A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(7)
She sighed when Blake’s name popped into her head. When they’d first met, he’d been this six-foot-three blond man who looked like a Viking and treated her with respect. He’d liked to go hiking and surfing, and he’d been fun. Being with him had been fun. And for a while, she’d thought that maybe she’d found someone who made her so happy that she no longer felt the urge to fight. No need for the little voice in her head to make its presence known. She got out more, she met new people, and she grew closer to Chloe and Harry.
And that was the problem: as soon as anyone else was involved, Blake didn’t like it. He didn’t like her having male friends and would ask her who she was going to meet on a constant basis. He was allowed to have friends, he was allowed to go out and not have to explain where he was going, or who would be there, or when he would get back. But Layla wasn’t allowed such freedoms; he’d go nuts if she was ten minutes late in returning a text. When he’d asked her to move in after four months of dating and she’d said it was too early, he’d gone out and started seeing someone else behind her back.
It had taken her a while to realize he was a controlling, manipulative jackass, and by then she’d also realized he’d been cheating on her for several months of their ten-month relationship. She’d told him she never wanted to see him again, and Blake had spent the next three weeks bombarding her with phone calls and e-mails, telling her he loved her and that if she’d only give him another chance, he’d change. But she didn’t believe it. Seeing him again had just proved how much she’d ignored, or rationalized, when she should have been running to the hills.
Blake had turned out to be exactly like all those people who had lied to her over the years. She didn’t need liars in her life; she hated the idea of someone professing to care for her but lying to her face. It was something she’d never been able to get over since her father had managed to ruin her life in such spectacular fashion.
She climbed out of bed and took a shower, washing away the memories of past lovers, and the smell of cigarettes. She didn’t smoke herself, but it didn’t seem to matter. It also didn’t seem to make any difference that smoking was banned inside the clubs themselves. If you went to a club, you always ended up smelling of the stuff just because of the number of people smoking outside, and there were few things she liked less. It reminded her of her father. And those were not memories she wished to pick at.
She’d just got dressed in an old pair of faded blue jeans and a cream t-shirt with a picture of a black spirit wearing a white mask on it, when the doorbell went. She ran from her bedroom at one end of her apartment to the front door, opening it to a grinning Chloe.
“How are you feeling?” Chloe asked, passing Layla a bottle of energy drink and some paracetamol. “Just in case.”
“I’m covered, but actually I feel good.” Layla stepped aside to let Chloe in.
“Nice t-shirt. What is it?”
“No Face from Spirited Away. It’s an anime.”
Chloe’s face lit up. “Ah, I didn’t know you were into your anime. You should speak to a friend of mine, Kase. She’s obsessed with them all.”
“I just like the Ghibli films. They’re pretty much the perfect films to watch on any occasion.”
“Kase once got me to watch every episode of One Piece. And there were about five hundred of them at the time. I was pretty much done with needing to watch anime again after that.”
“You didn’t like it?”
“Quite enjoyed it. It was just a bit of an overload. Maybe I should get some Ghibli and start again.”
“The Blu-Rays are in that cupboard under the TV. I need to eat something. You hungry?”
“Coffee, please.”
“That’s not food.”
Chloe smiled. “Yet it’s all I need.”
Layla walked away to the kitchen and put the kettle on. Her apartment was a nice two-bedroom abode with decent-sized rooms, although the second bedroom was only big enough for a spare bed or, as she used it for, all the junk that she still hadn’t sorted since moving in three weeks earlier. She’d taken the apartment because of the massive front room, which was great for entertaining. The beautiful, high ceilings were due to the fact that the whole building had once been a large hotel that had been divided into six smaller accommodations. Even though she lived on the ground floor, she’d never once heard any of her neighbors while they were in their own apartments. Layla’s apartment was close enough to the main city center without actually being in it.
Normally a student wouldn’t be able to afford such luxury, but Layla had inherited a considerable sum of money after her mother’s death. Money she was only allowed to take an allowance from on a monthly basis until she turned twenty-one, when the whole thing would be unlocked. She had no idea what she was going to do with it once it was available, but it was nice having enough money to be able to afford such a pleasant place to live.
“Are you working tonight?” Chloe asked when Layla brought the coffee. Layla had grabbed a cereal bar and made some tea for herself.
“Yes, unfortunately.” One of the conditions of her inheritance was that she had to have at least part-time employment. Her mother had been big on ensuring that Layla always knew the value of money. She only worked three evenings a week, and it wasn’t exactly the most exciting or stimulating job, but it was still a job, and, frankly, most of the time it was nice to get out and do something different a few times a week.