Page 26 of Constantine: Britain's Story: Part 2
The whole house reeks of her and it’s driving me insane. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking when I thought I could let her go.I need her like I need my next breath.
At 3:30 A.M. I finally moved into the guest room. Between the smell of her perfume and her empty side of the bed, I couldn’t take it anymore. Trying to sleep in there without her was torturous. Her absence was louder than a jackhammer on my skull, forcing me up and out of our bedroom in a last ditch attempt at sleep. It worked for two hours, but now it’s 5:30 A.M. and I’m already in the shower, my body and mind motivated by a singular task: Finding Britain.
Step one is to get back in Sandy’s good graces.Make that Sandy’sand the girls’ good graces,but I’ve botched it all. Whenever I imagined meeting the girls, I thought maybe they’d be tentative at first, but I’d eventually figure out a way to win them over. I just thought it’d be as simple as getting them tickets to see Taylor Swift. Now I’d probably have to book a fuckingprivate concert just to get them to talk to me.I make a mental note to check the feasibility of that.
Thanks to my hand, I move at a sloth’s pace while showering and dressing when all I want to do is hit the road as soon as possible. So I don’t even bother to make coffee or grab anything for breakfast. They’ll have that where I’m going.
“You again.”Still pissed. The sassiness is only part Britain. The rest is completely original, all Elodie. I’ve decided to take a different approach than yesterday. Yesterday I was desperate and rude. Today I have to be charming, patient, and kind. It’s going to be fucking hell.
I plaster on a smile as I approach the counter. “Good morning, Elodie. You’re up bright and early.”
Without missing a beat and completely straight-faced she says, “Well, when you work at a coffee shop…”You idiot. It’s unspoken, but the intention is clear. I let her biting tone roll right off my back because that little piece of information has hope swelling in my chest.
If Elodie works at the coffee shop, Britain is absolutely nearby. How many days will I have to come in here before a chance encounter? It doesn’t matter, though, because I’ll be here. I’m not above stalking right now. She’s carrying our child, and I’ll do anything and everything to get them back.
“So did you come here for small talk or are you getting coffee?” Miss Sassy Pants asks rudely.
“Both?” I try in a playful tone, but she doesn’t budge. “Alright then, I’ll take a black coffee and a newspaper, please.”
Caroline and Sandy come out from the back carrying boxes of pastries. They both slow down when they see me at the counter.Caroline scrutinizes me, giving me the once over, before her sight lands on my hand.
“What happened to your hand?”Caroline’s asking me a question?
“I, uh, got locked out of my house and had to break a window to get in.” I hold up the hand stupidly.
“Uh huh,” Sandy says before moving past Caroline to unload the boxes. “Don’t you have those keycode locks?”
“It wasn’t working.”Lie.
Sandy also gives me a once-over before getting down to business, “What are you doing here, William?” I look at both girls to find them staring straight back at me, waiting.
“I’m here for her, okay? You can ask me to leave, and I might, but I’ll just be here tomorrow, and everyday after. Even when the girls go back to school, Sandy, I’ll be showing up at your house, relentlessly, until you give me something. Anything. Even if I don’t get to see her, hopefully you’ll at least tell me how she is, how the baby’s doing. And I don’t want to do this, but I’m not planning to be an absentee parent. So if I have to, I’ll petition for my share of custody.” God, fighting with Britain over custody will be the hardest thing I’ll ever have to do. Every instinct in my body wants to give her what she wants, but if that’s full custody, I don’t think I can do it.
Elodie turns around without saying anything, filling up a coffee cup and grabbing a newspaper from the stand beside the counter. “That’ll be $4.75, mister.” Caroline and Sandy continue watching me as I pull out a twenty and hand it over.
“Keep the change.” Everyone continues to stay silent, so I move to a table (the one by the window in hopes I don’t miss a thing) just as a familiar face pops in.
“Hey, Murph!” I call out to the old guy who just stepped in. He turns in my direction, but his reply is only a low “Hmph” as he walks away. Let me guess, he’s pissed, too? How many coldshoulders am I going to have to brush up against? It doesn’t matter, though. There’s only one person’s favor I need or want. The rest of the world can eat shit.
Britain
Well, first night sleeping alone in a while and I survived it. It wasn’t plentiful or satisfying, but I did eventually fall asleep. And while I almost asked Jess to stay, I decided to woman up. It felt comforting waking up knowing Jess and Damian were here and that I wasn’t alone, though, even if Damian…is Damian.
Just like yesterday, I’m a little more hopeful this morning. I feel a little bit lighter and a bit more optimistic. I went past the 12-week mark and Ididn’ttext him, I slept alone last night and I’ve got my best friend here with me today. Oh, and her cute sidekick that I fully intend on cuddling with later, too.
I slip on some silk sleep shorts and a brami before heading downstairs where I find Damian and Jess, already up and about, still operating on Eastern time. Jess is feeding — well, attempting to feed — Eden, and Damian is out back, pacing while he talks on the phone.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Jess sing-songs to me in an overly cheery tone, making me laugh.
“Well, good morning to you, too!” I drop my voice to say hi to Eden, “And good morning to you too, sweetie.” She breaks out into a smile and smacks her little hands down on her food tray in enthusiasm. I drop a kiss on top of her head before I make my way over to the coffee maker.
“Did you guys sleep okay? Have everything you need?”
“Are you kidding? We slept great. Without Tommy’s snoring, I legit slept eight hours and so did Eden.” Glad my heartbreak could be good for something, even if it’s just to get Jess eight hours of sleep.
“That’s amazing, Jess.”
“How about you?”
