Then There Was You (Twist of Fate)

by A. J. Daniels

  I groan, bracing my palms on the counter and drop my head back against his shoulder, pushing my ass against him. He moves back just enough to slip a hand between my legs and cup me through my dress pants.

  All too soon his hand is gone and he’s stepping farther away, taking all his heat with him. I blink over my shoulder at him confused until I hear the click clack of someone’s heels as they approach the staff room. I use however many seconds we have left to close my eyes and take a steadying breath. When I open my eyes again, the rush I felt when Nate was pressed up against me begins to sizzle away and I reach for my coffee mug with steadier hands.

  When I finally turn around to face the room, Nate’s gone, and Ms. Kennedy’s popping her food in the microwave. Part of me wants to shoot daggers at her for interrupting us, but the other sensible part wants to go over and give her a hug in thanks. It would’ve been stupid for us to do anything here at school, especially in the staff room, but I also can’t deny the heat flaming my cheeks at the possibility of being caught. I nod a hello to Ms. Kennedy and then hightail it back to my classroom, pushing all thoughts of Nate and his dick out of my mind. I need to focus on math if I’m going to have a chance in hell of teaching these kids anything when they come back from lunch.

  * * *

  Cape Town International is packed. It takes me about half an hour to find parking and another ten minutes to make it from the car to arrivals, which is also packed. Jesus, did everyone and their grandma decide now was the perfect time to fly into Cape Town?

  It’s not long before I spot my best friend. Her blonde hair’s piled high on her head in a messy bun and she’s trying to tug off her sweater while simultaneously pulling a suitcase behind her. I laugh, and as soon as she crosses the invisible barrier into the arrivals, I rush towards her, throwing my hands around her after she’s just barely slipped the material from her body. When I’m good and ready, I force myself to let her go and take hold of the handle for the suitcase.

  “Let me help with that.”

  She scowls up at me after stuffing the sweater in the carry-on bag on her shoulder. “You didn’t say it was going to be this hot.”

  I giggle. “Welcome to summer in Cape Town.”

  “Am I melting? I feel like I’m melting.”

  I roll my eyes. “Let’s go drama queen,” I say, leading the way out of the terminal and towards the parking lot.

  “Sweet Jesus,” Londyn says as soon as we’ve left the somewhat air-conditioned comfort of the building. “Are we in hell?”

  I chuckle but keep leading the way down the path to the parking garage and towards the car. At least I had the sense of mind to buy a vehicle with air conditioning. I don’t think I’d be able to survive the summers without. It’s bad enough that the transmission is manual, which means I already work up a sweat just driving the damn car. I could not add no a/c on top of that. Three more days. Three more days and then my dad needs to trade cars with me to go up to Franschhoek since mine is better on petrol. But his bukkie has an automatic transmission.

  Londyn helps me load her suitcase in the boot of the car, and then we’re heading away from the airport and towards Northpine. The drive to my house is nothing special, just miles of freeway, but I’m planning on taking her to do all the touristy stuff tomorrow and the rest of the week. Actually, when my dad comes back from Franschhoek, I’m going to take Londyn up there to do the wine tram. I haven’t done it yet, but my cousins have, and they said they loved it. A whole day of wine tasting and being taken from winery to winery by a tram? Yes, please. I figure we can maybe find somewhere to stay the night up there too since I won’t be in the frame of mind to drive back to Cape Town.

  “Oh my gosh, your house is so cute,” Londyn says about the ranch-style house when we pull into the driveway.

  I don’t feel like opening and closing the garage door right now, so I leave the car parked in the driveway and attach the steering wheel lock.

  “Thanks… I think,” I grin. “Nate just finished the built-ins in the guest room and the office.”

  “You decided to keep the tile?” she asks when we step through the front door.

  “Yeah. I thought about it and figured I’d keep it for now and see. It’s already been a lifesaver since the weather’s gotten warmer. Plus, if it does get really cold later on I can just put down an area rug or something. Nate said he’d help me install carpet if I decide that’s what I want later on.”

