Revenge

Prologue

It had been a hard day. If the long twelve hour shift hadn't been enough to get her down, breaking up with Jacob at the end of it, certainly had. During the drive home, she had told herself that it wasn't a big loss. That she was better off without him anyway. I mean, who in their right mind would choose their ridiculously incompetent friend over her? She sneered at that last thought. Her mind trailed away for a minute, leading her to think back to the happier times she had spent with Jacob, everything he had done for her and Grace. Back to the many times he had put her happiness before his own and risked his life to save hers.
As her mind lingered on that last thought, she was surprised to feel a tear trickle down her cheek. She smiled slightly, shaking her head, silently cursing herself for crying over a man that wasn't deserving of her tears.

Upon her arrival, she dropped her bag down at the entrance, closing the front door behind her before heading towards the stairs.

"Gracie, I'm back," she shouted as she made her way to her daughter's bedroom.

She peered around the door to Grace's room and was confused when she didn't appear to be there.

"Grace?" she shouted once again, making her way around the landing.

"Mum," Grace said, slowly walking out of the bathroom, "I made it."

Connie stood there in shock for a moment, looking at her daughter with amazement. For the first time since the crash, she had actually managed to walk around without her cruches or any assistance.

"Sweetheart," she said, her voice full of pride as she rushed over to her daughter. She couldn't believe it, things were finally looking up; her baby girl was walking again. She put her arms lovingly around Grace, holding her tightly as she sighed with relief. She just couldn't believe it.

"You see what happens when you try your best," Connie whispered, stroking Grace's hair as the pair stood in a warm embrace.

"Look at you," she said, still not able to fully comprehend how any of it was possible. She pulled away, not letting go of her daughter's hands and watched as she took another couple of steps. The smile on her face reflected the pride and joy she felt on the inside.

Connie had just about forgotten all about the bad day she had had and her argument and break up with Jacob, until Grace brought it up.

"Where's Jacob?" She asked. Her ability to pronounce words was getting so much better but she still struggled sometimes with longer sentences. "I- want to show him," she said.

The smile was quickly wiped off Connie's face and replaced by a sadder expression. How could she tell her that she had ended things with Jacob? Grace had gotten used to having him around to care for her and to spend time with her. She loved having him around. The news would crush her.

Connie pursed her lips together, looking to the side to avoid eye contact with Grace. She sighed and eventually turned back to her daughter.

"He's working a double shift so he's decided to sleep at the hospital tonight," she lied, faking a smile.

Grace smiled reassuringly at her mum before they made there way to her bedroom. After Grace had settled down in a chair by her window, Connie headed downstairs to order them both a pizza.

Grace turned to look out of the window and sighed. She wasn't stupid and it didn't take a genius to work out that Jacob and her mum had split up again. They had seemed distant towards each other lately and she knew they had been arguing. She pretended she was oblivious to their situation but she knew what was going on. The one thing she didn't know, was why they had broken up this time.

It made her sad thinking about it. She had gotten used to having Jacob around, she liked him. Her mum had completely changed since he had moved in, she had been much happier and so much nicer, not only to Grace but to everyone. It was easy to see that he brought out the good in her. And although no one would admit it, she knew he was behind them getting the dog. Her mum would have never agreed to it, or even considered it had it not been for Jacob.

After much consideration, she decided to leave it a while before bringing up with her mum. She knew that she wouldn't want to talk about it anyway. Maybe she'd just wait until Jacob came home and she would ask him instead. She wasn't sure yet, she'd just wait and see.

After they had both eaten and Grace was tucked up in bed, Connie headed back downstairs into the living room for some quiet time alone. She picked up the radio remote from the coffee table and sat down on the sofa, folding her legs comfortably beneath her. She turned her music on and lowered the volume so as not to wake Grace. She picked up her glass of red wine that she had poured herself and took a sip. She closed her eyes after placing her glass back on the table and leaned her head back against the sofa.

Since she had arrived home, she hadn't had time to reflect on the horrendous day she had had. This was the first opportunity she had had to just sit back and relax with her feet up.

To her disbelief, no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't seem to keep Jacob out of her head. She knew that they had broken up and got back together a few times in the past, but this time - this time it was different. There was no going back.

It was knowing that that had caused her eyes to fill up with tears for the second time that day. She tilted her head back slightly, hoping to stop the tears from falling. She didn't want to cry over him, it made her feel weak and vulnerable and she didn't like that. She didn't like it one bit.

It was at that moment, there and then that she decided that wasn't having it, she wasn't going to cry over Jacob. She'd have to toughen up. If someone had told her a year ago that one day she would be sat alone, crying over a man, listening to depressing songs she would have just laughed in their face. It was only then that she realised how much Jacob had changed her, how much softer she had become because of him.

This ends now, she thought to herself. No more nice girl.

Right so this was just an introduction to the story that I'm very excited about writing. I hope you enjoyed it and that you will stick around to find out what happens next.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave a review.