by K E Osborn
“I don’t know darling. I’m on my way to the hospital now. Delia you should come home. He would want you here.”
Colt takes the phone from me as I cry into my hands. “Mrs. Norman, hi it’s Colt. What’s going on?” All I can think about is that my daddy is going to die and I’m not there to say goodbye. “Okay, we’ll take the band’s jet and meet you at the hospital.”
I look up at Colt and he nods reassuring me that everything will be all right. I stand up as he continues to talk to my mother. I start to get dressed while packing, more like throwing things into my suitcase. Who knows how long I’ll be in London for. Will he be fine and fighting fit in a month or so, or will I be staying and arranging his funeral? A wave of nausea hits me hard as I steady myself against the counter top. Hot tears pool at my chin as I’m momentarily struck with a fear I’ve never felt before. His arms wrap around my waist from behind comforting me. I lean back into his chest and he holds on to me tightly. I didn’t even hear him hang up the phone.
“Don’t worry baby, everything will be okay,” he says kissing my neck. I calm my breathing and he turns me to face him.
“How do you know everything will be okay, Colt? Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I snap and he flinches.
“Okay, I’ll let that slide because you’re upset, but don’t talk to me like that again Lia, especially when I’m only trying to help you.”
“Help me? If it wasn’t for you I’d be with my father right now and this would never have happened,” I say as I slam my suitcase shut.
“Okay, so you’re looking for someone to blame. I get it, but Lia this isn’t my fault. It’s no one’s fault baby, just stop and talk to me.”
“Colt, I can’t do this right now, Daddy needs me. I have to go.”
“Okay, well hang on a minute, let me pack mine and I’ll come with you,” he says starting to pack things into his suitcase. I rest my hand on his arm stopping him. He looks up at me and I can see his confusion.
“Colt you can’t come with me. Daddy’s had this heart attack because he was stressed out about us. Seeing you could hurt him more, if he’s not gone already,” I say as he frowns and furrows his brows.
“Lia, I should be there with you, for support.”
I shake my head. “No, you need to keep your fans happy and keep up with the tour. I’ll call you when I know what’s happening, okay?” I start toward the door not giving him any option.
“Lia, c’mon, you’re more important than the band or the fans. Let me come with you.”
My head’s a mess right now. I feel overwhelming guilt and all I can think of is how quickly can I get away from Colt.
“No, I need to be with my family, and that doesn’t include you,” I spit, instantly feeling remorse but my daddy needs me, so I continue out the door and down the hall.
“Lia? Don’t walk away from me. Lia! Okay fine, I’ll get the band’s jet ready for you. Take the Hummer and Lia…” I stop at the elevator and look at him. “I need you. You’re going to come back, right?” he asks standing in the hallway staring at me, his chest heaving and his eyes glassy. The sight makes me shudder. I turn and walk into an open elevator and watch him as the doors close without saying a word. A fresh wave of tears engulf me. I’m so mixed up right now. I love Colt, but I can’t help but blame him for Daddy’s heart attack and even though Daddy annoys me beyond belief sometimes, I still love him.
The next few hours are a blur. Somehow I made it from Paris to London’s Wellington Hospital and I have no idea how long or how I even got here. All I know is that I’m now dragging my luggage and running through to the emergency department. I race to the triage nurse’s counter and she looks at me like I’m nothing.
Whatever, get the hell over it!
“Rutherford Norman… heart attack… daughter,” I stutter pointing to myself as I puff out of breath. She nods and looks at her computer screen. I stand up straight trying to get air into my lungs while holding on to my side because I have stitch from all the running.
“Bay seven, but you’ll have to leave your luggage here. You can’t take that into emergency with you, I’m sorry,” she says looking at me like I’m trash. I look down at myself. I have on a black bra and white vest with my ripped jeans.
Wow! I do look particularly trashy.
