Torn

Horses & memories

As Seb drove his Porsche Cayenne, Nevaeh gazed out of the window, thinking of how depressingly familiar the scenery looked already. To everyone else, the country that Seb called his home was beautiful with rolling hills, mountains, lakes and green fields but to Neev it was a reminder of what she'd left behind. It was a reminder of her failed marriage and how unhappy she'd been in the last year or so of their marriage as well as the happier times before it.

Next to her, Seb glanced in his mirror to see Anaya gazing out of the window with a look of fascination on her face. She'd cheered up the second she'd realised that her mother was coming with them and spent the drive to airfield and the flight here in a whirl of excitement. He already couldn't wait until Saturday when he'd get to introduce her to his family. Nevaeh, however, was a different story. She hadn't uttered a single word since they'd got off of the plane and she'd stared constantly out of the window, not even looking his way once during their drive to his home. She might have been here physically but in her mind he knew that she'd be miles away - with Fernando. He could literally feel her mood diving as the time went on and he was worried about her seeing his family after so long, especially as they all knew that she'd kept Anaya secret from him since before her birth. He glanced at her, there was no other way to describe her expression other than glum. "Are you ok?" He asked to try and get her talking.

"I'm fine." She replied almost automatically.

He knew her well enough to know that I'm fine was her default response for when she wasn't. It was something he'd learnt to look out for after a tip from his father - When a woman tells you that she's fine, she's never fine. Take it as a warning that she's far from fine and probably mad at you for something.

"Are we nearly there daddy?" Anaya suddenly chirped up from her seat in the back.

He smiled, still getting a thrill from her calling him daddy. "Almost, just a few more minutes."

"I'm hungry." She whined.

"I'll get you something to eat as soon as we get there, ok?" He then looked to Neev again. "You hungry too?"

"Not really." She answered, sounding bored.

"Neev....." He placed his hand on her knee, an action that made her head snap to the left to look at him. ".....thank you for doing this."

"For doing what?" She asked, looking down at his hand and wishing he'd remove it while inside her conscience was urging him to move it higher. She blinked a couple of times, banishing the thought from her mind.

"For coming with Anaya, I know it can't be easy for you coming back to Switzerland."

"You're right. It's not." She uttered quietly while removing his hand from her knee.

"If you're worried about seeing my family....."

"It's not just that." She cut him off. "Can we not talk about it?"

He glanced in the mirror to see Anaya now watching them with a puzzled frown on her little face. "Please try and be happy for her." He murmured as he returned his eyes to the road ahead. "I know you didn't want to come but Anaya did and she's happy and excited to be here, please don't let your mood spoil it for her."

"I'll try but maybe it'll be better for both of you if you act like I'm not here for the whole weekend. Don't include me in anything, don't make me see your parents and just leave me to do my own thing." She replied grumpily.

"Fine." He snapped, suddenly pissed off with her attitude. Maybe it would have been better if he'd made Anaya come without her mother if Neev was going to be like this all weekend.