Chapter 25
Kim stood staring at the floor not even acknowledging her dad’s touch as he guided her into the house.
“Thank God we can now put this all behind us.” Kim’s mom softly spoke as she threw her keys on the side table.
Kim still focused solely on the floor. Ever since the attack she had become half the woman she used to be, she could not eat, could not sleep and very rarely left the safety of her bedroom.
“I’ll put the kettle on then.” Kim’s dad said, as he looked helpless at his daughter. His heart bled, knowing there was nothing he could do to help make his little girl feel better again.
“Kimmy go on up and get changed and I’ll bring your tea up to you. OK?” Kim’s mom tried to prompt a movement from her.
Like a robot, she followed her mother’s instructions and turned to make her way up the stairs leaving her parents looking on as her mom quietly shed a tear.
Once in her room Kim quietly traded her black suit for her comfortable PJ’s, she caught sight of herself in the mirror, hardly recognising the woman looking back at her she continued to stare.
Every spark and twinkle had just disappeared from her. She had become very numb inside, not feeling anything or even wanting to feel anything anymore. Her greasy hair was scraped back into a tight ponytail causing her almost skeleton like features to be magnified, her complexion was pasty and her eyes were always bloodshot from the lack of sleep. Yet she still felt nothing, like an empty vessel she had no desire to continue.
Her gaze was pulled away from the mirror by the sound of the phone ringing; it was quickly answered by the sound of her mother’s voice. Although she did not care, she still listened on to one side of the conversation.
“Yeah we’re not long in. The bastard got 3 years although knowing our justice system he’ll be out in 18 months.”
Kim could just about make out what her mom was saying then threw herself onto her bed as she realised the conversation was about Andy.
They had been to court this morning for Andy’s sentencing.
It turned out that Andy was no stranger to taking out his rage on women a few other women had come forward in the past about him attacking them but the police did not have enough evidence to convict him, but now thanks to Kim and Ash they were able to put him away.
Ash had been a great support to Kim since the end of the tour, he had popped round to see her every day even though he was lucky if he got two words out her, but he being there was actually helping Kim more than she realised.
Ash had gone to court with Kim and held her hand throughout the whole hearing, even though she had zoned out he never left her side throughout it all.
Every day since the attack was just a blur to Kim. The only vivid thing she could remember was her goodbye to Nick.
The days had quickly turned into months and Kim still had received no contact from Nick.
Throughout the whole ordeal, all she needed was to hear his voice, which she knew, would instantly pull her out of this slump, but the fact he had ignored and not responded to any of her calls or emails made her fall into an even deeper state of depression. Never before had so many friends and family surrounded her, showing all the love and support they could, yet she felt so alone.
Kim sat up on the bed she took her phone off the side table, as she expected there was still no calls from Nick.
She let out a heavy sigh then pulled her laptop towards her; she needed to try him again.
Once the computer had loaded up, she opened several windows and began logging onto an array of different sites in the hope he would see at least one of her messages and finally get back to her. She had reached the point now where she did not even care why he had not contacted her she just needed to hear from him.
After sending her last email Kim sunk back into the bed, she hated how she could not feel anything anymore. She wanted to cry but there were no tears, she wanted to shout and scream but she had no rage, most of all she wanted to smile, but she had no comfort. It was a dark place she had entered in her life and having no emotions inside her should have scared her more than anything in the world. Closing the laptop Kim shuffled down into the bed and closed her eyes.
It didn’t take Kim long to nod off although she wasn’t asleep long before her bedroom door came crashing open startling her out of her nap.
Kim’s eye adjusted to see a blurry vision of Grace standing over her, before she knew it Grace had hooked her arms around Kim and was dragging her out of the bed.
“What the fuck are you doing Grace?” Kim hollered at her cousin.
Grace said nothing but continued to drag Kim out of the bedroom as she kicked and screamed.
For a small person Grace seemed to have super human strength now matter how hard she struggled Kim couldn’t break free from her hold.
Before she knew it, Kim was sitting on the cold shower floor as water from the shower head pelted down on her. Kim sat there panting trying to catch her breath from the initial shock of the cold water hitting her.
“What – the – fuck- Grace?” Kim repeated through deep breaths.
“I told you Kim, I told you I couldn’t help you mend another broken heart. Now you can hide behind this Andy bullshit as much as you want, but we both know it’s Nick that is making you feel and look like this. Now scrub up cuz you look like shit.”
