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WARNING: IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY PHYSICAL ABUSE, SKIP THIS CHAPTER. A 'CATCH-UP' WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT CHAPTER.
FEBRUARY 16TH, 2018 — ❝ GO LIVE, ELOISE. LIVE YOUR LIFE. ❞
Three days after Nicolas arrived, Nikolai was already tired of his bullshit.
His 'please forgive me, Eloise, I'm sorry, and I've changed,' act only lasted two days, and then he was back to how he had been, years before.
Eloise felt stuck. So, absolutely stuck, until a knock came to the door in the middle of the afternoon, and Penelope was standing on the other side. "Penny! What are you doing here?" Eloise asked, confused.
"Your father's hired me as his caretaker," She explained, coming into the house. "He called me last night, asking if I'd be able to take care of him for some time, until he was fully recovered. He offered to hire me and everything, to make sure it was professional and everything like that."
Frowning, she closed the door behind her friend, and followed her into the kitchen, where her father was sitting at the table, his cup of afternoon tea in his hand. He'd just woken up. "Oh, good! You're here," Her father said to Penelope.
Just then, Nicolas walked into the kitchen, and Penelope made a very loud sound of disgust. "Ugh! So you're back?" She turned to Eloise, who shrunk into the doorway of the room, and then back at Nicolas. She shook her head in disappointment, and then went over to the fridge.
"Uh, hi, Penelope, yes, I'm back," Nicolas replied, sitting across from Nikolai at the table. Penelope sat down next to Nikolai, in the corner, leaving Eloise with no choice but to sit next to Nicolas.
"What happened to Tom?"
Nicolas opened his mouth to say something but Eloise quickly lied, and said, "Tom's just filming a movie right now. He'll be back soon."
An awkward silence settled over them. Eloise eventually got up, taking her glass of orange juice with her, and went upstairs without a word. She suddenly hated being in this house, being trapped here with Nicolas, and the urge to smoke another cigarette was killing her.
She'd just settled down on the couch in the loft when Nicolas walked in, and said, "Why'd you leave without a word?"
He was like a gnat. And she hated listening to him. Never before had she hated his presence more than anything before. Eloise brought up one hand to rub her forehead, and said, "I just want to nap, Nicolas. I have a headache that's killing me."
"Yeah, but you still should have told me," Nicolas came over, sitting in the chair next to the couch. Eloise wished she could suddenly move and change sides, or rooms, because her head just happened to be right next to his hands.
