Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

Layton and Mel ended up staying over that night. Since Mel and I were still pretty shaken up, the four of us slept downstairs on the sofas. It wasn’t the comfiest, and I spent the whole night tossing and turning, but I reckoned that was more to do with how scared I was.
By half past seven in the morning, I’d given up on sleep and went upstairs to get ready. After rifling through my wardrobe, I finally settled on some denim shorts and a nice top, deciding to make the most of the summer weather. I stared in the mirror for several minutes, mentally taking note of each and every flaw. I wasn’t sure why I did that, but I had done for as long as I could remember. I guess it had kind of become a ritual, although it only ever made me feel worse. Wiping away my tears and splashing cold water on my face, I pulled out my make-up bag and attempted to make myself look slightly less of a disgrace. The sudden beeping of my phone made me jump, and I quickly rushed to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Princess…how are you?” a familiar voice asked, and I felt my heart start to thud. I opened my mouth to speak, but as usual, no words came out.
“Ignore me then,” he muttered, and I could tell he was smirking, “Anyway, I heard about the little drama last night?”
“How do you know about that?” I panicked.
“No matter how much older you get, you don’t get any smarter, ay?” he chuckled, “That was my mate Princess.”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady.
“Revenge. You know I’ll get what I want somehow, and if this is how you want to play it, then this is how it’s gotta be.”
“George, I’m begging you, please leave me alone,” I cried, knowing that it wasn’t just my life on the line anymore; it was also the baby’s. I wondered if he knew about the baby yet.
“Hmm…let me think about that one,” he mocked, “No!”
“Please, haven’t you done enough? Can’t we just move on with our lives now?”
“Move on with our lives? How the fuck am I supposed to do that locked up in a prison cell?”
“You’ll be out one day,” I sighed, a thought that terrified me.
“Sooner than you think Princess,” he said quietly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t think it’s that easy do you? I’ve still got you, you know. I know everything about you; I know where you live, I know who your friends are, I know where you work, and where you go to school.”
“How?” I cried, looking cautiously over my shoulder, tears of panic forming in my eyes.
“I have people watching you all the time. You remember the guy on the pier? The one in the shop that bought presents for his nieces? The one at the back porch last night?”
“I’ll tell the police!” I protested.
“No you won’t,” he chuckled, seeing straight past my lies, “You know they’ll only move you out of where you are now, and send you to live somewhere else? You don’t want that now. Even if you do, I’ll simply find you again anyway.” I wasn’t sure how much truth there was in his words, but just the threat was enough for me to keep my mouth shut.
“What do you want?” I asked simply, taking deep breaths to compose myself.
“Same thing as last time – for you to get me out of here.” With that, he cancelled the call. I didn’t even know what to think. There was no way I was getting him out, especially now I was pregnant. Besides, what could he do to me anyway? Then again, this was the man that had ruined my life for years without anyone knowing, and despite finally being put in prison, had somehow got hold of a phone and rung me twice now. He was capable of anything. I knew as well as he did that he would stop at nothing to get revenge.
Calming myself down, I left the room and went back downstairs. I couldn’t bear to spend another day crying in my room, especially not when Mel, Layton and Ellis were downstairs. As long as I was surrounded by people, I would be able to hold myself together. It was only when I was alone that I allowed myself to fall apart.

“Breakfast is ready,” I whispered, gently placing a tray of food down on the coffee table and waking everyone up. They all moaned sleepily, but their eyes lit up when they saw the food.
“You absolute legend,” Mel squealed, tucking into a bacon roll.
“Jenna, I could actually kiss you right now,” Layton joked.
“Watch it!” Ellis snapped only half-jokingly, elbowing him sharply. I sat myself on Layton’s lap, as we all polished off the food.
“Are you alright?” Mel mouthed to me, clearly seeing past my fake smiles. I nodded, because I couldn’t let her find out about George. She would tell the police this time.
“What are we gonna do today then guys?” Ellis asked.
“Anything,” Mel sighed, “I just wanna get out the house for a bit.”
“Guys, we should go to London!” I suggested.
“Yeah! We can go to Madame Tussauds!” Mel cried. I noticed the guys look at each other and roll their eyes, but I knew they’d come round to the idea in the end. One of the few upsides to my situation was that the guys pretty much did anything I asked them to. I think Layton still felt bad for everything that had happened between us. Truth was, I wasn’t angry with him anymore. He’d hidden the truth because he was scared how people would react. It’s not like I’d never done that before. Besides, he’d more than made up for it with everything he’d done for me. The one thing that killed me though was the alcohol and the drugs and the stupid one night stands with random girls. You’d think he’d have learned his lesson after what happened with us, but apparently not.