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When the dark-grey sedan pulls up, the driver leans out the window. “Elle?”
“Y-yeah. Sahib, right?”
He nods with a friendly smile and unlocks the doors. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”
I must look like the ugliest mess to get this much sympathy from a total stranger.
But I do want home.
I want Gran. My childhood bedroom. Lena’s shit-talk. Everything that comforts me.
So with a miserable nod and a sniffle, I climb in the back seat, dusting my feet off before getting in fully and curling up in the corner to wait.
Sahib watches me in the mirror as he pulls into traffic. “Walk of shame, or too much partying last night?”
“Neither,” I answer, huddling the shirt around me and hating that it still smells so much like August. “I think I just got dumped.”
“Oh, ma’am.” He clucks his tongue with sympathy. “You’re young. You’ll find the one who deserves you. He obviously didn’t.”
I smile gratefully. It’s sweet of him, but it rings hollow.
Because now all I can think of is what an intrusion I’ve been on August’s life.
Always poking my nose everywhere.
Yeah. I guess I really am that pushy and obnoxious.
I remain silent on the drive home, and the Uber driver is nice enough to let me curl up and lick my wounds quietly. But I’ve never seen anything more welcoming than Gran’s pretty blue cottage, and it’s a relief when I get out of the Uber and thank the driver.
He leans out the window and flashes a peace sign.
“You’ll be all right,” he says. “I know it doesn’t feel like it today, but give it time.”
“Thank you,” I say again.
I know he’s right.
It just doesn’t feel like it right now.
I straggle up the walk. Just as I reach the front step, the door opens. Lena steps out carrying a basket of lemon poppyseed muffins under her arm, her head turned back to talk to my grandmother.
“Hey! Mom was hoping you had some tips for the mold in her roses. It’s in the roots and—”
Gran cuts her off with a startled gasp, jolting forward and already reaching for me. “Elle? Elle, dear, what happened?”
Just like that, the waterworks switch on again.
“August” is all I can say, my voice rattling like shattered glass.
Lena and Grandma barely catch me as I tumble into them and break down, sobbing in the arms of the only people who’ve ever loved me and wanted me around.
Thank God they’re still here, and they still love me, no matter how much of an intrusion I really am.
XXII
EYE OF THE STORM
(AUGUST)
