Read Online If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern - Free Book Online

his views frustrated him and only made his life more miserable. He was stern, rarely spoke except to the cows or vegetables, never laughed, and whenever he did decide someone was worthy of his words, he lectured. There was no need to respond to him. He didn’t speak for conversation. He spoke to make statements. He rarely spent time with Luke, as he didn’t have time for the airy-fairy ways of children, for their silly games and nonsense. The only thing that Elizabeth could see that her father liked about Luke was that he was an empty book, ready to be filled with information and not enough knowledge to question or criticize. Fairy tales and fantasy stories had no place with her father. She supposed that was the only belief they actually shared.
    She yawned and stretched and, still unable to open her eyes against the bright light, she instead felt around her bedside locker for her alarm clock. Although she woke up every morning at the same time, she never forgot to set her alarm. Her arm knocked against something cold and hard and it fell with a loud bang to the floor. Her sleepy heart jumped with fright.
    Hanging her head over the side of the bed, she caught sight of the iron poker lying on her white carpet. Her “weapon” also reminded her that she had to call Rentokil to get rid of the mice. She could sense them scurrying around her in the house all weekend and she had felt so paranoid that they were in her bedroom the past few nights that she could hardly sleep, although that wasn’t particularly unusual for her.
    She washed and dressed and after waking Luke, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Minutes later, with espresso in hand, she dialed the number to Rentokil. Luke wandered into the kitchen sleepily, blond hair tossed, dressed in an orange T-shirt half tucked into red shorts. The outfit was completed with odd socks and a pair of runners that lit up with every step he took.
    “Where’s Ivan?” he asked groggily, looking around the kitchen as though he’d never been in the room before in his life. He was like that every morning, it took him at least an hour to wake up even once he was dressed and walking around. During the dark winter mornings it took him even longer; Elizabeth supposed that somewhere into his morning classes at school he finally realized what he was doing.
    “Where’s Ivan?” he repeated to no one in particular.
    Elizabeth silenced him by holding her finger to her lips, and giving him a glare as she listened to the lady from Rentokil. He knew not to interrupt her when she was on the phone. “Well, I only noticed it this weekend. Since Friday lunchtime, actually, so I was wond—”
    “Ivan?” Luke yelled, and began wandering around the kitchen, looking under the table, behind the curtains, behind the doors. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. This carry-on again.
    “No, I haven’t actually seen—”
    “IVAAAAN?”
    “—one yet but I definitely feel that they’re around.” Elizabeth finished and tried to catch Luke’s eye so that she could give him the glare again.
    “Ivan WHERE ARE YOOOUUU?” Luke called.
    “Droppings? No, no droppings,” Elizabeth said, getting frustrated.
    Luke stopped shouting and his ears perked up. “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU PROPERLY.”
    “No, I don’t have any mousetraps. Look, I’m very busy, I don’t have time for twenty questions. Can’t someone just come out and check?” Elizabeth snapped.
    Luke suddenly ran from the kitchen and out into the hall. She heard him banging at the living room door. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE, Ivan?” He pulled at the handle.
    Elizabeth slammed down the phone after her conversation had ended. Luke was shouting through the living room door at full volume. Her blood boiled.
    “LUKE! GET IN HERE NOW!”
    The banging at the living room door stopped immediately. He shuffled slowly into the kitchen.
    “DON’T DRAG YOUR FEET!” she yelled.
    He lifted his feet and the lights on the soles of his runners flashed