I move my luggage around to her door and then she opens the emergency sliding door allowing me to enter. I rush around frantically until I find the right bay. The curtain around the small alcove is closed and fear grips me tightly in my stomach and chest. I’m too late. He’s gone. I open the curtain slowly and peer inside. I look toward the hospital bed and see Daddy sitting up eating some jelly and looking perfectly fine. He has a gown on and I can see some wires that must be stuck to his chest, but he looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Anger engulfs me. This better not be a trick to get me home.
“Delia, darling, come in,” Mum says. I turn to see her sitting in a chair reading a Jane Austin novel.
“Delia, you look terrible. Come and give your father a hug,” Daddy says as I stand here in utter bewilderment.
“Mum, you said he had a heart attack. I thought he was dying. When the curtain was closed I thought I’d walk in here to find your body covered in a white sheet and you’d be dead. What the hell?” I say louder than expected.
“Delia, calm down. The curtain’s shut because the sun was shining in your father’s eyes through the window across the room, and we thought it was a heart attack, but as it turns out is only severe heartburn. So no need to worry darling, your father’s going to be just fine,” Mum replies.
So, I blamed Colt and left him in Paris not knowing if I was coming back or not, and flew here basically for no reason at all. If I thought I felt guilty about Daddy, the guilt I have now at leaving Colt that way, hits me hard in the chest, knocking the wind from my body. I fall lifelessly into the chair and sob into my hands. Poor Colt, he must hate me right now. He needs me, especially after last night’s incident with Hux. Mum walks over and rests her hand on my back.
“There, there darling. Your father is fine. No need to be upset,” she says making me want to slap her. The curtain pulls back and I see Joseph walk in with a newspaper.
Great!
“Lia, you look…”
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
He puts his hands up in a surrender motion. “Hey, I’m not here to fight that’s for sure. I was with your father when he fell ill. I called your mother and asked her to call you—”
“If this is some sick, fake plan to get me to come home, well you’re both mistaken. I hate all of you right now,” I say, pointing to Daddy and Joseph.
“Delia, you can’t fake heartburn darling. Your father was very scared a few hours ago and I was very worried. I needed you here. I needed my family. Speaking of family, where’s Colt? I thought he’d come with you?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I told Colt not to come, because it should just be family and then I get here to see that you think Joseph is part of our family. This is ridiculous,” I groan in frustration.
“Lia, don’t swear. It doesn’t suit you,” Joseph says making Daddy smile.
“Urgh,” I yell and go to walk out, but I bump into the chest of the doctor halting me in my tracks. He walks over to Daddy and starts to pull the chords from his chest and turning off the machines they’re connected to.
“Mr. Norman you’re all clear to go. Just take the medicine as prescribed and come back for your check up in a week’s time,” the doctor states and then leaves the room.
“Daddy I’m glad you’re okay, but I’m going back to Colt. I’ll see you later,” I say and start to walk out when Joseph grabs hold of my arm. I look at him with fierce intent as my body tenses up.
“Lia, just spend one day with your family. Go back to Colt tomorrow. It won’t hurt you to spend one day with your sick father, will it? Think of it this way. He misses you and just wants to spend some time with you that’s all, and
your mother too. Hell, even I’d like to see you for longer than thirty seconds. So please just one day?” he asks looking at me with soft eyes. The eyes I thought I was once in love with. I exhale and relax.
“One day! That’s it, no more.”
“Thank you, Delia. Joseph’s right we miss you and the way we left things last time in the rose garden, well I’m sorry for that. I love you and I just want you to be happy my darling,” Mum says hugging me.
“Thanks Mum.”
Daddy stands from the bed and Joseph and I walk out so he can get dressed.
“Lia, I still care about you, you know. I’ll always be here if you need to talk. I just want us to stop bickering and be the friends we once were before we got together.”
I know he’s genuine about how he feels by the way that he’s looking at me with his kind eyes and gentle smile.
“I’d like that. I’m sick of being angry at you,” I reply and he leans in and hugs me. A surge of familiarity floods through me and I start feeling guilty for holding someone other than Colt. I slowly pull back to see Mum and Daddy watching our embrace with giant smiles on their faces.
