The Fear of Falling Apart

A week had passed since Robin left. Tom had returned home less than twenty four hours later, confused as to why his girlfriend and daughter were no longer in his house. He had tried calling them, no response. Texting, no response. Summer refused to let Tom see Robin, for the fact Robin had outright refused to see the lying cheating scumbag she had once, and still did, love.

But as Tom sat on his bed, surrounding by Mae’s things, he sighed. He’d barely slept or ate, in fact, he couldn’t function. He hoped she hadn’t found out about his affairs in Spain, but then he wondered if she did, how did she find out? But he ignored his thoughts as he continued to pack Mae’s thing into a suitcase for Robin, Summer’s request. He knew the hockey player was helping Robin, there was no denying it. His phone rung next to him as he jumped to get it, hoping it was Robin but being disappointed as it was only his mother, calling to check up on him.

Grumbling, he grabbed the phone with a sigh. “Ello?”

“Thomas. I heard what happened with Robin!” Carol’s angry voice echoed down the phone as he bit down on his lip, still confused at the entire situation for himself.

“What did they tell you?”

“You cheated on her! While she was at home, looking after your child, you were in Spain, sleeping with god knows what. Thomas, I thought I raised you with more respect for the female kind!” Carol scolded as Tom rested his head in his free hand, breathing a long sigh out of his lips.

“Thomas!”

“Sorry. I don’t know what to say. She didn’t tell me she knew, she just left, with Mae.” He admitted, the tears that he had cried the first night threatening to come back as Carol sighed.

“I thought I raised you better, she was over here earlier. Your father and I weren’t home but Oliver was over, apparently she was very distressed.”

‘Bet he’s loving it’ Tom thought as he listened to his mother continue to rant about his behavior, the guilt that was in his gut building up as he couldn’t shake the thought of Oliver being there while she cried, Mae in her arms. He wouldn’t be surprised if Oli had been happy that she left him, especially after the confession in the hospital.

A loud smash came from outside as Tom froze, instantly thinking it was someone threatening to kill him.

“Mum, I gotta go.” He murmured quickly, hanging up before dialling nine nine nine and tiptoeing towards his bedroom window, which faced the front of his house, crouching slightly. He peered over the ledge, to see a very angry, five foot nine, hockey player stood outside his house, the window screen of his Black Range Rover smashed to pieces as she continued to hammer at the car with her hockey racket. Sprinting out of the room, he ran downstairs, throwing the front door open as he forgot about his own safety.

“Summer!” He yelled as she turned to look at him, a smile on her face as she was slightly breathless, lowering the stick a little as their eyes met. Her vibrant green ones meeting his tired ones. A smirk on her face as she shook her head.

“Deary me Thomas. This’ll teach you a lesson. If you’re going to cheat on my bestfriend, make sure you don’t call her while you’re fucking the girl. Got it?” Summer laughed, running a hand through her hair as she wore a floral white dress, with some black tights and a pair of white converses. A leather jacket on her frame while her brown hair was in waves down her frame.

“I didn’t mean too…” He choked as she shook her head, laughing again.

“You didn’t mean to accidentally shove your dick into another girl? I wasn’t born yesterday. I may have taken a few hits to my head, but I’m not stupid.”

“Just, let me talk to Robin. Please?” Tom begged as Summer laughed, shaking her head once more with a smirk on her face.

“Why should I? So you can bullshit her like you have done for the majority of your relationship? I knew you were never good enough for her! Yet I kept my mouth quiet because you made her happy, but you’ve fucked up Tom. The best thing she did was take you away from Mae and herself, because frankly, anyone could be a better father than you.” She snarled as Tom winced, the last part hurting him especially as he was great with his daughter, looking down at his feet, Summer shook her head.

“Least you won’t be taking Robin for a fool anymore. See you round.” Swinging her stick onto the car once more, she placed it over her shoulder, walking away with a cocky and over exaggerated tilt of her hips as Tom refused to move his glance up from the wreckage of his car as his body sank down onto the steps of his and Robin’s house. The emptiness and seriousness of the situation finally sinking in.

-

Robin

I had never been more heartbroken, fact.

I had lost count of the days since I’d walked out, taking my daughter with me. Somehow, I had been back to the house, to get some more of Mae’s clothes and her travel cot, sleeping on a bed with pillows either side of her wasn’t the ideal thing for a small baby. But we managed. Summer’s guest bedroom had basically been turned into my own room as I began to consider going back to University, I had a year left before I would qualify before I could teach, until then; I could get another job to support me and my child. Waitressing or perhaps something simple, just for the time being.

Finding someone to watch Mae would be hard though, my mother lived in Cornwall, while my father was still in my native country of France. He had spoken to me several times since I walked away from the relationship that had consumed a chunk of my life. Offering me a place to stay if I really wanted it – which I was still considering. Sighing though, I ran my hands through my hair as Mae slept soundly in her travel cot, my university work from before my break in front of me as I stared at my laptop screen, another thing Summer had managed to retrieve from the house for me.

I was lured out of my thoughts by my phone ringing next to me, my father – Peter’s caller ID flashing on the screen as I sighed, grabbing the device and sliding my finger across it, making a mental note to either remove the chipped red nail polish or paint it.

“Bonjour.” I murmured, my native French side coming out as I heard his hearty laugh on the other end, obviously amused at the fact I was talking French, even though I disliked it.

“Quand que ma petite fille rentre à la maison?” He questioned, When is my little girl returning home? As I bit down on my lip hesitating, I already had mine and Mae’s passports. Something I had issued a few weeks after she was born so that we could go and visits my father, who has still not met his first granddaughter.

“Quand voulez-vous me rappeler?” When do you want me back? I laughed, my free hand playing with my hair as it fell in straight layers down my hair, my fringe over grown as I caught sight of my engagement ring, something I still hadn’t removed. The silver band still sat on my left hand, a small square cut diamond shining as it caught the light.

“Aussitôt que possible.” As soon as possible. My father laughed as I hesitated, making a rational choice as I opened the internet browser up on my laptop, typing in “flights to France” as I looked at my daughter asleep next to me.

“Je serai sur le premier vol.” I'll be on the next flight. I hung up my phone after, searching through the website and booking a flight as a pop-up appeared.

"Your flight will depart from Birmingham International Airport on the 20/6/12 at 15hours."