Unravel by Rebecca Lazaro

Author:Rebecca Lazaro [Lazaro, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebecca S Lazaro
Published: 2016-01-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Maria hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Nadia since she’d left her standing outside her father’s raggedy house in Eastcombe, looking mortified that Maria had dropped her off so heartlessly. It was a sorry thing to do, but Maria had no choice by that point, she’d already lost her control and it was never an option to drive Nadia to an even more private place to discuss what they’d just done. Maria wasn’t sure if she could ever allow them to be alone again.

Laying in her bath later that evening, Maria tried to focus on the drift of classical music from the digital radio that she propped against the folded towels on the rustic shelves in her bathroom. The tall candle she had lit cast a murky light against the tawny brickwork and the cream and brandy walls, and was far from soothing. A relaxing candlelit bath usually helped ease her long day out through her pores, yet that night, Maria felt drained of any ability to take pleasure from the calm white milk water in which she immersed herself. She did not feel dirty after her clinch with Nadia. She felt dead.

Staring across, dully, at the taps over the water, Maria couldn’t even close her eyes for fear of the reoccurring images of Nadia’s nose and mouth next to hers: the tear-strewn eyes and her swollen, puckered lips. Instead, her mind raced with anxieties, dragging its regrets, towards a wasteland of hopelessness.

The thrill of their kiss had come back in regular, pulsing shockwaves during the journey back to Charlton Kings, however, painstakingly knocking on Christian’s door to collect Leon, Maria had suffered a terrifically awkward exchange as the young man asked after his estranged girlfriend.

‘She won’t answer my calls,’ he moaned, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.

Stumbling on what to say, Maria shifted her feet on the porch, desperate to leave.

‘Maybe she just needs some time?’ She knew it sounded lame; she was too busy wondering if her eyes were giving anything away.

Waiting too many excruciating seconds, Christian seemed to be thinking. ‘How has she been with you?’ he asked.

‘I haven’t seen her!’ Maria lied, all too quickly. ‘I think she’s... trying really hard to focus on her studies right now. She hasn’t even come for tuition.’

‘Oh,’ Christian said, looking down at his socks. ‘Maybe she’s embarrassed.’

‘Yeah,’ Maria agreed and began to make a move. Leon responded with a dip of his head and a waggle when his master looped his lead tighter. ‘She’ll get over it though,’ Maria paused to cringe. ‘I mean, she’ll get over this... phase.’

With a sorrowful nod, Christian accepted Maria’s payment for dog-sitting and closed the door in silence.

After that, Maria’s guilt had set in fast. Her ability to lie was disturbing. Her loyalty to the one young man she trusted to look after her beloved dog had been overturned, at the flick of some auburn hair, because he now posed some loose threat to her personal and professional security. She had to maintain an appearance of casualness, or Christian may see something was up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.