Page 62 of Only You

“I have to go. Colin and I are celebrating. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Congrats, sis. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

I threw the bag of popcorn in the microwave, and Lucy walked into the kitchen in her pajamas.

“What movie do you want to watch?” I asked.

“Abigail.”

“Isn’t that a horror movie?”

“Yeah. I watch scary movies all the time.”

“You do?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Yeah. My dad doesn’t care. I know it’s not real.”

When the popcorn had finished popping, I removed the bag from the microwave and shook it into a large bowl.

“Abigail it is.” I smiled.

During the movie, Lucy was texting someone.

“Are you watching this?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s my dad. He wants to know how I’m doing.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t tell him that we’re watching this.”

“Too late.”

Suddenly, my phone pinged with a text from Alex.

“She’s not allowed to watch horror films.”

“Sorry. She told me you let her all the time.”

“She lied to you. Turn it off, or she’ll have nightmares.”

“Will do.”

“Dad says we have to turn this off.” I picked up the remote.

“NO! I’m watching it!”

“Then I guess you shouldn’t have told him. You lied to me.”

She shrugged.

“Why did you lie?” I asked.

“Just leave me alone!” She got up from the couch and stormed up the stairs.

I was tired and didn’t have the energy to deal with an eleven-year-old hormonal child, so I went upstairs and climbed into bed. The one thing that pissed me off was how Alex couldn’t be bothered to ask how I was doing. I totally understood that he would text his daughter, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought maybe he thought about me. Perhaps a few text exchanges before he went to sleep. I guess I was wrong.

As I drifted off to sleep, I heard the door creak open.