Great!
I roll my eyes and start to walk toward the emergency doors to retrieve my luggage. We head back to the manor and even though I’m still angry at Mum for not telling me it was only heartburn, I’m looking forward to going home and spending a short stay.
We pull up and our chauffeur, the aptly named Mr. Bentley, opens the door for me to get out followed by Mum and Daddy. Joseph gets out the front passenger side and moves to the back of the car to collect my luggage. George greets us at the door while we make our way inside the manor.
“Nice to see you again, Miss Norman,” George greets me, nodding his head while he holds the door.
“Hi George, it’s great to see you again too,” I reply and wrap my arms around his neck in a tight embrace. As always he hesitates and eventually gives in, patting me lightly on the back. I chuckle and walk inside. Rosemary follows bringing a tray of tea and scones into the lounge room, which is where we are headed. Joseph puts my luggage by the staircase and we all take a seat on the white ornate style lounges with Mum and Daddy on the other side facing us, like we used to.
Rosemary hands me my tea and I smile at her, she smiles back politely as always. It dawns on me how much my life has changed from luncheons and tea parties, to rock concerts and after parties in just under a year. And how much I love my new life and how stifling it is being here again. Then I think of Colt and how I left him at the hotel and my heart breaks. I was such a bitch to him.
“Excuse me, I need to let Colt know what’s going on,” I say and walk outside and down to the rose garden. I pull out my mobile phone and dial his number. It rings and rings, but there’s no answer, and he doesn’t have voicemail, because one time the paparazzi found his number and kept leaving him messages. He had to change the number and hasn’t had voicemail set up since. I hang up and frown exhaling a sigh. I scuff my shoe along the gravel and look down at my feet.
“Lia?” I look up to see Joseph walking toward me. I smile at him and place my hands in my jeans pockets.
“Hey,” I say as he stops in front of me.
“Do you want go for a walk, like old times along the lake? Might help clear your mind?”
I nod and we walk off in silence for a while until we reach the edge of the lake. My thoughts are a million miles away with Colt and what he’s up to. I know he’s probably either on the jet flying to Germany or having interviews, but above everything I hope he’s okay and hasn’t given up on me.
“I’ve missed this,” Joseph says instantly making me concerned.
“Just spending time with you I mean. I think you know as well as I do that we were always more like best friends than a couple,” he states.
“I didn’t think so when you broke up with me, but I can see now there was definitely love there, but only in the way you love a friend. I think us breaking up was the right thing for both of us.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “I couldn’t agree more, Lia, and I’ll always love you like that, but I’m so glad you feel the same way I do. It devastated me to think that I’d broken you like that. I’m so glad you found Colt, he seems… well, different,” he says with a chuckle. “But you seem happy, which is all I want. I knew categorically that I couldn’t give you that kind of happiness.”
“Just as I couldn’t make you happy,” I say leaning into his embrace.
“Exactly.” We walk side by side, I wrap my arm around his waist and I can actually say that for once I feel comfortable knowing that he’s one of my best friends and he only wants to look out for me. Plus, it’s good to know that there’s no romantic feelings left which makes for a much easier day. We walk around the lake in silence just remembering the old times.
As we head back toward the house Joseph still has his arm wrapped around me and we’re laughing about the chaos at his work, when I look up to see Daddy standing at the door watching us with a big grin. I roll my eyes and Joseph looks toward the door and takes his arm from around my shoulders.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” I ask him as we walk up the steps.
“It was only heartburn, Delia. Don’t be ridiculous! It’s just so good to see you coming to your senses. Come inside you two, dinner is ready.”
“He really will have a heart attack when he realizes that we’re not getting back together,” Joseph whispers and I laugh. After dinner we head into the lounge room again to talk. I tell them all about the tour and everything good that’s been happening. Mum tells us all about her luncheons she has planned next week and Daddy sits there watching Joseph and I while we sit next to each other laughing and generally having a good time. It’s getting late and I can see Daddy starting to get a little weary.
