Chapter 36: Running Away

Abigail slept the night in her old bed, in her old bedroom. And though the mattress was hard and uncomfortable, it was the best night’s sleep she had had in weeks.

The next morning, Abigail woke up without an alarm, and found herself in an empty kitchen. Her mother always slept in when she had the chance, it was both the best luxury she could afford, and the cheapest healing tool for her body. Whichever way she looked at it, she needed to sleep, and so she did.

Abigail reached into the cupboards and poured herself a bowl of cereal. She then sat, curled on the couch with her bowl, and chewed peacefully.

So different to how her mornings had been going with her father. There, she had woken the same minute every day, to the blaring alarm at her side, and showered and dressed in the best suit she could find, to have breakfast with her father, grasping on to the only few minutes she might have with him, before each of them taking their own cars to the same office.

Abigail didn’t think less of either one. Both were just startlingly different to the other.

Emma woke up a little later, and found Abigail sitting on the sofa, a mug of tea in her hands. Emma came and sat beside her daughter.

“Is there anything else you still want to talk about?” Emma asked her daughter after greeting her. “Anything at all.”

Abigail thought for a moment, and then began. Filling in some details she had left out last night, not purposefully, but just hadn’t thought of them in the moment. She didn’t feel as tired or distraught anymore, and she spoke without much investment in what she was saying. She simply wanted to tell her mother what she had forgotten to last night.

“Abigail,” her mother began, holding on to her daughter’s hands as she spoke. “You know you can always come back to me here.” She held her daughter’s gaze. “And you know that this, will always be your home. But,” her mother paused, drawing a deep breath. “You cannot run from your father. You can’t run from half of who you are.”

Abigail stared at her mother, unsure where she was going with this.

“You do have to go back to him, back to that house, back there,” Emma said. “Because that is also a part of you, you can’t run away from there anymore than you could run away from here. Adam is still your father, and while you may not owe him much, you owe him respect.” Emma held up a hand. “And you owe yourself respect. If you want to move out of his house, I won’t argue it. But you have to do that. You cannot just run away in the middle of a disagreement.”

Abigail knew, objectively, that her mother was speaking nothing but truth and logical sense. But it was very hard for her to accept.

“You need to speak to him, as an adult, and clear everything up with him,” Emma continued. “I know you missed your teen years with him, but you can’t take that out now. You need to clarify everything. And then,” Emma spread her hands before her daughter. “Then if you want to leave, you have my full support.:

Abigail didn’t want to accept the truth of what her mother was saying. But she knew that she had to.

“You’re right,” Abigail told her mother, eventually. “I do have to go back. And I will. But first,” Abigail stood up, pulling her mother with her. “I have a few things to show you. A few superpowers I have now.”

Her mother stared at her in confusion, as Abigail pulled out her phone, and called for her driver to pick her up at her mother’s house. He promised he would be there in about ten minutes at the most.

“Mom,” Abigail said. “Wear your most comfortable clothes. I have a long day in mind for us.”

Emma stared at her daughter in confusion.

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“Now, before we do anything,” Abigail told her mother, sitting in the back of her Bentley, both of them wearing the oldest and most comfortable pair of jeans they could find. “I want you to know, we are going to spend lots and lots of money today. But this is my money. I have been working hard at the company, I have earned everything I have with a few simple deals made the company.”

“Okay, honey,” her mother told her. “I trust you, and I trust that you know what you’re doing.”

Abigail stared at her mother, eyes narrowing playfully. “You already know what you want to buy, don’t you? You’ve been dreaming of this day, haven’t you?”

Emma laughed lightly, then turned slightly serious, “To be honest with you, I’m just tired of having bread and peanut butter for supper. Any chance we can get some pizza?”

Abigail felt guilt settle in her stomach. She should have come back for her mother sooner. She should have come and seen that she had proper food sooner.

“Definitely, Mom,” Abigail said, her voice soft.

The drive to the mall lasted only twenty minutes, and in those twenty minutes, Abigail thought she had successfully scared her mother with her shopping planning.

Abigail had told her mother that they were going to do a complete overhaul on everything that Emma owned that could reasonably be bought at a mall.

That included quite a bit.

Abigail suggested they begin at the very basics, so they started with socks. Then underwear and pajamas. Once they had bought more pajamas than any one person could ever wear, all the fun truly started.

Abigail took her mother through each and every store, each time making sure to buy something unnecessarily extravagant.

They went in to all the designer stores, buying something from each.

They tried on clothing after clothing, Abigail herself getting dressed and undressed even though she had no intention of buying herself anything at all.

Abigail had to call two personal servants to help ferry their stuff from the shops to the car, and some things had to be delivered home.

They broke for lunch, at the most expensive restaurant at the mall, and Abigail explained to her mother what Adam had done with some of Abigail’s money. Abigail showed her mother a picture of the apartment that was now in her mother’s name, and the holiday house and two cars.

At first, Emma had been wary to accept anything from Adam, but Abigail had explained that it had really come out of Abigail’s rightful pocket money when she’d been ten. Then Emma was able to accept it.

They continued shopping for a few more hours, rebuilding Emma’s entire wardrobe from the ground up.

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Abigail then took her mother to her new apartment, closer to her places of work in the city. Abigail had called ahead to one of her servants stationed in that apartment, to make sure everything was fitted to suit her mother.

And then she had brought her there.

Emma was moved beyond words, and couldn’t believe that the place belonged to her, bought with Abigail’s own money.

Abigail helped her mother pack her new closet with her clothes, and they ordered some Thai food in, a few different kinds of noodles and more sushi than they could eat.

After a while, even Abigail had to admit that she was stalling just a little, and she knew she had to leave.

“You’re just as welcome here as you were at the old apartment,” Emma told her daughter. “There isn’t one day that I wouldn’t want you to come visit me.”

“But I have to go back tonight, don’t I?” Abigail asked her mother, already guessing where everything was going.

“You do,” Emma told her daughter. “Because that is also your home, that is also the place you belong. And you need it to understand who you are, and the person you are is not someone who is ever going to run away.”

Abigail nodded, and hugged her mother close against her.

“I will miss you though,” Abigail murmured into her mother’s shoulder.

“And I will miss you my little darling,” Emma whispered back fiercely, as she held on to her daughter. “But you are strong enough to do this.”

Eventually, Abigail let go of her tight hold on her mother, and made her way out of her apartment.

Everything came back to her again with a rush, of her father and Lyall, and Mark and Olivia and Charlotte, but Abigail kept her head held high.

She would have to go and face them, all of them, but she now knew that she had the strength to do so.

“Jerome,” Abigail said, speaking into her cellphone, “Pick me up. I want to go back home.”

Her driver took about ten minutes to get to her, and by the time Abigail greeted her mother and made it to the curb, her car was already waiting. Ready to take her home.