Page 72 of Nathan
“It’s night in the US.”
“Try anyway. They need to know that you haven’t been kidnapped before this spins out of control.”
Picking up my phone, I called my mom, but as predicted, she didn’t pick up. “She’s sleeping. She doesn’t keep her phone in the bedroom because she’s afraid of radiation or something.”
“Then leave a voicemail.”
“I’ll try my father, maybe he’ll hear his phone.” I called my dad three times until he finally picked it up. “Hello?”
“Dad, it’s me!”
“Oh, hey, sweetie. Why are you calling in the middle of the night? Is it about that interview? Your mom didn’t say half those things, and she’s very sorry about it.”
“What interview?”
“Ehm… maybe I should let her speak for herself.”
“Did Mom give an interview to a newspaper?” My voice hardened.
“Well, I wouldn’t put it like that. There’s been one or two reporters chasing us this past week for comments on your break-up with that movie star you were supposedly dating, and your mom might have made a comment or three, but it was turned upside down, and now they’re writing that she fears for your life and that you’ve cut us off. All she said was that she had no comment and that she hadn’t talked to you about it.”
“They said that I’d cut my family off?” My voice sounded shrill even to me.
My father sighed. “I know, it’s silly, but in Mom’s defense, she hasn’t been able to get in contact with you for days, and neither has Lola.”
“Sorry about that, but I’m calling because there are some headlines that might worry you. I wanted to be sure you and Mom knew they were lies before you woke up and saw them.”
Another deep sigh sounded on the other end. “It can’t be worse than what’s been going on this past week. You know I keep away from that stuff, but your mother has been very upset.”
“I know, but listen, Dad, I slipped and fell yesterday. It was my own fault because I tried to balance on a log with wet moss on it, and the log didn’t like it, so it gave me a black eye and a bloody nose.”
“That’s what happens when you step on things. They fight back.”
“I should have listened when you told me that.” I smiled because my dad and I had always shared a weird sense of humor.
“Are you still in Europe?”
“Yes, I’m in Sweden.” Looking around the cabin, I tried to describe it. “We’re in a small hunting cabin in the woods. Every wall here is covered in fur and the furniture is at least twenty years old. Nothing matches but it’s cute and cozy in that Scandinavian way, you know?”
“Is that where you fell?”
“Yes, but don’t worry; the log is fine. It was just me that had to go to the hospital.”
“The hospital? Whoa, that sounds serious.”
I looked at Nathan when I answered, “It really wasn’t, but I’m with Nathan, and he’s a soldier and very protective of me. He was adamant that doctors checked me for spinal or head injuries. Better safe than sorry and all that.”
“Good, good… you can never be too careful.”
“Right."
“Anyway, someone took a picture of me, and the newspapers are making it sound like Nathan kidnapped me and caused the bruises. That’s why I’m calling... to let you know that’s not true.”
“I’m sorry, but who is Nathan again?” My dad yawned.
“Nathan is…” I was looking straight at Nathan, who had taken a seat across from me and was close enough that he would have heard my father’s question. “Nathan is my boyfriend.”
The reaction on Nathan’s face was minimal, but I did notice how his eyes widened a bit, and the lines on his brow lessened.
