Like a Virgin by Prasad, Aarathi (recommended reading txt) 📕

In that last month, I noticed the changes in her. I noticed the light left her gorgeous green eyes, saw and ignored the hurt I caused her whenever I answered my phone and rushed out the door. I either ignored it or admitted that it was me killing our relationship, and I couldn’t bring myself to believe that.

Admitting that meant I had to acknowledge I was the one that failed, not her. That I put Meadow aside in preference for making my mum happy, doing my sisters’ bidding like swapping out a blown light globe at two in the morning instead of staying in bed with my girlfriend.

“Fuck, I should have taken back those keys!”

“Yeah, you should have, dickhead,” Ace taunted me walking into my office with a grimace twisting his mouth.

“I don’t need you giving me shit right now, Ace, so please fuck off.”

“Oh, don’t worry, mate, I am leaving as soon as I say my piece,” Ace scoffed, giving me a full-on greasy glare.

“Who the fuck are you, Luca? I get you once had a responsibility to your family when your dad died, but when are you going to give up the martyr title and let your sisters and mum stand on their own?”

“Please don’t hold back, Ace, speak your mind by all means,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Will do, and here are some more home truths, mate. You fucked up and there is no one to blame other than yourself. Your mother hates every single one of your friends, always has. Me, Rog, Rick and Boofa, and every girlfriend you have ever had. Except for Naomi because she chose her, not you.”

“Us guys could handle the snide remarks, the filthy looks, and bitchiness because our skin is thick, and we knew better because we grew up with you. But Meadow did nothing but try to fit in, and she put herself out there only to have your mother snub her nose at her. Spring told me some of the shit Irena spewed at Meadow when you weren’t around, and quite frankly, I was and still am appalled.”

I hung my head, so that Ace wouldn’t see my shame. Meadow had tried to tell me about one particular occasion when Mum visited her at work to make fun of her second-hand business but did I listen or believe her? Nope, I started an argument with her, accusing her of misinterpreting what my mother said.

“You have no idea what Meadow had to put up with when you had your back turned, Kayla and your mother led the lynch mob, and Meadow didn’t stand a chance without your support. You forgot her and let her be a target. I don’t know what you think of it, mate, but it makes me fucking sick to admit you allowed such a thing.”

“She is my mother, and I promised Dad!” I yelled. “She fell to pieces when he died. You were there too, Ace, you saw.”

“I saw a woman realise she could manipulate her own son with the memory of his hero. That is what I saw, Luca. Your father was a great man, and it was because of him anyone could tolerate the women in your family.”

“Mum fainted Ace, a stroke the doctors think all because of what Meadow said about Dad.” The words were no sooner out of my mouth before Ace had my shirt in his fists, his angry face close to mine.

“Bullshit! I was on the other side of the deck, mate, and I saw your mother’s evil smirk just before she pretended to faint. The fact that she fucked up and hit her head was a bonus, in my view, fucking karma for the evil shit she pulled to break you and Meadow up.”

“She wouldn’t do that; she just wouldn’t,” I stammered, but already my mind was heading in that very direction. My mother was manipulative, her and Kayla more than Phoebe, Sandy or Holly. But to do something so sinister was incomprehensible; it was inconceivable for me to believe it of my own flesh and blood.

“She did and I believe everything Meadow said. Tell me, Luca, have you confirmed with the doctor your mother had a stroke? Or has she made up some crap that only you would believe? How long did it take for Naomi to be invited back to family dinners?”

Ace pushed me back releasing me from his hold. His face said it all, he was disgusted with me, and he had every right to be.

Naomi came back that very night, sitting next to me at the table, consoling me and trying to insert herself back into my life. It hadn’t worked; there was only one woman for me, one woman I wanted.

Every night I fell into bed exhausted from overworking myself so that I could fall into a dreamless sleep. Anything so I wouldn’t see Meadow in my dreams, nothing worked, though; no amount of physical labour or endless paperwork stopped my mind drifting to Meadow.

Nothing in my house felt like home anymore. Trish and Lennie had come by the day after Meadow left me to pick up her things. The colourful couch cushions and the plastic potted plants Meadow found adorable. Her smell was gone, fading away days ago, leaving me just like she did. Alone.

“Ace, mate, please. She is pregnant with my baby, and she can’t do it alone. I mean, she can because Meadow is the strongest woman I have ever met, but I don’t want her to raise our baby without me.” I had to stop myself from thinking about the baby Meadow carried, if I went there, then I would crumble in a heap, and I needed to find Meadow and get her back.

“I can’t and won’t betray Spring’s trust, Luca, by telling you that. But I will say on Friday Spring has an important person going into the shop in the morning, sometime before lunch.”

My heart skipped a beat, reading into what Ace just told me. My mind spun