Page 27 of Ms Perfectly Fine
Nina began to sob uncontrollably. Seeing her so upset broke Autumn’s heart. She embraced her friend, letting her get the tears out of her system. After a few minutes, the sobs dissipated. Autumn stroked her back until her breathing evened out. Nina leaned out of her embrace, and Autumn handed her some tissues from the counter.
“With Garrett. He said I don’t take our relationship seriously because I still have pictures of Sophia and me.”
Autumn’s heart sank, and she made Nina and herself a cup of her favourite sweet tea. “Those are memories; you shouldn’t feel bad about keeping them.”
“I shouldn’t have hidden them.” Nina sniffled and cupped the warm mug. “You’re in them too, and so is Aimee. I just worried that if he saw them, he would feel weird about it, so I kept them in my cupboard.”
Autumn was surprised she’d felt the need to hide a part of herself from her boyfriend. Nina was the most self-assured person she knew. It was horrible to see her confidence slipping.
“I said I don’t have feelings for her anymore, but he doesn’t believe me,” Nina went on, her voice cracking.
“Do you? You can tell me—I won’t judge. Sophia was your first love, and you only separated because of distance. It would make sense if you still had some lingering feelings.” Autumn could see how much guilt was eating at her.
Nina moved to the couch on the far side of the room and tucked her legs beneath herself. “I’ll always love her, but I’m notinlove with her anymore.” Nina clutched a cushion to her chest like she was trying to protect herself from her feelings.
“Is there something else?”
Nina didn’t meet her eye. “She’s getting married.”
The strain in her voice told Autumn everything she needed to know. Not that she would ever say it out loud, but she would much rather Nina cried about Sophia’s engagement than waste tears over Garrett.
“Are you upset about Garrett, or that she is engaged?”
Nina sighed and buried her face in her hands. “Both.”
“A box of tissues and some ice cream coming your way,” Autumn said, grabbing them from the counter and the freezer. Sometimes there was nothing to do except to be there. “Wanna cry and watch TV?” Autumn asked, plonking down on the couch beside her.
“Nothing with romance,” Nina sniffled.
“How about a horror?”
Nina leant over the couch, scanning Autumn’s collection of films. She had a whole shelf dedicated to horror. “The more violent, the better.”
It broke Autumn’s heart to see her so down. When it came to her heart, Nina was always so loving and vulnerable. She gave people her all; Autumn was often envious of her ability to be so vulnerable. She was terrified of experiencing such hurt. She felt like she had already had enough pain in her life, she didn’t need to add heartbreak to the list.
Nina settled on a gruesome zombie flick. They snuggled up on the couch. Halfway through someone being eaten, Autumn realised Nina had arrived minutes after the roses.
“When you were driving up, you didn’t see anyone outside the house, did you?” she asked, getting them some water.
“No, should I have? Were you expecting someone?” Nina didn’t take her eyes off the screen except to get another scoop of cookie dough ice cream.
“No. I thought I heard someone knock,” she said, putting the topic to rest. She didn’t want to worry Nina.
They ordered takeaway for dinner, and they were only twenty minutes into their third horror film when she noticed Nina had drifted off. Autumn covered her with a blanket and let her sleep off her tears. Everything would seem better when she woke up.
Chapter Nine
Elijah
ONCE THE STRESS of the lecture was over, Elijah found himself queuing for reception at Harlow Hotel, since he hadn’t been able to check in earlier. As it was Saturday night, the hotel lobby was bustling with those who had attended Gamecon. After hours of small talk, he was running out of steam, and he just wanted to get to his room and rest. Then again, he never managed to sleep in hotels thanks to footsteps in the corridor, the sound of the TV from the room above, or a couple having far too good a time nearby. No matter how tired he was, his mind never quietened.
A heavy hand landed on Elijah’s shoulder, and he turned to see his old boss, Mr Harcroft. His beard was greyer than when he had last seen him, but his suit was no less expensive. “Your speech was impressive, although we were expecting your creative director. I didn’t know you knew so much about illustration.”
“Harcroft.” Elijah shook his hand. “I’m afraid there was a family emergency, though Francis was looking forward to coming.” He took a step forward as the queue moved.
“His talent is impressive. It still troubles me to have lost both of you,” Harcroft said, and Elijah caught the flash of a grimace. Clearly, he was still bitter about it. “No hard feelings. After all, we are acquiring the game, so it’s like you never left.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Nirosoft, but I’m sure the Canada office is coping just fine without us. Our last game was so successful, and I believe we can do even better this time,” Elijah said. His ten-year plan relied on it. He would use the capital he’d gained from selling his games to build a company to not only rival his strongest and oldest competitor, but crush them.If I have to bite my tongue in the meantime, so be it.
