won’t you let Sands in?” Fi asks.
Bang-Bang-Bang.
“So help me God, I’ll break a window if you don’t open this door,” Sands threatens.
“Go play in your room, sweetie.” I avoid Fi’s question.
Bang-Bang-Bang.
“All right, you asked for it. I’m calling the police. I mean it!”
Abe wanders from his room to the kitchen. “Mummy, I can’t play my videogame with all that noise. Can I open the door?”
“No,” I say and try to focus on the romance novel I was reading before Sands descended on the comfort of my misery.
The banging stops and I breathe a sigh of relief. I just can’t face anyone, not after what happened on the Date from Hell. So I stay at home, avoiding calls, knocks at the door and emails from inquisitive minds.
“Bella! What in the world is wrong with you?”
I nearly come off the sofa and spill tea across my lap. Sands is standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
“How did you get in here?” I demand.
“Abe let me in the back door,” she says.
Abe parades into the room. “Look, Mummy, Sands gave me a dollar!” He holds the coin aloft as if it is the greatest treasure the world has ever seen.
“I want a dollar, too!” Fi cries.
Sands pulls another coin out. “Here you go. Now kids, I need to talk to your mummy, so run outside and play on the trampoline awhile.”
Abe crosses his arms. “That’ll cost you another dollar.”
“Scram. NOW.” Sands points toward the door. Abe and Fi run out.
Sands plops down on the opposite end of the sofa which makes a horrendous screech, while I get up, making the other end screech. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To get a dishtowel to clean up the mess you caused by barging in here uninvited,” I reply dryly.
“I wouldn’t have been uninvited if you returned my calls in the first place,” she retorts. “Now talk. What happened on your date that’s so bad to make you cut off your friends?” I ignore her as I grab a towel and mop up the tea on myself and the sofa. “Bella, come on. You can’t hide in here forever.”
“I might as well,” I mutter.
Sands shakes her head. “Cat found you with sleeping pills and liquor. Bella, what were you thinking?
“So that’s where my pills and the rest of my vodka went. Tell Cat I want those pills back.” When I had awaken the next morning on the kitchen floor, a cushion under my head and a blanket over me, I thought I was going crazy.
“It’s a good thing she took them and cared enough to stop by and check on you. God, Bella, you’re so freaking selfish sometimes. Can’t you think about anyone but yourself? What about Abe and Fi? What about your dad and grandmother?”
My jaw drops. “Selfish? You’re calling me selfish? You have no idea what I’ve gone through. You have no idea what it’s like to be fat and betrayed and abandoned and insulted, so until you do, don’t lecture me about being selfish.”
Sands relents a bit. “Bella, come on, you know I love you like a sister and I just want to help. We all do.”
“Blasting me for being selfish is your way of helping? Thanks, but no thanks.” I drop onto the sofa, which screeches again and sags under my weight. Like my heart.
“Will you look at yourself?” Sands says.
“I try not to,” I grumble.
Sands moves over and places a hand on my arm. “You know what your trouble is?”
I glare at her. “Don’t even start. I don’t want to hear it.”
She grips my arm. “But you need to. Your trouble is that you are so low on yourself, you opened up your legs for a hug.”
My eyes pop out of my head. “Oh. My. God. You think I slept with my date? That’s not what happened at all.”
Sands looks confused. “So you’re not hiding and tried to kill yourself because you hate yourself for sleeping with him?”
“No!” I bellow. “Sands, give me more credit than that. I did not sleep with him. Not that I would have wanted to from the way he kept texting his ex-girlfriend
Bang-Bang-Bang.
“So help me God, I’ll break a window if you don’t open this door,” Sands threatens.
“Go play in your room, sweetie.” I avoid Fi’s question.
Bang-Bang-Bang.
“All right, you asked for it. I’m calling the police. I mean it!”
Abe wanders from his room to the kitchen. “Mummy, I can’t play my videogame with all that noise. Can I open the door?”
“No,” I say and try to focus on the romance novel I was reading before Sands descended on the comfort of my misery.
The banging stops and I breathe a sigh of relief. I just can’t face anyone, not after what happened on the Date from Hell. So I stay at home, avoiding calls, knocks at the door and emails from inquisitive minds.
“Bella! What in the world is wrong with you?”
I nearly come off the sofa and spill tea across my lap. Sands is standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
“How did you get in here?” I demand.
“Abe let me in the back door,” she says.
Abe parades into the room. “Look, Mummy, Sands gave me a dollar!” He holds the coin aloft as if it is the greatest treasure the world has ever seen.
“I want a dollar, too!” Fi cries.
Sands pulls another coin out. “Here you go. Now kids, I need to talk to your mummy, so run outside and play on the trampoline awhile.”
Abe crosses his arms. “That’ll cost you another dollar.”
“Scram. NOW.” Sands points toward the door. Abe and Fi run out.
Sands plops down on the opposite end of the sofa which makes a horrendous screech, while I get up, making the other end screech. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To get a dishtowel to clean up the mess you caused by barging in here uninvited,” I reply dryly.
“I wouldn’t have been uninvited if you returned my calls in the first place,” she retorts. “Now talk. What happened on your date that’s so bad to make you cut off your friends?” I ignore her as I grab a towel and mop up the tea on myself and the sofa. “Bella, come on. You can’t hide in here forever.”
“I might as well,” I mutter.
Sands shakes her head. “Cat found you with sleeping pills and liquor. Bella, what were you thinking?
“So that’s where my pills and the rest of my vodka went. Tell Cat I want those pills back.” When I had awaken the next morning on the kitchen floor, a cushion under my head and a blanket over me, I thought I was going crazy.
“It’s a good thing she took them and cared enough to stop by and check on you. God, Bella, you’re so freaking selfish sometimes. Can’t you think about anyone but yourself? What about Abe and Fi? What about your dad and grandmother?”
My jaw drops. “Selfish? You’re calling me selfish? You have no idea what I’ve gone through. You have no idea what it’s like to be fat and betrayed and abandoned and insulted, so until you do, don’t lecture me about being selfish.”
Sands relents a bit. “Bella, come on, you know I love you like a sister and I just want to help. We all do.”
“Blasting me for being selfish is your way of helping? Thanks, but no thanks.” I drop onto the sofa, which screeches again and sags under my weight. Like my heart.
“Will you look at yourself?” Sands says.
“I try not to,” I grumble.
Sands moves over and places a hand on my arm. “You know what your trouble is?”
I glare at her. “Don’t even start. I don’t want to hear it.”
She grips my arm. “But you need to. Your trouble is that you are so low on yourself, you opened up your legs for a hug.”
My eyes pop out of my head. “Oh. My. God. You think I slept with my date? That’s not what happened at all.”
Sands looks confused. “So you’re not hiding and tried to kill yourself because you hate yourself for sleeping with him?”
“No!” I bellow. “Sands, give me more credit than that. I did not sleep with him. Not that I would have wanted to from the way he kept texting his ex-girlfriend
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