Chapter 11 - 12 Blackout
That stopped me. Just for a second.
Louisa Granger. The only member of that genetically cursed family I’d actually liked.
She used to call me her ‘darling girl’ and meant it. She remembered my birthday. She bought me books I actually read. She once told me I had a fire in me and that it was beautiful.
Meanwhile, my own mother thought my jewellery designs were a hobby I’d grow out of and that fire belonged in fireplaces or hell.
‘Come to dinner,’ Rhys carried on, his tone clipped. ‘Just don’t say anything to her about... y’know. Us.’
Of course he wanted me to lie for him. Again.
‘Wow. Brave of you,’ I said, voice sharp enough to julienne a courgette. ‘What happened to that big manly energy you were showing off with Catherine? If you’re so smitten, why not bring her to dinner and introduce her to the fam? Or are you worried Mummy might not approve of your shiny new mistress?’
He didn’t reply. I didn’t wait for him to.
I hung up, tossed my phone on the sofa, and muttered, ‘Bloody coward.’
***
Half past ten, I’d just put down the TV remote and dug out an unfinished sketch from my tablet, thinking I could snack my way into some inspiration.
I barely got two bites of leftover lo mein in before the lights cut out like a budget horror film. One second I was basking in LED brilliance, the next I was plunged into darkness, lit only by the ghostly glow of my tablet screen.