Page 14 of Eternally Bound

Daniel Carrington was gone. The man I had loved for years had died. Maybe he never existed and was a figment of my imagination. It could very well be that he was the evil monster, just as the man that laughed maniacally as I scrambled into the cab.

I had fallen in love with a monster. All my affection for him was thrown into the wind.

Pushing the images of that day out of my mind, I stood up from my spot and opened the French doors to allow fresh air. It was getting colder, though as a Scot, it didn’t bother me too much. I guess a perk of being born in this country.

The morning light started to pour in through the kitchen windows, but my thoughts were miles away. In London. My next performance was coming up, and as always, it triggered my anxiety. Not the singing or performing. It was being in London, knowing Daniel Carrington was there, lurking in the underworld somewhere. Did he ever think about me?

With an inward groan, I switched on the coffee machine and waited as my cup brewed. After my restless night, I would need a strong cup, or two, of coffee to make it through the day. While my coffee brewed, I started boiling water for tea. My mother would probably be up soon, and she never drank coffee.

With my coffee prepared and water still on the stove, I sat down. Just as I expected, I heard Mum’s footsteps in her room above. Knowing she’ll be downstairs in a couple of minutes, I put a teabag and two sugar cubes into a mug and poured the boiling water into it. And just in time as my mother appeared in the doorway.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, love,” she returned my greeting with her soft smile and seated herself down in the chair next to me. “You got up really early today.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, worried, and I forced a smile. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Is something worrying you?” My mother always saw too much. “Did you hear some bad news?”

“No, just one of those nights.”

I didn’t want to tell her that Callen hadn’t responded to my texts to let me know he was okay. For all I knew, he could be dead. I sent him two messages and there was no reply. But it wasn’t the first time he did that. First few times, I panicked and thought the worst. But after so many years, I was used to it. Yes, it bothered me, but I was accustomed to it now.

It bothered me more to think that Bram would start being aware of that bad trait of his father’s. But I couldn’t control it. All I could do was to make sure that Bram knew I’d always keep in touch, never leaving him in the dark.

We chatted a little more as we both sipped on our hot drinks, enjoying the fresh air and sounds coming through the open windows. And that was when I heard the car.

“Are we expecting someone?” I inquired. My mother had her book club ladies, and they always hung out, but even this would be too early for them. She shook her head, and before I could open my mouth to ask another question, Callen strode through the door; his disheveled appearance was the first thing I noticed.

“Callen?” I asked in shock. He had a black bruise on his left cheek and looked like he had been in a physical fight. “What happened to you?”

His expression was somber, and he looked like he was about to start crying. I shook my head. I must have misread it all.

“Just got a little roughed up,” he muttered as he shut the door behind him.

From the side of my eye, I noted my mum’s lips thinned. I could only imagine everything that was going through her head. Another strike against him, not that he had many things going for him.

“Who did this to your face?” I questioned him.

His glance darted to my mum and then back to me. He didn’t want to tell me anything in front of my mother. Even after all these years, he failed to understand that my mother saw him for exactly who he was. She had no misconceptions about his abilities or inabilities. But she left it up to me to live with my choices. She just loved Bram and wanted to see me happy, but not at the cost of nagging me about Callen.

“Can we talk in the garden?” He proceeded to the garden without waiting for my answer.

“You could at least greet my mother,” I muttered, annoyed at his rudeness.

“It’s okay, Ainslee,” my mother assured me, patting my hand gently. “Go ahead and square it away.”

I followed him out into the cool, fresh air and found him already sitting on the little bench. I should tell him that if he didn’t want my mother to hear whatever he was about to tell me, he should have walked further away. I was too tired to care right now.

Taking a seat on the chair next to the bench, I clasped my hands in my lap and watched him. I should have offered him coffee or tea, but right now, I just wanted to hear what he had to say. He had never behaved like this before.

“What’s going on, Callen?” I asked him quietly.

He shook his head and desperation crossed his face. He kept avoiding looking at me and my stomach dropped, knowing instinctively it was something bad. When he started gambling, he avoided me, his shame at himself overwhelming.

“What’s the matter?” I exhaled shakily, trying to prepare for the worst but not knowing what the worst was.

I stared at him, waiting, barely daring to breathe.

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