“Daddy you should go to bed.”
“Not when I can see that you and Joseph are rekindling your romance. It won’t be long before that rock trash is history and you’ll be back here getting married in the rose garden, just like I planned. Nothing will make me happier. I finally have my Delia back. The Delia that I love, not the girl that you had become, she wasn’t my daughter.”
My mouth drops open and I can feel my blood pressure rising. My breathing quickens and my nostrils flare as Joseph rests his hand on my knee trying to calm me unsuccessfully.
“So, when I’m with Colt you don’t love me is that what you’re saying?”
“No, Delia. I just prefer you as the Delia that grew up in this house. My little girl—”
“Well, I’m not your little girl anymore, and stop thinking that I am. This is me now. The trash that wears a black bra with a white top. The girl who parties it up with rock stars and the girl who’s sleeping with the lead singer because she loves him. This is me. This is who I am and if you don’t like the new me, then you can go and get fucked!”
“Delia, language!”
“No, Mum. Daddy needs to know that Joseph and I are not getting back together. We love each other, yes, but only as friends. Nothing more. So, get used to the fact that unless you get pregnant and have another daughter and you’re okay with an age difference, Joseph will never be your son in law.” I look down at Joseph who’s trying to hide his smirk.
“Joseph take me to the airport,” I demand. “Please,” I continue. He smiles and stands up. I look over at Daddy and he’s sitting there with his mouth agape as Mum looks at me and nods her head like she approves. Joseph takes my hand and leads me out of the room toward the front door, grabbing my luggage on the way to his car.
“I can’t believe you just told your father you’re sleeping with a rock star. I know he already knew it, but for you to confirm it would’ve definitely been a kick in the guts for him. I’m proud of you, Lia. You really have grown some balls and to be honest, I’m kinda loving the woman you’re becoming,” Joseph says as he puts my luggage in the back of his Audi.
It’s nice to know that someone likes the new me. “Thanks J
oseph, he just gets on my nerves you know. No one pushes my buttons like Daddy does and it drives me insane!” He walks around and opens my door for me – always the gentleman.
“I know, but don’t let him get to you, okay?”
I nod and slide into the seat. “Okay.”
Joseph drives me to the airport and we say our goodbyes and for once it’s not strained or full of anger. He holds onto me tightly and I kiss his cheek. He takes hold of my cheeks with his hands and forces me to look at him.
“Lia, don’t come home again unless it’s with the man you love. Colt makes you a better person and I can see how undeniably happy he makes you. Promise me you’ll stick with him and make sure you both come and say hi when his tour finishes. You can come and say hello to Princess Sophia too, I know she misses you.”
I smile and nod, then turn and board the plane destined for Germany.
I’ve tried calling Colt multiple times, but he’s still not answering. I hope I haven’t screwed this up by leaving him the way I did. My heart rate is increasing as the cab drives toward the Hyatt in Berlin, Germany. It’s edging towards one a.m. and I’m sure there’ll be an after party going on in the penthouse suite, either that or they’ll still be at the after show party at some club. But I’m headed straight for the hotel to find Colt and apologize for the way I acted when I left.
I pay the cab fare and exhale as I step out into the fresh morning air that’s cooling my heated skin. I’m really nervous for some reason. I think Colt not answering my calls has unsettled me. I don’t know if he’ll even want me here after the way I treated him. All I know is that I’ll do anything to make it up to him. The non-heart attack was not his fault, nor would it be if Daddy did actually have a heart attack instead of a ridiculous case of heartburn. I know that now, and I was so very wrong to treat Colt that way. The driver hands me my luggage and I walk toward the Hyatt and make my way up to the penthouse suite. I don’t have a room key card. I’m hoping someone’s there so they can let me in, otherwise I’ll have to wait in the hall until they get back from the club.
