[ h o p e w a s d a n g e r o u s ]

♥ louisa ♥

THE MEETING GOT cancelled, of course. There was hardly any way they would have been able to come to some sort of agreement with the victim unconscious and to be frank, I highly doubted we would have concluded anyway.

I woke up with a sigh, blinking hard as my eyes adjusted to my bedroom. There was a soft sound of creeping from the far end of the room and I groggily lifted my head.

"Oh dear, sorry Louisa. I didn't mean to wake you. I tried to be as quiet as possible. Perhaps I should have come in to clean later on," a soothing voice said.

I heavily dropped my head back down into the cushion. "No, don't worry. It wasn't you Marie. I woke up naturally." For some reason, my hand felt drawn to the back of my head which was thudding a little.

"Yes, that might hurt a little while. Mrs Darling said that the back of your head was the first to hit the floor when you passed out."

At this stage, my eyes were a little more focused and I watched Marie finish dusting my bookshelf in a navy blue dress with her usual apron wrapped around.

After I had reconciled with my parents, I'd asked for Marie to be re-employed. Till then, I had been financially supporting her and thankfully, when she had returned both of my parent's attitude towards her was transformed. It turned out that Marie had had a good relationship with them years ago when they were newlyweds but like most things, had been forgotten about as they rose in success.

Her cloudy eyes gently held mine as Marie placed a loving soft hand upon my head, strands of grey hair framing her face. I smiled thinking about how much things had changed since then. I could very clearly remember what she had said to me on a school inset day last year.

Sitting up straighter and resting my head on my chin, I gazed at her through my eyelashes. "Do you remember that you once told me good things come to those that wait?"

A flicker of recognition went through her. "I do distinctively remember that, honey."

"Well, it turns out you were right."

"Is that so?" She questioned with a warm knowing look.

"Definitely. Like- Oh shit."

Her face furrowed perplexed whilst mine fell in annoyance. I was seconds away from jumping out of bed. "I was supposed to meet Nanna today at 2 pm. At Farmborough. God, what time is it?"

There was a soft thud at the sound of footsteps. Turning my attention towards the door, I noticed my mother was standing there with a tray in her hand. "One-thirty. 1.27 to be precise."

Even though it was late noon, she too was still wearing her silk pyjama dress. "Who's Nanna, Louisa?"

Gayane Darling always looked out together and she did right now. It was as if she was a timeless skin kissed model who had just risen from a nap on the beach, with gorgeous dark hair falling upon her shoulders.

I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to say something now that would ruin another something in the future.

Another something in the future? Gosh. Louisa, you just don't give up hope, do you?

Slowly, I began. "You know, Gabriel? His grandmother."

Mum was evidently, and rightfully to be frank, confused. "Gabriel? That rings a bell. Is he the one who-" She paused before cautiously continuing. "The one who found you that day by the bridge? I think he was also waiting with us in the hospital waiting room. Dark brown hair, grey eyes?"

I nodded, quite freaked out how well mother remembered him. Mum was certainly sharp and with a good memory.

The queen size bed dipped down as she sat down beside me, placing the tray with brunch on the bedside table. Marie looked between the pair of us and cleared her throat. "I'm going to move onto dusting the games room now if that's alright? Please do call me if you need anything, Mrs Darling."

"Thanks, Marie," mother responded, her chocolate eyes meeting Marie's. The corner of her lips lifted as she continued. "I also forgot to say earlier that the garden looks lovely. Nobody can beat you and Julia at the gardening. Wonderful choice of flowers."

Marie was almost speechless but managed out a polite stutter of thanks before leaving my bedroom.

"How do you know his grandmother? That's a bit random." There was no accusation in her voice. Just curiosity. For a moment I found myself wracking my brain.

That's a good question. How do I know Nanna?

When the answer came, it wasn't a pleasant one. Mum's kind gesture towards Marie was what encouraged me to be open with her. "I don't know if I've told you thins before but do you know why I stayed a few days longer in Australia last October?"

There was a flicker of embarrassment on her face which said that she didn't even remember that I had gone to Australia but she covered it quickly. "No, I don't think you did."

