AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Missed me?”
“I miss the man you used to be.”
She’s got the door cracked only a few inches. All I can see is a sliver of her face, but it’s enough to understand that she’s no less furious than she was the day she left.
“If you’re gonna bust my balls,” I say, “at least invite me inside first.”
She purses her lips, weighing a no. Then, after her hesitation drags on long enough that I start to wonder if she truly might deny me, she sighs and opens the door.
“Fine, but I’m not doing it for you; I’m doing it for your mother.”
“I wasn’t aware she was watching.”
After the way the last few months have gone, I hope, for her sake, she’s not.
“If you want to talk to me, you’re gonna have to check that attitude at the door, young man.”
I hold up my hands. “Consider it checked.”
She steps aside just enough to let me squeeze inside. It smells like apples and cinnamon, just the way I remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, to this cozy little apartment in its cozy little cul-de-sac. I’d offered to upgrade it years ago, but she refused. I’d offered again, and she threatened me with a butcher’s knife until I dropped the subject altogether.
She leads me into the living room with the same faded yellow sofa. “Tea or coffee?”
“How about ten minutes of your time? That’s all I really want.”
She drops into the green armchair opposite me. “If you’re here to ask me to come back to work, the answer remains no.”
“You don’t know the circumstances of my being here.”
“Are Laila and Nina back in that house?”
“No—”
“Then I’m not interested.”
I lean back and cross my legs. “You know, it’s a little disheartening to know that in a matter of months, Laila bewitched you so completely that your loyalty to her is greater than your loyalty to me.”
“It’s not about loyalty, Arsen. It’s about right and wrong. Sending Laila away like that was wrong. Simple as that.”
Polina hasn’t taken any of my calls the last few months, but I have a feeling, like Laila, she’s been talking to Dominik. They all sound a little too similar for it to be sheer coincidence.
“I did what I had to do to keep her safe. Do you believe that?”
“I believeyoubelieve that, but it doesn’t change anything for me.”
“I’m not surprised. You’ve made your opinion on this subject clear enough.”
“And you’re still refusing to listen to me. I’m not surprised, either.” She looks like she wants to hurt me, and those knitting needles of hers are a little too close at hand for me to relax fully. “I know you, Arsen. I know what you’re scared of.”
“I’m not?—”
“After what happened with your father, I can’t blame you.”
I tense, white-knuckling my knee. “Despite what you seem to think, my past doesn’t dictate every decision I make in the present.”
“Hm.” Polina fixes me with an unblinking gaze. “Why are you here, Arsen?”
“I want you to come back. The house isn’t the same without you.”