  Just the thought of Nate has my mood souring. I try to play it off like it’s nothing as I lead Londyn down to the last bedroom at the end of the hallway but nothing gets past her.

  “Hey, none of that. At least not today. Let’s pop open a bottle of wine and you can show me around the house. I’m assuming there’s a backyard?”

  “There is.” I cock my head towards one of the windows in the room. “You can see a bit of it through there. Not much though.”

  Londyn pushes past me to glance out the window. Unlike me, she has to lift a bit on her tiptoes to see through the glass. “What’s that bricked part over there?”

  “That’s part of the carport. When my dad built it, he wanted to leave some of it uncovered so that we could put the braai in that sandy part at the end but have the chairs sit on the brick. It was also meant for me to rollerblade on so that I didn’t have to rollerblade in the street.”

  “I sense a but there,” she says, dropping down from her toes and turning a knowing smile on me.

  I shrug. “I liked rollerblading in the street better. I can go farther without having to turn around.”

  She laughs. “Why am I not surprised?”

  I roll my eyes and throw an arm around my best friend. “You said something about wine.”

  Chapter 15

  “Mom?” I call, pushing open the front door.

  Little barks greet me as I step into the quiet house and close the door behind me. A mop of white fur comes barreling towards me yipping at my ankles.

  “Hi Snowy,” I say, bending down to pet the Westie behind her ears.

  “Oh, Annika. Honey, I wasn’t expecting you to come over.”

  I shrug, rising to my full height before giving her a hug. “I was in the neighbourhood and thought I’d stop by.”

  “You were in the neighbourhood?” Mom questions with a lift of an eyebrow.

  I avoid her knowing look and head into the kitchen to raid her fridge. Mom always has something to eat and I’m starving. “I went for a drive up to Cape Point and figured I’d stop in before heading back.”

  Mom gently pushes me out of the way of the fridge door and then she goes about collecting different toppings for sandwiches. “What are they charging for that now?”

  “Cape Point? I don’t know. I didn’t actually pull in there. I turned around right before the pay booth and came back. Pulled off a bit to watch the penguins.”

  Mom grins as she goes about putting the sandwiches together. “You always did love watching them. Even as a little girl.”

  When she’s done assembling the plates and adding some potato chips to each, she motions for me to lead the way to the dining room table a few feet away. A plate is set in front of me after I take a seat at the dark, round table and I don’t waste time digging in. I forgot to eat breakfast this morning so I’m even hungrier than I normally am.

  About halfway through my sandwich and potato chips I realize my dad isn’t here, which is odd considering he’s always here unless it’s a weekend and he’s at Dave’s house working on a car or some other repairs.

  “Is Dad at Uncle Dave’s?”

  Mom stills, her half-eaten sandwich halfway to her mouth. Something I can’t decipher passes over her face but then it’s gone in the next instant. The silence stretches on for longer than is comfortable. My throat goes dry and dread crawls down my back.

  “Mom?”

  She places the slices of bread, cheese, and meat tenderly back on her plate then dusts her hands of the crumbs before sitting back in her seat.

&n
bsp; “Where’s Londyn? I thought she would’ve been with you?”

  “She wanted to take a nap before we go out tonight,” I say, waving it off but never removing my eyes from her face. “Mom, answer my question.”

  She sighs. “I didn’t know you’d be stopping by today. Why don’t we wait until your dad gets here and then we’ll talk.”

  I have no idea what that means, and why is she being so cryptic? It was a simple question that should’ve had a simple answer. What the hell’s going on?

  “Why won’t you just tell me now? Are you okay? Is he okay?”

  Various scenarios begin playing through my mind. One of them has cancer and is dying. Mom lost her job. Someone hacked into Dad’s computer. They’re getting a divorce. Someone cheated. They’re moving again. My heart starts racing with all the possibilities of what she could be keeping from me and my breathing begins to pick up.

