Chào các bạn! Vì nhiều lý do từ nay Truyen2U chính thức đổi tên là Truyen247.Pro. Mong các bạn tiếp tục ủng hộ truy cập tên miền mới này nhé! Mãi yêu... ♥

33: "Life's so unfair sometimes."

Chapter 33 - "Life's so unfair sometimes."

Gatwick was busy. It made me realise that more people must go away for Christmas than I thought. Maybe I just assumed that most people would stay at home with their families rather than jet off somewhere else.

"Yes, but have you considered that these people might be in the same situation as us?" Nathan said after I'd voiced this thought out loud to him whilst queuing to go through security.

"What? Everyone in this lounge?"

Nathan shrugged. "Lots of people have relatives abroad. Some people just prefer to spend Christmas abroad. Some people might even be going to Australia for it so they can soak up a bit of sun."

I pulled a face at that. "No way. A sunny Christmas is weird. Christmas is about snow and keeping warm by the fire. Think about all the Christmas cards! A stereotypical Christmas card is all about snow."

"Well maybe Australian Christmas cards are different," Nathan said with an amused smile.

"What? Beaches and sunshine?"

"Who knows? Maybe you'll have to ask one."

I'd been on planes plenty of times, but I was always a little bit anxious before passing through the metal detector. I was definitely one of those people who took off absolutely anything that could activate the machine, like shoes, hairclips and even jewellery. I went through first, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't beep.

As I waited for my bag to pass through, I watched as Nathan got pulled over by the security men to be searched. He stood there as still as a statue, completely unfazed, as they patted him down. I also noticed that his bag was redirected down the opposite conveyer belt to mine, out of our reach. His bag was emptied out and searched, and his mobile phone scanned.

"It's just a random security check," the man explained.

Nathan stood there so calmly and patiently whilst all this was going on. If it had been me, I'd have been panicking and wondering whether they were going to let me on the plane.

"Enjoy your flight," the man said eventually, pushing Nathan's stuff back towards him.

"You seem very calm," I commented after Nathan had packed his bag and we were heading towards the departure lounge.

"I get 'randomly' searched every time I go through security," he said. "And if they're randomly searching the same person, then it becomes apparent that it's not random."

"So why do they always search you? You don't exactly look dodgy."

"Criminal record. They probably think I'm smuggling drugs." Then he shot me a twisted smile to keep it light-hearted.

Nathan had changed so much that it was easy to forget he'd had such a different past. I often forgot he'd taken drugs, had run-ins with the police and earned himself a criminal record. I'd learned not to think about it too much. Everyone had a past. Nathan had changed, and that was the important thing. He wasn't that person anymore.

We were due to meet my parents at one o'clock, so we had a quick browse around duty free first. My eyes landed on the cigarette stand whilst Nathan was browsing some aftershaves. Huge packets of cigarettes, tempting smokers by their cheap prices.

"It's a disgusting habit. Don't start," Nathan said, noting where I was looking.

I shot him a sarcastic smile and he winked back at me, slipping his hand into mine.

"You'd know all about it," I said.

"Exactly. So why the sudden interest in cigarettes? You're not about to admit a secret nicotine addiction that you've been hiding for the past year, are you?"

"No," I laughed. "Absolutely not. I was actually thinking about when you told me that you only smoked occasionally. But I don't think I've ever seen you smoke."

He shrugged. "I haven't. You said you weren't a fan of kissing smokers. I wasn't addicted. So why would I needlessly do it?"

"Oh," I said softly, strangely touched by his logic. "Okay."

"I've told you that you made me become a better person. You made me want to become a better person. I didn't need cigarettes. It's a disgusting habit anyway so I'd never risk becoming addicted to them."

I nodded and squeezed his hand, shooting him a smile. "Good. I'd much rather you didn't."

My parents were already waiting when we arrived. I could have sworn Mum seemed more excited about seeing Nathan than she did seeing me...

"Nathan! So lovely to see you again! How've you been?"

"Great thanks, Claire," Nathan smiled, bending to kiss her cheek as they briefly hugged. He greeted my dad too with a handshake, whilst I just stood there waiting to be acknowledged.

It was great that my parents got on so well with my boyfriend; after how they'd felt about Matt, both during and after the relationship, it was such a relief to see them fully approve of Nathan.

As we waited to board the plane, we all had a catch up. Nathan was polite and chatty, oozing an amount of confidence that just made me beam with pride. He was making such an effort with my parents; it was clear he was desperate for their approval still, despite the fact we'd been together for over a year now. I liked that, though. I liked that he wasn't complacent, but saw their approval as an ongoing process, rather than something to simply just gain.

The flight was smooth for most of the journey, minus a little bit of bumpiness during our descent when we passed through the clouds. That appeared to be due to the weather, however, as we soon discovered that it was pouring it down with rain in Rome.

"This is not what I signed up for," my dad joked as we waited for our suitcases by the carousel. "If I wanted a rainy Christmas then I'd have stayed in England!"

Peter, Nathan's dad, had offered to pick us up from the airport, but Nathan had said it would be easier to get a taxi. Traffic in Rome was mental, and taxi drivers were used to it. When we arrived at the apartment, Nathan's chivalry continued. He carried my mum's bags up the stairs for her and politely introduced both of my parents to his dad and Georgia. James, Georgia's son, seemed to have grown loads since the last time I saw him, and stared at my parents with fascination from his mother's arms.

As expected, my parents were allocated the guest room and I was to share with Nathan. Mum and Dad didn't really have any issues with us sharing a bed anymore, and Nathan's dad was laidback about pretty much everything.

In a series of events similar to my own first visit here, Nathan's dad was cooking Spaghetti Bolognese for everyone.

"I was going to suggest we all go out for a meal, but I didn't know how tired you'd be after the travelling," he admitted.

"We can always do that another night," my dad suggested.

The conversation over dinner flowed smoothly, with barely any silences. My parents got on very well with Nathan's family, which was a great relief. Even though there was no reason they wouldn't get on, it's always a bonus to have both sets of parents having a good time together. Both fathers chatted about football and photography, whilst my mum was sharing baby stories with Georgia, much to my embarrassment.

After dinner, Nathan cleared away the plates and then asked if anyone wanted coffee. Both of my parents were big coffee drinkers and eagerly accepted his offer.

"How are you enjoying your job, Nathan?" my mum asked as we all sipped at our coffees.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. It's hard work at times and there are lots of deadlines, but I enjoy the pressure."

"Did you have any trouble getting the time off work?" Dad asked.

"Not really," Nathan replied. "Christmas is a very busy time there, but I suppose the beauty of being a translator is that you don't necessarily have to be in the office all the time. If there's anything urgent that needs doing, they can just email it over to me."

"I hope Louisa won't be working you too hard over Christmas," Peter commented with a smile.

My ears pricked up at the mention of Louisa, especially coming from Nathan's father.

"Is Louisa your boss?" Mum then asked. An obvious assumption to make...

"No, she's my assistant," Nathan explained. "But everything goes through her and she sort of manages and prioritises everything for me...basically makes my job a little bit easier."

"That's what assistants are for," Dad said.

"She owes him, anyway," Peter said. "Nathan helped her get the job."

"She deserved the job," Nathan quickly interjected. "I knew her from school and I knew she'd be good at it."

"There's nothing wrong with that." My dad shrugged. "It's tough out there at the moment. Plenty of deserving people aren't getting jobs. It's almost more about who you know these days, rather than what you know. If she's good at her job, then that's all that matters."

"Exactly," Nathan murmured, and he squeezed my hand gently underneath the table.

"So did you know her from school?" Mum then asked.

I sat tensely in my seat, willing the conversation to move onto a different subject. I knew Mum was just being polite by asking questions and taking an interest, but it made me uneasy. My parents had no clue of Nathan's past. I hadn't told them for obvious reasons. What if it changed their opinion of him? What if they worried he'd relapse? As far as I was concerned, Nathan's past was his past, and it shouldn't matter in the present. There was no reason for my parents to know about it.

"Yeah, we were good friends," Nathan said. His tone was lacking the usual ease with which he normally spoke. I could tell he was becoming uncomfortable too.

"They were practically inseparable," Peter added.

Georgia remained quiet, and it got me thinking. How much did Nathan's family know? I guessed that, being a similar age, Georgia would know more. But I supposed it depended on just how deep Nathan had gotten. You couldn't hide everything from your family.

"Did you stay in touch after school, then?" Mum asked.

Nathan shook his head. "No, we went our separate ways. I think sometimes it's better to leave high school friendships in the past and get on with your life independently. It's purely coincidental that she applied for the assistant job. But, since I knew her from school and knew how organised and meticulous she was, I knew she'd be good at the job. Interviews don't count for anything when you've got first-hand experience and trust in a person."

'First-hand experience' indeed.

"It's a shame you lost touch," Peter said. "She was such a lovely girl, constantly looking after you and keeping you out of trouble. If ever I didn't know where you were, I could almost guarantee you'd be at her place. It was very reassuring."

She'd often cover for me whenever I went AWOL...

Nathan's words rang in my head from that intense conversation that we'd had after I'd found out the true nature of his relationship with Louisa.

Peter then turned to me with a smile. "I bet you find it hard to believe that your lovely boyfriend ever got himself into trouble, don't you?"

I forced a polite smile. "Oh, you'd be surprised."

That proved that maybe Nathan's dad wasn't fully aware of the extent of Nathan's "trouble" that he'd got into.

Nathan cleared his throat. "Well I'm a lovely boyfriend now and that's all that matters."

At that, Georgia cleared her throat and stood up. "Is everyone finished with their mugs?"

The firm finality of her words suggested she wanted this conversation to end even more than Nathan did.

"I'll help," I offered, realising that I hadn't done much to aid with the Hunt family dinner.

Georgia was loading the dishwasher when I got into the kitchen. I could hear that my parents were already chatting to Nathan again, this time about something else thankfully.

"Thanks," Georgia smiled as I passed her the remaining mugs.

I decided to get straight to the point. We were both girls, and girls knew how other girls felt about these sorts of things.

"So, did you know Louisa then?" I asked.

"I knew her as well as I wanted to know her," Georgia replied, setting the timer on the dishwasher and then leaning back on the counter. It was a strange response.

"You weren't a fan?"

"How much do you know?" she asked. "Because it's really not my place to—"

"I know everything. At least, I think I do. I know about Nathan's past and the drugs and the girls. I know he used to hook up with Louisa."

"Well, credit to him for being honest with you about that."

"Actually, I found out accidentally. I went to meet him after work, bumped into Louisa, and she told me, thinking that I already knew."

"You found out from Louisa?" Georgia raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I mean, I genuinely don't think she realised I didn't know. In fact, she got pretty upset herself when she realised that Nathan hadn't been honest about how he knew her. I think she found it a bit disrespectful."

Georgia snorted. "How ironic, considering that Louisa had pretty much zero respect for herself."

I shrugged. "Nathan's changed. And she seems nice enough."

Georgia sighed. "You're right. People grow up. And Nathan moving to Italy was the best for everyone. Those two were just toxic together. I know they saw it as a mutual arrangement, but they weren't really helping each other. They were just indulging one another."

It was odd seeing this side of Georgia. She'd always seemed so bright and friendly. But that just made me more curious. For some reason, she had very strong feelings about Louisa, and I wanted to know why.

"So, why did you hate her so much?"

"Various reasons."

"Ah, okay."

"I was always very careful about who I slept with. She slept with anyone and everyone, and she never caught anything and she never got pregnant. I, on the other hand, was very selective, and yet I happened to choose the one person who somehow managed to get me pregnant, and then leave me."

Sympathy rushed through me. I couldn't comprehend how that must feel.

"I completely get that. Life's so unfair sometimes."

Georgia shrugged. "I thought that at the time. But James is the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I wouldn't change him for the world."

I smiled at her unconditional love for her baby. No matter who the father was, and how he'd been brought into this world, Georgia loved him. And that was all that was important.

"So yeah." She sighed. "There was that element, but then there was also the protective element. I knew, deep down, that Nathan was a good guy. But he got misled and ended up going down the wrong path. I tried so hard to help him, but he was beyond help. And Louisa certainly didn't care.

"What do you mean?"

Georgia paused again. "Look, Izzy, this really isn't my place. This is something that you and Nathan should talk about."

"We have talked about it. He said they had a mutual interest in sex and so they slept together a lot. He said he accidentally got her hooked on drugs and that moving to Italy was the right thing to do because it set her free from his toxic influence, similar to what you said. In fact, Louisa told me herself that Nathan moving to Italy helped her get back on the right path."

"Well I really hope she is back on the right path because it was a dark, dark road that she was heading down," Georgia sighed. "She was a real mess. I don't think Dad ever noticed, because she was good at hiding it. But I saw her more often. I'd hear her come into the house at five in the morning, after doing goodness knows what with goodness knows who. She wouldn't leave until mid-afternoon, when Dad was at work. And let me tell you, when she crawled out of the house at four in the afternoon, she was not a pretty sight."

I thought about Louisa's appearance now. She was beautiful with elegant clothes and meticulous hair.

"It looks like she's turned her life around," I commented.

Georgia nodded. "Good for her if she has."

The kitchen door burst open and Nathan stood there. His eyes flitted between the two of us.

"So what are you two talking about?" he asked casually.

"Just comparing notes." Georgia smiled. "I'm getting tired now though, so I'll go and check on James and then head to bed I think."

Nathan watched Georgia leave and then smiled at me. "Nice chat?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Have my parents finished interrogating you?"

"They have indeed. Are you tired? I think your parents were going to head to bed soon anyway too."

"Yeah I am a bit. Got a bit of a muzzy head too so some sleep will do me good."

Nathan didn't seem worried about what Georgia might have told me, which was a comfort. If he wasn't worried, then that probably meant that there wasn't anything she could have told me that would be too much of a shock. I didn't think Nathan was hiding anything else from me. But there was a fine line between being open, and going into lots of detail to be open. I knew everything I needed to know, and there was no need for me to know the dirty details of their relationship, so Nathan therefore hadn't embroidered on them.

After saying night to everyone, Nathan and I headed up to bed. I was feeling drowsy, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I just wanted to close my eyes and drift off. Nevertheless, we attempted some pre-sleep chit-chat.

"I like that our families get on," I said, my head resting on his chest.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed. "I thought they would, but it's always nice to be proven right."

I chuckled. "I suppose so."

I wasn't going to ask about Louisa tonight. I was tired and not really in the mood for an in-depth chat. I'd ask him a question, he'd answer, and then I'd feel the need to ask another question. Nathan had had enough interrogation for one night.

At the end of the day, I knew everything I needed to; anything else was just details and my curiosity. Nathan's case was a difficult one. Whilst I knew his past was behind him, and no longer affecting his present, it was still a part of him. And it was a natural desire to want to know as much as possible about the person you're in love with. That was part of a relationship. You share the whole of yourself with one person. One person gets to know everything about you, even your dirty laundry; everyone else can remain blissfully ignorant. 

--

Thank you for reading :)xx

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro