Page 195 of Haunt Me

The entire embarrassment of last night washes over me in waves, and I sway on my feet. But Eden is laughing.

“You and I haven’t caught up yet, have we?” I ask her, leaning back into the wall.

“It sounded like you were on an important call,” she says, looking at the phone still on my hand.

I fling it onto a random bookshelf.

“I was,” I reply. “Now I’m with you.”

She tucks her hair behind her ears, and I don’t know how I control myself.That’s my job, I think fiercely.I do that, I tuck your hair back, right before I tip up your chin and lower my head to—

“Tell me about college,” I say quickly, my voice trembling a little. “How is it?”

She tells me what classes she is taking, and how it feels to be on her own, away from home. Building her future. She’s gotten a job at a café as well. I don’t know if she’s realized it yet, but the royalties she is going to be getting from writing my songs will make her quite wealthy for the rest of her life.

But I doubt she cares about any of that. She gets really animated talking about the law and sociology classes she is taking at Harvard, and about her plans for working with troubled teens in the future. She has started volunteering already. I’m glowing with pride.

“Do you still have time for your writing?” I ask and she raises an eyebrow.

“It’s the other way round: I can’t stop,” she says and we laugh. “I even took some writing classes, but it was weird, because the professors recognized me from Olivia’s coronation.”

I flinch, my body hardening, getting into fight mode.

She sees it. “Don’t worry,” she says softly. “Everyone was very discreet. They were really amazing people.”

I exhale and she laughs. At me. Nice.

“Plus, one of my law professors made them all sign NDAs, so I’m safe.”

“Safe,” I repeat it as if it’s a lifeline.

“Would you just breathe, Isaiah?” Eden nudges me. I try to obey her, but I’m having a hard time. “It’s bad enough that we have half the star system of the planet in this house without you choking on air on me.”

Well, that doesn’t make it any easier for me to calm down. Everyone in this Christmas group, including me, has put their lives on hold in order to be here. For Eden. Because we love her. And the fact that she can’t see it makes me murderous.

“Ok, here is something ridiculous,” Eden says, seeing my eyes go fierce, “Dad keeps sending me phone numbers of girls near my age, from his college. He wants to find girlfriends for me. It’s cute.”

That is so ridiculous and so like Walter, that I forget my panic and smile.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Eden replies. “I don’t mind. I always call them, you know. It’s good practice. He picks them carefully: they are all bookworms, so I’ve clicked with most of them. We are in the process of forming our own book club. Besides,” she adds after abeat, completely destroying my heart, “it’s fun to text someone. You know, someone who isn’t myself.”

I choke on air.

…

It’s around noon when Theo finally deigns to wake up. He arrives with his head of security in tow, and that worthy individual forcefully advises us to ‘stay in for a few days’. Nobody messes with Theo’s head of security—not if they want to stay alive in the slightest—so we all resign ourselves to stay inside what Lou has dubbed ‘Christmasland’, otherwise known as Walter’s house.

Secretly, I am loving this. Every time I step foot inside this house, I never want to leave it. And now, I don’t even have to pretend I’m sad we’re stranded in here.

Eden, Ari and Noah are busy draping more tinsel, bows and ivy on the staircase banisters until the steps themselves are nearly invisible. Meanwhile Lou, Faith, Manuela and Spencer—Spencer, of all people—get busy in the kitchen. Lou is apparently ‘famous’—and I use the word loosely—for her dark chocolate and mint cupcakes, and Manuela, Spencer and Faith are trying to prove that youcanhave too many cooks in the kitchen. Judging from the screeching that is coming from down there, I think they have already done an amazing job.

Walter is talking animatedly about education in America with two of our security guards—they both have kids in college—and Justin pops outside to shovel the freshly-fallen snow from the pavement. He’s quickly followed by a gurgling Noah, and Pooh, hot on his heels. Justin doesn’t even bat an eyelash as he sets down all his gear to swaddle the baby and the dog in a million scarves before they venture out on the icy conditions.

At some point, I notice Theo holding his head in a corner by the Christmas tree. I almost rush over, but Eden gets to him first. Theo looks up at her as if she is his personal savior. She smiles at him and calls him ‘Teddy’. He buries his head in her stomach and cries like a little kid. I look away.

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