Adriana's Corner

Chapter 16

I turn the shower off realizing that it isn't helping as much as I want it to.

Miles will be calling soon and people will be showing up for this business meeting and dinner. I'm not sure where I'm going to find the energy and confidence to do this but it has to come from somewhere. I was expecting to go into this meeting with a new sense of purpose and drive but the new information about Adriana and my grandparents seems to be screaming that little bit louder than the rest of the things in my head. I've taken painkillers to drown out the majority of the screaming and I was hoping that having a long shower will wash away the rest.

I want to talk to Miles about it, in fact I've convinced myself I need to talk to Miles about it but I have to wait for him to call me. I've made him lose enough sleep as it is and now that I know he keeps his phone on for me, I can't even email him.

As far as I know, there are only two people who can make sense of all this recent confusion. One is Miles and the other is Charlie.

At the moment though, the idea of seeing Charlie is out of the question. I'm hardly coping with the stuff Joe just told me and he didn't even know that much. How will I handle hearing everything? Whatever everything is.

What's the town butcher got to do with all of this anyway? How come he knows more than Joe and Taffy...then again, I haven't asked Taffy what she knows.

After dressing and drying my hair, I lay on the bed for a while; trying to find the enthusiasm I once had about this new experience. The ceiling doesn't seem to have the answers though. There's a light knock at my door.

"Yeah?" I mumble absently.

"Phone." Joe's voice says. "Your pommy friend."

I get up and open the door with a confused frown.

"I didn't hear it ring." I say, taking it from him.

"You were in the shower. We started chatting."

This makes me frown even more.

"About what?" I ask suspiciously. Joe raises a secretive eyebrow.

"People will be showing up soon so I'll just whack the jug on while he...sorts you out."

"Sorts me out?" I scoff with a smile, "Thanks."

I close the door again and smile into the phone.

"Hey."

"Hey. You okay?" he asks straight away. Great, straight into the impossibly kind tone. I flop on the bed again with a sigh.

"Yeah. How did you sleep?" I ask.

"Okay. There was rugby on last night so it was crowded and loud." There's a silence for a moment as I feel the headache come back. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asks again. I swallow hard and sigh.

"No, but...I feel that all I do to you is moan about my life."

"That's not true. You also torture me by making me think you're inviting stray men into your house." I laugh despite myself. "Joe told me what happened." He adds.

"About Eli or Adriana?"

"Adriana. Who's Eli?"

"The stranger who was at my doorstep. I told you about Joe's ex remarrying aye?"

"Mm."

"Well, unbeknown to him, she married a guy with a twenty year old son. He came all the way over here to apologize for everything that happened. Didn't arrive till late so I let him stay in the flat out back. He's a nice kid actually."