It suddenly felt as if there was a rock in my throat that was too big to go down but not big enough to come up. I struggled to even say it. It sounded pathetic and I hated that because it wasn't. The only pathetic thing here was Logan. "Gabriel was attacked by a group of men sent by Logan."

Concern filled her face. "What do you mean attacked?"

"He suffered from seven stabbing wounds if I remember correctly," I forced out, unable to look at her from fear that she would see the pain in my eyes. "That's not to count the broken bones."

She gasped quietly, hands falling open in her lap. "What? Louisa, that's unbelievable. Are you sure Logan was behind this? This is quite serious. Is he alright now?"

That is a good question.

I rubbed my forehead. "Yeah, he's okay."

Her eyes moved from side to side in analysation and I knew her mind was at work. "This would strengthen the case against Logan. There's no way he'd be able to walk free after-"

I stopped her there.

"No. I-I don't know if Gabriel is comfortable for this to be used. And I don't know if he wants to take it further. He might still be mentally recovering from it all."

"He's your friend. Perhaps you should talk to him about it," she suggested, inspecting me.

Friend? I doubted people who weren't on speaking terms were friends

I quickly put my guard up. I knew she meant no harm but I also knew she was intelligent and a single slip up would mean she'd be onto me. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that.

I knew I said no more secrets but one step at a time.

"Anyway, that's beside the point. I met Nanna there and I was supposed to book lunch with her at Farnborough for 2 pm today. She's a lovely lady."

Ignoring the momentary lightheaded feeling, I quickly stood up and walked to my wardrobe trying to pick out the right thing to wear. For some reason, I always felt the need to impress her. Maybe it was because the first time I'd seen her, I was a total mess.

"Oh God, there's no way I'm even going to get a booking for Farmborough now. That place is always busy."

There was the sound of shuffling behind me before my mother's articulate voice called out. "You don't worry about that. I'll pull some strings and get that organised. 2 o'clock right?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Mum," I replied, crouching down to dig about for some white wedges. Reaching a little further, I yanked it out pairing it with a dress.

I hastily thanked mother again before rushing to the bathroom to sort myself out. Ten minutes to pull myself together was going to be a challenge when I just remembered the reason I'd passed out in the first place.

Pushing that to the back of my mind before it could latch onto my thoughts, I reached for my favourite face wash. A breakdown would have to come after lunch with a very sophisticated woman.

***

I was sitting at the best seat at the cafe. Actually, second-best since I was always taught to let the guest have the best seat. Glancing around the place, I certainly understood what the talk was about.

It was beautiful. Situated on the roof of a skyscraper, the whole area had been organised like a garden with gold ornaments nestled in between light pink flowers. Each ornament showed a carving that represented the history of the afternoon tea location, dating back 200 years, from its start-up to its current developments.

Thankfully, I'd managed to get my nails manicured a few days ago and they had been carefully filed into a lone almond shape, painting a muted yellow. The summer dress I'd worn matched with it, darker little details dotting across it.

1.58 pm

My head quickly turned to from at the sound of the chair opposite me being pulled out. An old woman was in front of me, her outfit and composure anything but old. She took had worn a dress, with a little hat and sunglasses.

Awkwardness filled me and I rapidly stood up, not quite sure what I was doing. I could feel my face flush red and I was somewhat glad that I couldn't see her eyes for I was pretty certain she was looking at me in amusement.

"Hi Mrs Rei- Nanna, how are you?"

Pulling off her glasses, her slate-grey eyes glanced around the location in appreciation. "I'm lovely, thank you, sweetie. How are you? Just wait till Kirsty heard about this. The view here is beautiful, it looks like the best seat."

It was but I didn't tell her that out of courtesy.

"I've been alright. It's been nice to be back in London."

Her face lit up in remembrance. "Oh yes, Espirits School, right? How have you been finding it? And the location, of course."

I was aware that Nanna knew about the Logan situation considering Gabriel had been the one to first reach me that day. I wasn't quite sure how she knew about Espirits.

"Oh, that boy told me about Forteaux's sister school and how you moved there. I can't seem to remember his name. It always slips my mind," the little wrinkled on her face deepened in contemplation. "Prince told me. I think that's his name. We met when we organised to have Gabriel shifted home from the hospital in Australia for Christmas."

