‘What was that?’ Rob asks.
‘She’s programme. AA,’ I say shaking my head. ‘She took one look at my dilated pupils and knew I’m on frigging horse tranquillizers. This was a mistake.’
‘No
it’s not,’ Rob says encouragingly. ‘Just tell her that you have a condition. You’re not an addict, like them.’
He doesn’t get it. But the way he said ‘addict’ was surprising.
‘I had no idea you had such a thing against addicts,’ I mumble as we make our way through the kitchen and towards Maria’s office.
‘It’s why I broke up with Mila. She liked to do drugs, and I don’t touch them.’
I glance at him. ‘There’s history there,’ I guess.
Rob’s lips press together. ‘My mom had some issues with drugs when I was little,’ he admits stiffly. There’s an edge to him I’ve never seen before.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say, meaning it. ‘That’s rough.’
‘Yeah,’ he says gratingly. ‘Mothers should put their kids to bed, not the other way around.’
We stop in front of Maria’s door. ‘How bad did it get?’
‘As bad as it can get until my dad did something about it,’ Rob says. He knocks on Maria’s door for me, ending the conversation.
Maria pulls open the door and she looks at Rob first. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she asks him angrily, and then she sees me standing next to him. She gives a quick embarrassed laugh, and shakes her head, and waves us inside all at the same time.
‘Sorry – he’s with you?’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘I thought I was going to have to call Gina to help me throw you out. No men allowed in here, you know.’
She gives me a hug. ‘Are you OK?’ she asks.
‘Yeah, I’m much better,’ I reply, feeling horrible for lying to her.
She reaches out a hand to shake with Rob. ‘We spoke on the phone?’ she hazards a guess. ‘Rob?’
‘We’ve met before,’ he reminds her. ‘But it was just for a second.’
That was awkward.
‘Oh. Well. Thank you for bringing Magda back.’ Maria turns to me. ‘When can you start working again?’
‘Really?’ I say, excited. ‘How about now?’
‘Ah . . . sure,’ Maria says, thrown. She looks at Rob, who’s shaking his head, and she stops.
‘Magda’s not really up to it yet,’ he says.
‘Yes I am,’ I say. ‘I want to work.’
Rob turns to me and puts a hand on my arm. ‘But I can’t stay here with you. It’s a women’s shelter,’ he says pointedly. ‘Are you sure you’re up to this right now? You’ll be by yourself.’
‘No she won’t,’ Gina says behind us. We turn and see her lurking just beyond the door frame. ‘I’ll make sure she’s OK.’
I hold up my hands like I’m surrendering and smile. ‘I’m just going to sit and chop onions, Rob,’ I say. I look at him. ‘We decided this was good for me, right?’
‘I just didn’t think it’d be today.’ I see him grind his teeth for a second, but he relents quickly. ‘OK. Call me later. I’ll come pick you up.’
‘I can drive her home,’ Gina says, taking a step towards me. ‘It’s no trouble.’