she even met Genevieve but trying to convince herself that this passion should have remained untouched after Genevieve left was not having the desired results.

Mia went to bed wondering about the potential conversation with her mom. What would she say? She would have to give evidence, because her mom would surely argue against the charges. There was so much evidence, Mia didn’t even know where to start.

Later, she understood that it had been a mistake to go to sleep pondering the worst things her stepfather had ever done, but that knowledge came too late to save her.

Mia shot up in bed, screaming her lungs out after one of the worst nightmares she’d ever had. Sobbing hysterically, she reached for her phone automatically, navigating to Genevieve’s number with shaking fingers.

The phone rang for so long that Mia started to fear it wouldn’t be picked up, but eventually, it was.

“Mia?”

“Gen-vieve—help—I—Gen—” Mia couldn’t draw in enough breath to speak, nor do so clearly through her sobs. The world was spinning, and the thundering of her heart seemed to drown out all other noises.

“… are you? Mia, can you hear me? Where are you? Do you need an ambulance?”

“N-n-n—”

“Where are you?”

Mia managed to choke out the word home before falling back on the bed, clutching her chest as it sent sharp pains through her torso. She wondered if she’d been wrong in telling Genevieve she didn’t need an ambulance, but how was she supposed to say that when she could barely muster enough oxygen to keep herself conscious?

“I’m on my way to you, Mia. Just hang in there. I’ll be with you in ten minutes.”

Ten minutes? How the hell was she supposed to survive like this for ten minutes? Mia spluttered incoherently but couldn’t get words to come.

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