  Suddenly, Mom’s kneeling in front of me. A hand resting on my clenched fist, the other cool against my heated skin as she cups the side of my face, forcing me to look at her.

  “Breathe honey.”

  I can’t. The events of the last few weeks are too much for me to handle. My throat feels like it’s being squeezed by a professional body builder and no matter how many deep breaths I try to take in, it doesn’t feel like enough.

  Mom curses, forcing my head between my knees as she continues telling me to breathe. I don’t know why she keeps saying it, it won’t make me take deeper breaths.

  “Annika, you need to slow your breathing, baby. Concentrate on my voice and count with me. Ready?”

  I nod.

  “One,” she starts, inhaling deep and holding it for several seconds before exhaling. I follow her lead and do exactly the same.

  “Good. That’s good. And another. Two.”

  Deep inhale, hold for several seconds, then exhale.

  I can already feel my racing heart begin to slow. We do this for a few more. Her counting each breath and holding it for a few seconds before exhaling, and me copying everything she does. Soon, my breathing is somewhat back to normal and my heart rate has slowed enough that I no longer feel like I’m going to pass out.

  Just as I lean back in the chair and Mom moves to reclaim her seat, I hear the front door open and the jingling of keys before my dad appears around the corner.

  “Hey, Peanut,” he says with a smile, but it doesn’t light up his face like it usually does. His eyes hold a sadness to them I’ve never seen before. As he moves towards us, I notice that his shoulders are curled in, like he’s carrying a huge weight on them.

  “Hi, Daddy,” I say, getting up to loop my arms around his waist in a hug.

  “She was in the neighbourhood and decided to drop by,” Mom says from her seat at the table, catching my dad’s eye. Something passes between them in silent communication until my dad gives a clipped nod and with a hand on my back, leads me back to my seat. He takes the seat between me and Mom. His hands are entwined together and resting on the table.

  “W-what’s going?” I ask, my eyes bouncing between him and my mom.

  “Peanut, I-” Dad starts then stops.

  Mom takes a deep breathe then says, “Your dad and I are getting a divorce.”

  I don’t know what happens then. I can see their lips moving but no sound reaches my ears. Darkness begins moving in from the corners of my vision and the last thing I see before it all goes black is my mom’s horror-stricken face and my dad reaching for me, then nothing.

  * * *

  I leave my parents’ house feeling like a zombie. After I passed out, Dad ended up carrying me to the guest bedroom, where I guess I took a mini-nap before coming to in the empty room. When I finally got up the courage to face them, Mom and Dad were sitting in the living room. Mom sat on one end of the long sectional, her hands on her lap and a worried look on her face while Dad sat on the opposite side looking like he’d aged fifty years in thirty minutes.

  At the sound of my flip-flops on the wooden floor, they both look up. Mom races over to me, gathering me in her arms and asking me if I’m alright.

  “I’m okay,” I croak out, untangling myself from her arms and taking a step back. I send my dad a small smile to let him know I really am okay. At least physically. I never could handle stress very well and I guess the events of the last few weeks coupled with the news that my parents, the couple I looked up to, were getting a divorce was too much for my body to take.

  They sit me down between them and explain that it doesn’t make sense for them to stay married. They’re both holding the other back from being truly happy.

  Finally, I can’t take it anymore and tell them I need time to think and process everything, then I leave. I don’t remember getting in my car, or the drive home. I don’t even remember walking in my front door and Londyn asking me how my drive was. I walk past my best friend, down the hall to my bedroom, close the door, and then crawl under the soft blankets.

  This is where Londyn finds me minutes… hours later. Time ceases to exist for me today.

  “Annika, what happened?”

  Rolling on my back, I scoot over, and flip open the blankets so she can crawl in beside me. Londyn lays her head down on the same pillow close to mine. Both of us staring up at the hideous popcorn ceiling.

