Page 109 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“And what about Thomas? Do you think you will try to fix things with him?”
He was getting up to date, wasn’t he?
I told my father there were more than a few things in the relationship making me uncomfortable. And how after the events of the night before, I couldn’t think about getting back together with him.
“I love him, but I don’t like him anymore. Does that make any sense?”
When I said that, it hit me. It was just a matter of time before Thomas faded away into a memory. It’s challenging to keep loving someone you honestly just don’t like anymore.
Was he trying to reign in his true self all this time? It’s hard to keep up with a façade. It always ends up crashing down sooner or later.
“And do you think he will … behave? I can’t stress enough Caleb’s concern about Thomas after what happened yesterday. We’ll see how things unfold in the next few weeks. We will probably have to take this into consideration and make a few adjustments to the current protocols for your safety.” His tone was solemn. And I knew whata fewadjustmentsmeant to him. Not promising.
“I don’t think that will be necessary. He was upset, and I get that. But I don’t believe he would ever hurt me.” I wanted to assume things would get cold in the following weeks and that it would all end up being a thing of the past.
I was going to cherish a lot of good memories with Thomas. Even though our relationship hadn’t been lengthy, it had been intense. And I still refused to believe he was bad. I was convinced that Thomas’s behavior resulted from his poorly dealt with grief, seeing his mother suffering all the time, plus all of the trauma generated by his father.
Mimi knocked on the door to announce the food was ready.
“Whoa.” I lost my balance when I stood up from the bed.
“Are you okay to walk?” My father asked as he rushed to my side to help me.
“Yes, I am. I’ve just been lying down for too long.”
I felt more stable after taking a few steps toward the bathroom. My father waited for me to be done and walked me to the dining table, where fresh fruit, eggs, bagels, berry jam, and lots of coffee awaited us. Mimi told us how she used Aaron and Caleb’s kitchen to make the eggs because, again, no stove.
Someone knocked on the door, and Mimi rushed to see who it was. A man carrying a huge vase filled with roses came in, and Mimi instructed him to place them on the living room’s coffee table.
“Bonnie flowers!” Mimi exclaimed. I hopelessly walked toward the flowers to fetch the card, knowing perfectly well they weren’t from William because why would they be? But a girl can dream.
“Mimi, sit, please. At least have coffee with us,” my father said. She had already eaten, but he was so fond of her, and they barely saw each other. Mimi took a seat at the table and poured herself a cup of coffee as I sat down to read the card.Billie,it read.
I’m so sorry, babe.
Please forgive me.
Thomas
I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath. I tossed the card to the side and poured myself some coffee. “Billie, ye can’t drink coffee right noo. Doctor’s orders,” Mimi informed me.
Fuck my life.
Mimi insisted on how I needed to eat something first because I couldn’t have those pills on an empty stomach. Eating was the last thing I wanted, but she was right.
I ate some fruit, a spoonful of scrambled eggs, and two bites of a bagel. Mimi wasn’t satisfied with the amount of food I’d eaten, but it was more than I would’ve had if I weren’t being scrutinized.
I turned to look at the flowers, and all I wanted was to throw them out. The gesture felt forced. Couldn’t Thomas wait at least a couple of days to think about what he was sorry for? His apologies were automated, and I was starting tohatethem.
“Did Thomas send them?” my father asked.
“Mhm,” I hummed, sipping on my caffeine-free juice.
There was another knock on the door, and I was thankful that people were choosing not to ring the doorbell. It always startled me.
Mimi walked up to the front door opened it to let Caleb in.
“Good morning,” he said, placing a cake on the table. “Happy birthday, Mr. Murphy.” He extended his hand to my father. My father stood up and went for a hug. He genuinely liked Caleb, probably because he was the gossipiest of all.
