“Er… cats are life,” Naomi said as she plonked herself next to Lanie who just shrugged. “Seriously? What better way to feel better than to cuddle a cat?”
Lanie stiffened. “I don’t need to feel better.”
“Well, you might not,” said Naomi. “But when I was growing up, I needed my cats. I cuddled them every day after school. But then I was bullied horrendously in high school so I guess it was different for me.” I noticed Lanie sliding Naomi a curious look at this. Lanie had been standoffish with Naomi throughout the evening up until then, which I think had something to do with the frequency her dad’s hand fell to the small of Naomi’s back and the way he looked at her. One of the few times Lanie spoke was to make a few pointed comments about how great her mum was.
Lanie bit her lip but then lost her battle with her curiosity.
“You weren’t bullied,” she blurted out.
Naomi’s eyebrows went up. “Wasn’t I?”
“People likeyouaren’t bullied.”
“People like me?”
Lanie huffed. “Don’t pretend you don’t know you’re… like … pretty or whatever.” She flashed Naomi a quick glare before she buried further into the cat.
“I’ll admit that I’m fabulous,” Naomi said, and Lanie snorted. “But fabulous people get bullied too, you know.” Lanie’s scowl was replaced by confusion. “I was heavily into maths back then and the flute. I basically went between the music department and the maths department, not fitting into either. My friends from primary school all dropped me because I wasn’t into make-up and clothes. Lucky for me I have a stylist and a make-up artist now because I still don’t give a crap about that stuff. Kids are little shits at that age. Come to think of it, adults can be pretty shitty too. I get trolled all the time online now.”
“Did it get better?” Lanie said so quietly it was an effort to hear her. Naomi and I exchanged a look before Naomi moved forward so she could sink her hands into Barbara’s fur as well, moving closer to Lanie.
“After a while it got better at school. I found some real friends – not many, but they weren’t bitches like my old crew. Then at uni I found other nerds like your dad and your godfather, and after that I was golden… for a time.”
That drew the first small smile I’d seen from Lanie all evening. “IknewDad was a nerd.”
“He hides it well nowadays, but under that suit is a closet maths geek who’s obsessed withStar Warsto an unhealthy degree,” Naomi said, and Lanie let out a small giggle.
“He’s still got all the toys from when he was little. They’re in a display cabinet in his office,” Lanie told us.
“The nerd runs strong in that one,” Naomi replied.
Lanie smiled again but her smile gradually fell and she bit her lip.
“I was bullied at school as well you know,” Harry said from the side of the sofa where he and Toby were now standing, having moved from the kitchen area.
“Really?” Lanie was truly shocked now. Harry shrugged.
“Kids can be dicks.”
Lanie looked down at her hands in her lap.
“Must be nice to have a stylist and make-up artist,” she said in that quiet voice again. Judging by her poorly applied, thick eyeliner I could see how that would appeal to a fifteen-year-old who was clearly being bullied at school.
Naomi paused for a moment. “You know, a couple of years after I met your dad something happened to me at uni.” I straightened in my seat at this and glanced at Toby who had gone completely still. “It brought back all those feelings I’d had at school. Made it so I didn’t want to even be around the people that cared about me. I was a bit of a hermit for a long time after that – didn’t wear any make-up, didn’t dress up like I used to, so definitely no make-up artists or stylists. I was sad but I recovered. Talking about it helped. I took too long to do that though, and by the time I plucked up the courage to go back to my old life I…” Naomi trailed off and I watched two flags of colour spread high above Toby’s cheekbones. Naomi cleared her throat. “All I’m saying is that it’s best to talk about this stuff sooner rather than later.”
“What happened to you?” Lanie whispered and I held my breath waiting for the reply. After finally admitting the truth to Toby and Harry, Naomi had then told me last week what had really happened to her at uni. She’d been sexually assaulted by a tutor. She didn’t tell Toby at the time as she knew he’d lose his shit and do something stupid to this guy. She thought she could deal with it on her own, but when she reported him, he denied everything. The faculty made her feel as worthless as she felt at school, and she left the LSE. After months of hermitting, as she describes it – holed up composing music back at her family home –she confessed everything to her parents about what had happened, and they started legal proceedings against the school. The tutor was removed from his position but, at Naomi’s request, it was all hushed up. She had wanted to tell Toby herself, but by that stage it was too late – he had a baby on the way and was engaged to be married.
“Someone hurt me. Someone I trusted. And I tried to deal with it all on my own, which was the wrong choice.”
“But you’re okay now?” Lanie’s face was pale as she stared at Naomi.
“Now, I’m great,” Naomi said. “Because now I open up to the people who love me, and I don’t listen to the haters.” There was a pause and Naomi smiled at Lanie before bumping shoulders with her as she continued. “Also, now I have access to Michel, my make-up artist. You know, he works with all the big names. I’m meeting him tomorrow. Maybe you could come along? Michel could do our make-up, then maybe my stylist could go shopping with us?”
Lanie’s eyes went wide. “You’re serious?” she breathed.
“Yeah, of course. I’m always looking for peeps to go shopping with. You’d have to leave your dad at home though, the fun sponge.” Lanie giggled again, staring at Naomi with a new light in her eyes.
“Maybe your mum could come too?”