  “My parents are getting a divorce,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “What?” Londyn screeches and I flinch.

  “Sorry,” she says, laying back down. “What the fuck?”

  “Apparently Dad has been staying at a hotel for the last few weeks. They were planning on telling me at Sunday dinner.”

  “Are you okay?” She turns onto her side and props her head up on a bent arm.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet. They’ve been together thirty years, Londyn.”

  “I’m so sorry, Nika,” she says, gathering me in her arms and it’s only then do I realize that I had started crying at some point.

  “I don’t think I can handle any more surprises,” I say when the tears have slowed down a bit.

  “Now we should definitely go out.”

  “What?”

  “C’mon,” she says, slipping from the bed. “You need a distraction… at least for a night.” She shrugs. “What better way than going out with your best friend for a night of drinking and dancing.”

  I stare at her as she starts swaying her hips to a beat only she can hear. I want to tell her no, that I’d rather stay home and eat a tub of ice cream while watching cheesy horror movies, but I can’t deny that she may have a point. I try to think back to the last time I went out and had fun but the only thing that comes to mind is the house party we went to in high school were Jack proposed. God, my life is pathetic and so drama laden.

  “Fine,” I say, throwing the covers back and swinging my legs over the edge so I can sit up. “You win. We’ll go to Cocoon.”

  Londyn starts doing this weird dance thingy. Actually, I’m not even sure if you can call it dancing. Then she pauses and straightens up. “Wait, is that the one you were telling me about that’s kinda fancy and has a view of the city?”

  “Yup,” I reply, opening the armoire and digging through my clothes for something to wear tonight that’s not my usual cut-off shorts or dress slacks that I wear to work. “That’s the one,” I say, pulling out a little red dress I forgot I had.

  “Friggin’ A,” she says then I hear her feet pad away as she retreats to the guest room.

  Chapter 16

  “Holy shit. This is great.” Londyn beams when the doorman lets us into the club after we’ve stepped foot off the elevator and onto the 31st floor of the ABSA building. Two throne-like chairs situated on either side of a round glass table greet us as we enter the club.

  I turn to Londyn. “East or west?” I ask.

  She cocks an eyebrow at me, her head leaning to the side as she contemplates my question. I can see the wheels in her head turning, but then something clicks as she glances fr
om the left to the right of the club.

  “Can’t we move back and forth?”

  “We can. East is more VIP seating and lounge feel. West is more dancing.”

  Londyn beams and I giggle. Her excitement is so palpable, you’d think this was her first time going clubbing. She hums, walking to the window behind the chairs and looks from right to left and back again.

  “East. Let’s do east. The view on that side looks amazing.”

  I grin, glad that I had put a call in to get on the VIP list before we left the house. It also doesn’t hurt that my cousin is the owner.

  “Annika!”

  I turn to my left and see Kim, my cousin’s right hand, strutting towards us with her arms already open wide for a hug. I always thought Kim would’ve done well as a model. She’s tall, and lean with just the right amount of curves, and she has the sharp bone structure that most photographers salivate at. Her dark hair is pulled up into a ballerina bun and the kohl lining her eyes makes the gold pop even more than they usually do. The sleeveless emerald dress hugs her body like a glove.

  “Hi, Kim.” I allow her to pull me into a hug and kiss her cheek in greeting. Her flowery scent assaults my nose as soon as I lean in.

  “Did your cousin know you were coming? I just saw your name on the VIP list, but Clint never mentioned anything to me.” She frowns, scrolling through the electronic device in her hand I hadn’t noticed before.

  “It was a last-minute thing,” I say, ignoring the eye-popping-cartoon like expression Londyn currently has.

  “Hmm, well, the glass booths are already all booked up, but I can still manage to score you one of the regular VIP tables. If you’re okay with that?”

  I glance at Londyn to see that she’s already nodding her head. If she nods any harder I’m afraid it might pop off and roll over the shiny floor.