With that Grace calmly left the bathroom leaving Kim to pull herself together.
An hour or so later Kim emerged from the bathroom looking fresh and feeling a little better. Swapping her damp towel for an oversized fluffy dressing gown, she began to make her way down stairs to face the music with Grace.
Walking into the kitchen, Kim found a sandwich and tall glass of orange juice placed on the table. Looking around the corner, she saw Grace putting some cups and plates away.
“Hey.” Kim softly said.
Grace turned around and smiled at the site of Kim looking a little more lifelike.
“Sit down and try to eat something please.” Grace nodded towards the plate.
“Where is everyone?” Kim asked as she took a seat.
“I told your ma n pa to go out n get some lunch. They need a break from you.” Grace eyed Kim waiting for a response but she got nothing. Instead, Kim just stared unwillingly at the cheese sandwich in front of her.
Grace sighed and shook her head; she made herself and Kim some strong coffees then headed over to the table and sat down beside her cousin.
“Kimmy, you gotta shake this babe; you go on wasting your life waiting for some dickhead to call you. If he has not done it by now, he is not going to do it at all sweetie and you need to face that and accept your both from such different worlds it was never gunna be a magical happy ending was it?
Kim looked up to Grace although she was not expecting that outburst she knew Grace was right. In fact she had known this from the start but was just scared to admit it to herself. She had wanted so much for it to be her who ended up with a fairytale happy ending but who was she kidding whenever did the scully maid end up with the handsome prince?
“OK.” Grace tapped the table with her fist.
“It’s enough now I’ve only got three weeks with you before you have to go back on the road. Even though I think that is the worst idea ever, but I know you’re faithful to Ash and wouldn’t wanna hurt his career. So tonight, you and me are going out for a few cocktails and maybe even a little dancing then I’m booking us a last minute week in sun away from everyone and everything. Then at least you can make Mr Carter jealous of your awesome suntan when you get hold of him to tell him what a fuck wit he is.”
For the first time in 2 months, Kim finally managed to smile. Grace was amazing at putting her in a better mood. It was just a shame she only just had back from some studying she had been sent to do over in America and was not here at the beginning when Kim could have done with her the most.
They heard the front door slam shut and a familiar voice shouted hello through the house. Kim smiled as Ash walked into sight.
“Hey you, it’s good to see you up and about. WOW and a smile to.” Ash joked.
“and what’s put you in such a good mood?”
Ash walked into the kitchen area and saw Grace sitting at the table.
“Ahhhh, might have known you’d have something to do with it.” He joked as he coolly leant against the wall.
Graced blushed a little, Kim had not noticed before but there was a definite spark between Ash and Grace.
Maybe a little matchmaking is just what I need. Kim thought to herself as she raised an eyebrow.
“So what you got planned for tonight Ash?” Kim quietly asked.
Ash shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing was just gunna see if you wanted to watch a film or something.”
“Well me and Grace was gunna go out for a few drinks, why don’t you come?”
“mmmmmm, I think I’ll pass on girls night out, you only talk about boys and periods, neither of which I’m interested in.” Ash screwed his face up.
“No we don’t.” Grace protested as she got up and put her cup in the sink.
“Look have a ring round n see if anyone else is up for it, we’ll just go down to the pub and have a few beers. It could be fun if there’s a few of us going.” Kim almost pleaded with Ash.
“Errr is my company not good enough for you? You wouldn’t get out of your bed an hour ago!” Grace scoffed.
Ignoring the comment Kim pouted to Ash.
“Alright I’ll see what I can do. What time about 7ish?” Ash asked.
Kim and Grace both looked at each other and echoed. “Six!”
“Alright, alright.” Ash rolled his eyes.
“You want a coffee?” Grace asked Ash.
“Yeah I’ll take a quick one before I go.” Ash mad his way around the table to sit down.
The three of them sat around the table chatting about old times, each being careful to steer clear of anything that could be related to Nick or Andy.
Kim’s mom and dad returned a few hours later allowing Grace and Ash to feel able to leave to go home and change for their evening at the pub.
Kim’s mom instantly began fussing around her causing her to retreat into her previous ways.
As Kim began to get ready, she thought to herself that maybe getting back out onto the road would be the best thing for her, although her mom was trying her best she was becoming more and more suffocating, and she would finally be able to get some closure on Nick.
Chapter End Notes:
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