“Get the fuck out, Sydney, before I damn well fire you.”
Sydney turns and walks out, shutting the door firmly and hopefully not coming back.
I log in to a fake Facebook account I’ve created—I don’t have a personal account—and search for Theadora’s name. She pops up right away. Her profile isn’t private, so I can see her posts easily and have been checking them often. She isn’t someone who posts about her every thought—it seems she posts photographs with some text every once in a while. Or maybe birthday wishes to her best friend and even some workmates. That certainly was the extent of her online presence.
But now, when I check her page, I see pictures of her smiling as she stands in front of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and with a flower in her hand as she sits on a gondola in Venice. But the one where her cheeks are full from the smile on her face is the one where she’s standing on the snow in Iceland. That image I save and then log off.
You can not want to be with someone and still want them, can’t you?
Because Theadora fucks with my head, and she isn’t even here.
Blaming her is exhausting, but she is, after all, my easiest target.
Chapter Four
Theadora
My bags are heavy, and I wonder why I bought so much stuff while I was on holidays. I should have packed lighter and got rid of some excess clothing or something, especially when it was just me carrying it all. Walking out into the cold air, I spot Tina straight away. Her car is parked out the front of the airport, she’s waiting and ready for me to arrive. When she sees me, she basically jumps and wraps her arms around me and I her, then she squeezes me tight. So fucking tight, I almost forget to breathe. When she pulls back, a tear is set free, and she swipes at it on her cheek.
“Four weeks! It was only meant to be two,” she says, smiling.
“I fell in love with Iceland and didn’t want to leave,” I tell her, smiling back.
“I saw the photos, it looked amazing.”
“It was. If I could live there, I would.”
Tina shakes her head. “No way, I’d be lost without you.” She hugs me again, and when she pulls back, she goes to reach for my heavy suitcase and struggles. “Fuck, Thea, what did you buy?”
“Things for you, of course,” I tell her as we both lift the suitcase and throw it into the back of her car.
“What do you plan to do now you don’t have a car?” she asks as we get in and she starts the engine and takes off toward my home. I sold my car before I left so I could take as much money as possible. I think I knew I wasn’t coming back after two weeks, so I wanted to be prepared.
“I have a bit of money left. I can buy another, but I don’t think I will. I might just look for a job that’s more local,” I tell her.
“Or start your own business. You know you should.” She smiles as I turn to face her. “You ran that place, and you know all the ins and outs of what to do.”
Actually, she isn’t wrong, and that thought had crossed my mind. But you need money to start up a business, and I’m not sure I have much savings left now.
“Maybe I’ll start small… make it a goal-based.”
“Why?” she asks, turning onto the highway, then glancing at me.
“Because it costs money, and I’ve just gotten back. I am broke after spending so much overseas.”
“Borrow against your house… you know you can do it.”
“I have to be employed for that.”
“Okay, well, I’ll hire you.” I laugh at her words. “What? I’m not joking. I know you work hard, and I could use an extra hand. I have so much work, I can’t keep up. I was planning to hire someone, and you happen to be unemployed…” she smiles as she trails off.
“You don’t want me to work for you,” I tell her while shaking my head. “What if we ended up hating one another?” I shiver. “I couldn’t stand losing you, too.”
“That will never happen because if you annoy me I will tell you, and we will figure it out. I’m not Lucy, Thea,” she says, and I agree with a nod.
“Okay, I will work for you.” I smile.
“Good. You get this week off then you can start. I know jet lag will be a bitch.”
Tina wasn’t wrong, jet lag was a bitch, and it took me all week to get my sleeping times back to normal. Luckily for me, I ran every day. And some days when I couldn’t sleep, I pushed myself so much that, when I got home, I fell asleep on my couch.