Grace was back in the flat she shared with a roommate in downtown London. A week had passed since she left the Meyer Mansion. The past few days had been brutal on her. She spent most of her time in bed wallowing in self-pity. In all that time She had not heard from Nicko and did not expect to.
Now that she was going to be a single parent, she needed to make arrangements about where she would stay. The flat was too small to bring up her child in. their child.
The place had been perfect when she was still a hostess on the ship but since she could no longer work, the place felt cramped.
Today she planned on calling the flight Center to get a flight back to Ireland as soon as possible. She was moving back to her childhood home in Culmore.
The house had been vacant for 5 years now.
She took a long shower, giving her time to put a pause on her thought, relishing the pressure of the water on her skin.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, she felt like a new person. Her mind was clearer than it had been in days.
When she looked at her clothes laid out on the bed, She regretted not taking some of those that Nicko had bought for her, 'it was not like Amelia was going to wear them.' She quickly dismissed that thought. She didn't want to start on that path again. she had not fully recovered yet.
Grace finished dressing up and at exactly eleven am she started making calls to the flight center.
40 minutes later she had a date and time for her flight out. The earliest flight she could get was the following day at 10 am. The flight was only one hour and twenty minutes. Tomorrow around this time she would be at home ready for her new life. Feeling both nervous and excited. She took out her luggage bags and started folding clothes, late afternoon she wanted to visit one of her favorite spots in town, Q's gallery on Oxford street before she left London.
Halfway through her packing, She could not believe how bare her room was. her whole life in London squeezed into four bags. In all her six years of staying there, she only had a bed, a bookcase, and a table that was always full of clutter.
She let out a sigh.
she was leaving the few pieces of furniture with her flatmate whom she had grown fond of even though they hardly saw each other. they both worked crazy shifts but they got along perfectly. hopefully, she'd find someone to replace her.
The only things she was taking were her clothes, books, paints, brushes, and canvases that she never used, hopefully in Culmore she will be more inspired to paint again.
By the time all her bags were full. she was drained.
If she was going to make it to the gallery she needed to take a nap first. She moved her bags away, ready for tomorrow. set her alarm and climbed into bed, she fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.
Two hours into her nap she was woken up by a kick that took her breath away. She sat up in bed... trying to catch her breath and looked at her clock, she realized she was still left with thirty minutes before her alarm went off. Groaning in frustration, she tried to go back to sleep but the baby had kicked the sleep out of her.
with nothing left to do, she put her hand on her tummy, got up, latched her flat, and took an elevator down.
When Grace stepped out She noticed how beautiful the weather was. there was a slight breeze but the sun was still high up in the sky. It was a good day to walk and look through shop windows, maybe even go to the park. She crossed the street to a small Coffee spot and noticed a black SUV Cadillac parked next to the grocery shop further down her street. She asked one of the girls at the coffee spot but she didn't know who the owner was. but said the car had been parked there the whole week. Grace knew almost everyone from her block and they did not drive such cars, most of them opted for public transport to get around. something was bothering her about that car. She grabbed a bite and headed south, making a point to peep through as she passed the mystery car. the windows were black but she didn't get the impression that anyone was Inside. 'it's just a car.' she told herself and went her way.
When she finally reached the gallery, her legs were complaining but she was glad she walked.
The gallery was practically empty as she stood in front of a large piece of painting that had grabbed her attention the moment she walked in through the door. It was a landscape with flowers scattered across a mountainside. She walked the room a couple of times and looked at a few portraits but something was pulling her back to the painting with flowers. She wanted to study the painting further when something familiar caught her eye. Through the glass windows, she could see the black Cadillac from earlier now parked outside the gallery.