Forgiven // l.h. // Book 2 in Bully Series

16. Dinner, Of Course

It had been three weeks since the radio interview with Nova FM and my lunch date with Luke. He and the boys had shows in a few other cities around Australia, so I actually hadn't seen much of them since that day. It wasn't a huge bother, to be honest. I had a job to do, and so did they. There wasn't much any of us could do about that.

However, in those three weeks, I was stopped on the street more often. The day after the lunch date, pictures had shown up all over the internet (I was very fortunate to actually look decent in all of them. Luke wasn't. There was one with him taking a huge bite of his sandwich). I was pleased to see that the accompanying stories and comments were mostly positive. There was the odd hateful remark, but that was something I'd dealt with when I dated Luke so many years ago. With the band's heightened fame, it didn't come as a surprise that being associated with them at all meant getting occasional hate. Hell, I'd even noticed that some people made comments about the boys' moms.

Speaking of moms, I couldn't help but let a huge grin take over my face when I saw the woman who would always be more of a mom to me than my own. Liz. We'd planned a day of touristing, as I hadn't properly done anything of the sort. I'd let Liz plan everything out, because she actually knew what she was doing. Planning and me weren't words people typically used in the same sentence.

"Liz!" I exclaimed, standing from where I had been resting on a bench in the park. She approached me, and as soon and we were close enough, we hugged.

"Daeyna, you look wonderful!" She complimented, giving me a warm smile. I nodded, gesturing back to her.

"So do you!" I replied. It was true. Though I hadn't seen Liz in over four years (we'd talked on the phone last week about how I managed to end up in her house on two occasions yet still not run into her), she looked exactly the same.

"I'm so glad you wanted to do this with me. I've missed seeing you around." Liz said as we began walking. I wasn't entirely sure what we were doing first, but I let her lead the way. I waved her comment off with a shake of my head.

"Of course I wanted to do this. I could never be in Australia and not hang out with the woman who saved me from my own family." I said sincerely. At this, Liz stopped walking and turned to me, a slight frown on her face.

"Have you talked to your father recently?" She asked. I shook my head, shrugging. No, I hadn't. Why would I? He was happy, living in some trashy apartment in Sydney with a girl barely even five years older than me.

"No. But to be fair, he hasn't tried to contact me, either." I defended. Liz nodded, her lips pursed slightly. I knew that look. She used to give it to Luke all the time when he gave her an answer she didn't quite like or agree with. I prepared myself for the light-haired woman's input on my lack of contact with my father, but it never came.

"Are you okay with not talking to him?" She asked. I was genuinely surprised that she hadn't told me I should try. But I was pleased she didn't. Because I was okay with not talking to him. My dad and I had never been particularly close, so when he did what he did so many years ago, it ruined my relationship with him forever. So, I gave Liz a nod.

"Yeah, I am. I've got wonderful people in my life, and I wouldn't change that for the world. I don't need him." I said truthfully. She gave me a smile at that.

"As long as you're happy. That's all that matters." She said.

--

Touristing with Liz was a blast. We visited so many places, I couldn't even begin to name them all. Though, my absolute favorite was taking a boat out to the harbor and looking at the opera house from there. It was just so beautiful.