Page 37 of Heart Match

‘Mum, everything’s fine,’ I head towards my bedroom, checking on the way for evidence that Luc was here last night. She follows behind me, clinking her heels on the floor. You’ll almost never see my Mum’s feet in anything but high heels.

‘You know how I get when you disappear like that.’

As soon as I spot my bed made and my and Luc’s clothes neatly folded on top of each other on one corner of the mattress, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

Shit.

‘Mum, you’re overreacting,’ I try to pretend it’s not a big deal that she has found men’s clothes on my bed and head for the bathroom. Not giving her a sign that I know that she knows a guy has been here.

‘Naomi says she’s trying to reach you since last night, Lexi too.’

Yeah, I’ve been ignoring them on purpose, but I hadn’t thought it would lead my mum to pay me a surprise visit.

‘Does it have anything to do with your new boyfriend?’

See? That’s the reason her surprise visits drive me crazy. I roll my eyes at her as I begin stripping down my clothes and tossing them in the laundry basket.

‘I don’t have a boyfriend, Mum,’ I say, turning to face her. Her expression is nothing close to amusement, she’s genuinely worried and I know exactly why.

‘It’s not like you to ignore the girls’ calls, so of course I was worried and decided to come over. You know …’

Guilt takes over me for a moment. I can see what she’s thinking in her eyes.

‘I know Mum, I know.’ I take a deep breath and try not to think about the day Josh tricked me into a conversation in his car, trying to convince me to go back to him. It did not end well. For me.

‘It’s been almost three years, Mum. I haven’t heard from him in a long time.’

Thank God.

I don’t mention the nightmares, how Josh’s still pretty much alive in my head, haunting me. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking he’s in my bed. Some nightmares take me back to fights, to being his girlfriend again. I never have good dreams of him, as much as I try to remember just one positive memory of him, I can’t. Even the moments I considered good and happy at the time make me sick now.

‘I know, but you never know.’

‘You’re right Mum, sorry,’ I give her a comforting smile before stepping into the shower.

She goes to the sink and starts retouching her makeup, our gazes meeting in the mirror.

‘So, do you or do you not have a boyfriend? You can tell me, you know?’

‘I don’t have a boyfriend Mum. When I do, you will know,’ I say, hoping she’ll accept the answer and not mention it again.

‘Right, right. Casual sex, isn’t it?’

I almost wince hearing her say it aloud. It’s so weird to talk to her about this stuff.

When I roll my eyes, she doesn’t press anymore. Instead, she begins to give me all the family’s updates. How Nate’s new girlfriend’s high-pitched voice annoys the hell out of her and that she hopes it won’t take long before they break up.

‘You’ll meet her today. She talks so much it makes you wonder how she manages to breathe,’ she says, making me chuckle under the water.

Then she mentions that Dad got a new car without telling her first.

‘I don’t know how many cars your father still needs. He barely drives the ones he already has,’ she’s putting more mascara as she complains. I don’t even think she needs to retouch her makeup, she does it when she’s anxious.

My Mum never understood my dad’s passion for cars. What he enjoys the most about having vintage cars is spending time and money fixing them, more than driving itself. Truth is, his cars have always been one more way for him to bond with me. I always loved to listen to his explanations about engines, and designs, and special editions.

‘It’s different when you’re a collector,’ I say as I wash my hair, thoughts of Luc from last night playing in my mind.

‘The Walters said you should do dinner sometime soon. I met them in the lift last night,’ I say, trying to spare me from the unnecessary family drama, turning the conversation in another direction.

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