Willow wandered down the hotel hall towards the suite that the three for them had been calling ‘home’ for a couple of weeks now. It was already 11:15am and she’d just managed to catch the very end of the buffet breakfast, the staff leaving it on a bit longer for her, still grateful for the multitude of pastries and cakes that had been left for them by this rather lovely guest.
She inserted her card into the door of the hotel room and pushed it open. Ana was draped over the couch, wrapped in a bath robe, and Mia was sitting cross legged on a chair, staring absently into space, still in her pyjamas.
Willow gritted her teeth. It had been the same every day since they’d arrived back in London: Killing time until Ana and Mia felt better, stronger, ready to make important decisions about their lives. Willow was beginning to feel like she was in limbo, waiting for her fate to be determined by her two friends who were – currently – incapable of making a decision harder than which crappy movie to watch next. She had tried to talking to them about going somewhere new – just like they had planned – and starting fresh, but they hadn’t wanted to do that just yet and Willow had indulged them, not wanting to push them into something they weren’t ready for. The three of them had even talked about the possibility of going back to Melbourne, starting over there. At least there everything was familiar. Mia could give it a real shot with Johnny and Ana could try to work things out with Tom.
But even that was a choice they apparently weren’t ready to make.
“What do you want to do today?” Willow asked in a faux cheerful voice.
Mia looked blankly at Willow. “Huh?”
“Today,” Willow repeated. “What do you want to do?”
“Ummm…” Mia shrugged. “Nothing?”
“We did nothing yesterday,” Willow said, trying to keep her voice calm. “And the day before that, and the day before that.”
“So?”
“I’m bored,” she said, her irritation showing through. “We’re in London. For goodness sake. There are a million fun things we could be doing.”
“I don’t feel like doing anything fun,” Mia said in a petulant voice.
“Oh for god’s sake!” Willow exclaimed. “Snap out of it!”
Mia looked at her, eyes wide, before promptly bursting into tears.
“Oh no… don’t cry,” Willow said, immediately regretting sniping at her friend when she was in such a fragile state. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be cranky.”
“It’s not you,” Mia said, trying her best to sniff back the tears. “It’s just… I miss Johnny.”
“I know you do,” Willow said, stroking her hair. “But don’t you think…” she trailed off.
“What?”
“Well, don’t you think that maybe if we went out and did something then you might feel better? It might take your mind off it?”
“I don’t really feel like doing anything either,” Ana chimed in. “You go out, Willow. We’ll stay here.”
“But it’s more fun if we do something together,” Willow said. “Please? Just for a few hours?”
Ana sighed reluctantly and looked at Mia. “What do you think?”
Mia shrugged. “Oh, all right then. But only for a few hours. I don’t really feel like being around people at the moment.”
***
It was a crisp, sunny day and there were people everywhere, smiling and happy. Tourists posed to have their photos taken and kids ran around, laughing and eating ice-cream. But even wandering along the Thames, going to the Tate Modern and devouring a delicious Greek feast (well, Willow devoured. Ana and Mia picked) didn’t manage to bring so much as a smile to Ana or Mia’s lips.
“Can we go back to the hotel yet?” Ana said yawning, as they stood taking in the vista of London bridge.
That was the last straw. Willow snapped. “I can’t do this anymore!”
Mia and Ana looked at her, puzzled.
“Do what?” said Mia.
“Deal with you two! You do nothing but sit around the hotel and mope all day. I thought that we were meant to be embarking on a new better life? Quite frankly, at the moment it’s a bit crap.” Willow sighed. “We may as well just go back to Melbourne if this is what we’re going to do here.”
“Willow, I think that’s a bit unfair,” Ana said. “We’ve been through a lot and…”
Willow cut her off. “We’ve all been through a lot. No more excuses. We either do this properly or we don’t do it at all.”
“What are you saying?” Mia asked.
“I’m saying that we need to decide. Either we pack it in an go back to our old home in Melbourne or we do what originally planned and move to our new home.”
“Can’t we just stay here for another week or so,” said Ana. “See how we feel then?”
“No,” Willow said adamantly. “It’s time to choose.”
Ana and Mia looked at each other and nodded slowly.
“Let’s go home,” Mia said.
***
There was a slight bump as they touched down. Ana lent over and squeezed Willow and Mia’s hands.
“Welcome home,” she said.
The pilot’s voice came over the loud speaker. “Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to San Francisco where the local time is ten-fifteen am and the weather… well, lets just say it will change about fifteen times over the course of the day.” The pilot paused, giving time for the chuckled laughter of his captive audience. “If you’re visiting this lovely city, then have a fantastic time, and if you’re returning, then welcome home.”
“Home,” Willow repeated softly, letting the word linger on her tongue. It felt good. Right. A new start with new people to meet and adventures to be had. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Adventures will come, she thought. First things first. At this juncture, the most important thing was discovering some new food to be eaten! Even in business class, plane food was still plane food.
They collected their bags and walked slowly towards the big shiny doors that stood between them and their new lives.
“Ready?” Ana said.
“Yep,” said Willow.
Mia nodded and took a deep breath. “Absolutely.”
Together, they stepped through the doors. They were home.
***
This is the final episode of Season 6. Stay tuned for Season 7, when Ravenous returns in a couple of weeks.
Thanks for reading. xxx