Page 37 of Where She Is
Again, I know there is more to this, but before I have time to speak, my phone buzzes. Without a second thought, I reach in my bag to see who is calling, but when I look back around the table, I’m so embarrassed. All eyes are on me. I feel awful for two reasons. Yes, it was rude of me to grab my phone during dinner, but I also feel terrible because I had to press the red button and cancel a call from my mum. I haven’t spoken to her in a while. Coyly, I place my phone back in my bag. I look towards Daniel and mouth, “Sorry.” Then I see the rest of his family, and do the same to them, “Sorry… sorry…”
I can’t leave the table, but I’m desperate to speak to mum. Ihate cutting her off like that. He notices my flushed cheeks and worried expression. “Was it important?”
I brush it off. “No, no. It’s fine. It was only Mum.” Then he says, “Baby, if you want to speak to her, go do it.” He seems genuinely concerned and he called me baby…again. I control my sudden urge to snog his face off and touch his arm. Just as I lean in and open my mouth to speak, Freya interrupts, her voice dripping with sarcasm across the table. “Oh, look at the two lovebirds, aren’t they sweet!”
Joe’s eyes widen as his chair scrapes across the floor and he races to her side. “Come on, sweetheart, that’s enough wine for you.” He attempts to pull her from her seat to prevent another outburst, but Freya refuses to move.
“I’m not going anywhere until I’ve told this gold digger to take her hands off him. Who the bloody hell does she think she is.”
I swallow hard as the scene before me unfolds. Is that what she thinks? I’m after his money? I wonder if the other members of the family think the same. Oh God, this is awful, I wish I could get out of here, but I’m glued to my seat with fear. Daniel slides his arm around my waist and squeezes my side. Joe isn’t angry. He appears unfazed by his wife’s behaviour. “Come on, love. Up to bed now.” He attempts to haul her up from her chair once more, but Freya literally throws herself on the table, slides her body back and forth then hurls whatever she can reach in my direction. Wine glasses shatter to the floor and Freya screams like a wild animal. Peter joins Joe to calm her and move her to another room. Her flailing arms and legs slap and punch. Her fight is monumental.
“She doesn’t deserve him! I want her out of this house! Get that bitch out of here! Get her out!”
I’m scared as Freya violently spits her words and lashes out. Peter grabs her arms to give Joe some control. “How dare youtalk like this in my house! Who the hell do you think you are? This has got to stop.”
“Don’t Peter. We have to stay calm,” Diana says while making her way around the table.
Freya is as still as stone. With the realisation of what she’d done slowly sinking in, her eyes are wide, spilling hot angry tears. She collapses into a sobbing heap only held together by her husband’s arms.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” she repeats while Peter barks the order.
“Joe, get her out of here.”
Diana takes his arm. “That’s enough, love. Shouting won’t help.” Joe lifts Freya like a rag doll and I notice Daniel silently offer to help. Joe looks to his brother with understanding. He wants to do this alone. As they walk away, the only sound is Freya’s pitiful sobs. It’s almost heartbreaking. Peter, on the other hand, has fire in his eyes and Diana is clearly embarrassed by the display from her daughter-in-law. She sits by my side and offers an apologetic explanation.
“Hannah, I can’t apologise enough. She didn’t mean any of that, I promise you.”
My head is awash with confusion. What is happening here? I nod anyway, “It’s all right, Diana. No harm done.” My stomach is sore from its clenched state. I don’t know if I should swallow the lump in my throat, or blink away my impending tears. Thankfully, Daniel saves me. “I’ll take Hannah back to the cottage, Mum.”
And then I hear Peter faintly whisper to his wife, “Bloody bitch, how dare she!” His language shocks me because he is normally so passive. His eyes shut tight and he blows out a deep breath. “Sorry you had to witness that,” he says, squeezing my shoulder and I smile sympathetically. Daniel takes over and leads me out of the room. I can hardly breathe when we get outside. Daniel knows I’m more than a little upset by what has happenedand pulls my shaking body in close as we walk to the cottage. Once we get inside, I release all my pent-up emotion, I can’t help it. “What the hell was that?” I choke out.
“Hannah, I’m sorry. It’s not the first time she’s lost control like this, but I swear it was directed at me.”
“I don’t think so, Daniel. That woman is dangerous, especially when it comes to you! What exactly, is going on with you two?”
He looks worried, but I can’t walk on eggshells with him any longer, I have to know what her problem is. “Tell me, Daniel. Have you two had an affair?”
His look of horror gives me the answer before he does. “What? No! Don’t be ridiculous!”
“What is it then? For God’s sake! Nobody hits out like that unless they have a damn good reason. She didn’t want me to touch you. She’s not happy I’m here, and to top it off, she called me a gold digger! What am I meant to think?”
His hand rubs over his tired features and a deep sigh escapes his lips. He reaches for my hand and guides me to sit with him.
“Hannah—” His thumb rubs nervously over my knuckles. “I was looking for a diversion from my life, but nothing or rather nobody could distract me. I mindlessly floated from one woman to the next for months until—”
I raise my brow in irritation. “Until what Daniel.”
“I met someone who I thought could help me. I was convinced I could make a life with her.”
“I don’t need to know this.”
“Yes, you do. I have to tell you, okay?”
My eyes close to guard me against what’s coming next as I nod and swallow hard.
“I soon found out she wasn’t strong enough to stand up to Freya.”
“And you think I am?”