Christmas felt so long ago but recent at the same time. I crossed my long legs over each other, smiling and thinking about Pierce, "Espirits is great. Everyone there's welcoming and I've made some good friends. And of course, Paris is incredible but it's very different to London."

A wistful smile grew upon her poised lips as she sadly looked at the skyline. "Well, there's no place quite like home, is there?"

My eyebrow raised instinctively and she took it as a signal to continue. Sighing, she opened up the beige napkin and put it over her lap. "Gabriel moved out of home a little while ago. And this silly old bat misses him."

I felt my nude lips fall open a little as I chewed at the inside of my lip thinking about what she had said. It felt wrong to comment on his reasons for moving out when I was pretty certain that it was me. "That's not silly at all. To miss him."

"That's not just it though." She took a sit from the drink I had ordered her before she arrived. "I'm worried about him too which is why I wanted to talk to you."

Oh God, I called it.

Keeping my face neutral, I nodded for her to continue but before she could reply, the waiter came. "Hi ladies, how can I help you today?" The blonde man asked, a bright grin on his face.

After we ordered, Nanna continued. "He dropped me home recently when we had gone to Brighton. That's another story anyway. But once he had dropped me off, he reached into his bag and swallowed something. He didn't know I was still there watching but it looked like something he wanted to hide."

There was so much worry in her voice that I felt my stomach drop in sadness. I thought back to our conversation in the hall.

"And if it means having you leave, then sure. I'll tell you." His words came out quickly and with a bitter, almost frustrated tint. "Antidepressants."

Was it just that, though?

Although he had passed that drug test at school, the fact that he was so close to Talisa told me it could be something else. Regret filled me at the thought of Talisa but I quickly stopped myself from thinking about it. I'd never forgive myself for what I'd done .

"Right," I said softly, waiting to see if she was going to add anything. She did.

"And I know that before he moved in with me, he used to consume a lot of alcohol, maybe even smoke," Nanna shook her head, beady eyes staring at the table. "I just don't want him to fall into his old ways again. He's done so well you know. He managed to turn his life around when nobody had any faith in him."

I couldn't tell her that he never actually stopped drinking and to be honest, I was quite certain I'd seen him outside the school with a cigarette a good few times since my return.

My nails tapped against my thoughts as I tried to think of a way to console her without being an outright liar to her face. "I understand. If there's anything I can do to help, of course I will."

Part of me was hoping that she'd say no. Things were complicated enough with him and I didn't need an added layer of pressure through expectations.

Her eyes locked onto mine, watching me with sharp intensity. The hope lurking within it was so strong that I faltered and looked away for a moment. Hope was dangerous sometimes.

"I'm not stupid, Louisa."

My stomach dropped.

"I'm quite sure that your move to France and the change in Gabriel seem to have some sort of link - which I really don't understand given how close the pair of you had been during the days after you were hospitalised. However, I trust you and I know that there must have been a valid reason." She was watching me carefully, "You're a good girl, Louisa, who's been through a lot."

Again, I still couldn't meet her eyes and instead pretended to be admiring the well-designed menu so that she wouldn't see the sheen of water forming upon my pupils.

Her wise voice continued, "And I'm also not going to ask you to miraculously mend your relationship with him or to be frank, mend Gabriel's relationship with the world because that's a ridiculous request."

Lift your head. You're being rude, Louisa. Look at her.

Slowly, I forced myself to make eye contact. The expression on Nanna's face made my heartache for the tenth time.

"What would you like me to do?"

Just as the little sandwiches and scones arrived, she responded with an immense amount of prayer radiating from her. "I was just going to ask if you could try and encourage him to move back home."

I bit my tongue.

Slightly impossible, Nanna

"...Because after that, I'm sure things will back into place. Most things do."

I wasn't sure if she was telling me, herself or both of us.

let's be honest, nanna is definitely the most wholesome character in the series although she is asking louisa for a lot. let's hope lou's successful! get ready for a lot of her old wounds to become healed and some difficult conversations (: