Chapter 5
he checked his reflection on the mirror, he found that his eyes were swollen
from crying last night. And the fact of Mr. Lynsaght wasn’t around anymore
hit him again. He quickly washed his face with cold water before any other
emotion came and hit him again.
As soon as he finished brushing his teeth, his phone rang. He was guessing
it was either Bryan asking for Stella’s number or Shane eager to tell him
how did his date with Mita go. ‘Hello?’ ‘Hello. Is this Nicky Byrne?’
‘Yep, who’s speaking please?’
The other person on the other line paused for a while.
‘This is Stella. Stella Co..’ ‘Yeah, Connor, I know. What’s up?’
‘I was thinking to tell you about the whole thing because Emily seems really
upset since last night and now she’s with her counselor and I was thinking
maybe with you back in her life, you’d like to help her too.’
Nicky paused for a while, as if considering his choices when actually he
knew what he wanted to say but he didn’t want to sound too eager to let it
all out too soon. ‘Why me?’
‘Because I figured out that you were quite close with the family and that
it’s about time someone new comes into Emily’s life.’ ‘Where’s Mrs. Lynsaght?’
‘I don’t think I can tell you over the phone.’ ‘I’ll be there in fifteen okay?’
Stella agreed and they said their goodbyes.
Nicky rushed to change into decent clothes and grabbed McDonald’s breakfast
on the way to Emily’s. He really wanted to know what made Emily turned out
into like what she was like now. He spent his quick journey thinking, so
deep people were beeping their horns repeatedly at him. ‘Hi.’ ‘Come in.’
Nicky stepped in to the Lynsaght’s house again but somehow it felt really
different this time. He walked through the small welcome lounge and went to
the kitchen. Maybe he was too tired but he thought he heard Mr. Lynsaght’s
voice yelling either it was Nicky Byrne coming in or not. He quickly shook
his head and walked straight in to the kitchen.
‘I brought some Mackers breakfast.’ ‘Thanks.’
Stella looked drained, her dark brown hair tight back in a simple pony tail.
She looked completely different than she was the day before.
‘Hey, you’re okay?’
She sat down on one of the benches, still holding her cup of tea, hanging
her head low. ‘Yeah, just tired I guess.’
She looked up and gave Nicky a wry smile. ‘Or maybe not..’
She continued, whispering softly as she stood up and grab some plates for
them to eat. ‘So, what’s wrong with Em?’
‘Maybe I’m crazy trusting you this fast but there were times when she
couldn’t stop talking about you I had to shut her up and it seems like she
trusts you. Last night, after you left, I heard her sobbing in her room for
the first time since it all happened. For the very the first time for years,
what now, three and a half years? Something like that.’
‘She never cried since..’
Nicky couldn’t bring himself to mention Mr. Lynsaght’s death again.
‘Yes, she never did.’ ‘And where’s Mrs. Lynsaght?’
‘She’s..okay, rather than jumping around, let me tell you from the beginning
but are you sure you want to help her?’
Stella sipped her tea, looking at Nicky who was fiddling with his breakfast.
‘Why not?’
‘Well, I don’t know. Maybe you’ve been away from home, from her too long.’
Nicky was suddenly confused. Stella was right. He had been away from home
for so long and he would be away so often and if he got into any emotional
bond with Emily, wouldn’t it be a burden to him?
He shook his head in dismissal again. Maybe he didn’t know her anymore.
Maybe he wasn’t meant to interfere with her life anymore. Or maybe he didn’t
want anything that had got to do with Mr. Lynsaght. He was still in a shock
basically.
His mobile rang and he picked it up. It was his mam wanting to see him for
dinner tonight and he said it was fine.
He hadn’t answered Stella yet when he felt that someone was looking at him.
He turned his head to find Emily starring at him. Stella immediately stood
up and gave Emily a hug. ‘I thought I was going to pick you up.’
It must had been hard to be Stella, Nicky thought. She never really got a
proper reply to whatever she said to Emily. Stella turned around and put her
arm around Emily’s shoulder. Maybe Stella didn’t realise it but Nicky could
spot a deep pain within Stella’s eyes when she looked at Nicky. Nicky kept
wondering where Mrs. Lynsaght was. It looked like Stella was the one who had
been taking care of Emily all these times. He ended up staying in Emily’s
place for the rest of the day. He rented some videos and bought a lot of
take away food. He felt like Stella could do with a decent break. They ended
up slobbing in the house for the rest of the day and Nicky hadn’t felt that
good in a long time. Although it would all be perfect if he could hear Emily
talk for at least once. The day was approaching the evening when Nicky
realised that he had to go and have dinner with his family. So he decided to
get someone to keep the household going for at least today. When he was
about to go, he heard the doorbell rang loudly. But before he could open it,
Stella ran and opened the door. She looked a lot happier and as if the
burden was at least off her tiny shoulders.
Nicky peeked at Emily from the corner of his eyes. She looked so gloomy this
morning but she certainly looked a lot better now. Her face was still
expressionless but she looked like she had let go a bit. Stella had combed
Emily’s hair and plaited it beautifully and it was now tossed on her left
shoulder.
Somehow he could hear a voice laughing in the background, snapping him back
to the reality. He was sure he knew who was at the door.
‘Bryan, I gotta dash now. Thanks for coming.’
He yelled from the sitting room as he got up. He was about to walk away when
he turned back. He kneeled in front of the sitting Emily and put his left
hand on her shoulder, tossing back her plaited black hair. He then cupped
his hand on her cheek and smiled. ‘You’re gonna be alright?’
He knew he wasn’t going to get a reply from her so he smiled again. He could
feel his hand against her lovely pale skin and felt like he didn’t want to
leave. He wanted to stay. And he realised as he had to leave, that he didn’t
just want to stay. He wanted to help her and he had been wanting to do it
since he saw her again, only he was afraid she would break his heart again.
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