Page 45 of Runaway Girl
My breath hitched in my throat.
“Oh my—Holy shit, Ali! What are you going to do? He just said…” Alexis continued to rant as my brain misfired.
Who is this man?
I continued to listen with single-minded rapture, not wanting to miss a moment.
“Ah, Aunty… you’re hurting me,” Austin said in a low whine.
That’s when Mum’s concerned voice filtered through. “Are you alright, Alicia? You look like—”
“Like me when I was having a stroke.” Dad cut in, crowding into my space. “Are you okay, Ali? You’re pale—trembling, even.”
I immediately released Austin, who I’d unintentionally squeezed into a tight grip, then jumped up, pressing closer to the screen.
Their voices filtered into a buzzing static as Alexis seethed. “Shut up and let the man speak!”
“To the world, she’s known as Runaway Girl. When all I want is for her to run back to me. Don’t walk, baby, sprint full-speed, run as fast as you can—because I fucking swear, I’ll catch you this time!”
When the end credits began rolling, my knees were already on the floor, my legs refusing to hold my weight.
“Someone tell us what the hell is going on?!” Mum asked. “Who is that man?”
Austin continued chomping on his goodies as he enlightened my parents. “I thought he was my daddy, but Mama said he wasn’t father material, just like he said on TV. What does that mean?”
All eyes pivoted to Alexis, including mine.
She raised her hands. “I saw him outside your office in the early days of his betrayal. And he was acting smug as if his fame could get him out of the hole he’d dug himself.”
“And what do you think now, Lex?” I asked, voice low and strained, on the verge of being defeated.
Her features softened, genuineness shining through. “I think he’s putting in the work, Ali. I think he’s doing everything he can to be worthy of you.”
Mum stepped closer. “Alicia, who are you to that man?”
“I’mRunaway Girl.”
Pause. “And… are you going to run back to him? Like he asked?”
“I-I don’t know…”
“Do you want to?”
“Yes.”The answer was so immediate that the response was out of my mouth before I could compute.
That’s when the unsettling realisation fully took root. I had already forgiven him.
It was both gradual and all at once.
Ethan’s subtle pleas, his silent support, the guarded protection. After so many months, I had softened towards him.
I missed us together. I missed my friend and lover.
The night before, I had asked Burt if love was worth the heartache. I hadn’t been able to get his answer out of my head. Despite all of Ethan’s wrongdoings, I, too, was willing to push through the bad times to relive the good ones.
“Well.”Dad scoffed, cutting into my thoughts. “He has to go throughmefirst. He can’t just say a few words on TV and act like everything is fine.”
Mum sighed. “You heard what he’s been through, Phil.”
