Page 54 of Swiping Right (and other disasters)

“I started planning. He had been away before, and he’d do it again. I had to take my chances because I couldn’t keep living like this. Without Athena, I saw it for what it was.”

“And what was that?” asked Geri.

“A cult.”

It was the first time she’d used the word, and Kiera found herself breathing out a sigh of relief. For the first time, her ex-wife could see what had happened. Although she knew this was really just the beginning for Chrissie.

The conversation carried on for several hours before Geri drew things to a close and said she would be back in touch soon. “Can she stay here with you?” she asked, turning to Kiera. Kiera nodded. She didn’t really want Chrissie to stay with her, it was all too much, but she didn’t want to say that to the officer, and she really didn’t know where else Chrissie could go. She seemed to have cut ties with almost everyone else in her life. She wasn’t Kiera’s responsibility. She knew that rationally, but she didn’t feel she could send her away now, after everything that had happened.

“I’m so sorry,” said Chrissie after Geri had left.

“You’ve said that,” said Kiera wearily.

“No, I mean for all of it. I couldn’t see what was in front of me. I’d stopped seeing you. Lucian filled my brain with poison and before I knew what I was doing, I was with Athena, I was pushing you away, I was hurting you. I will regret that for as long as I live.”

It wasn’t that Kiera didn’t believe her, but she still wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. Her brain was still thundering, but she could feel the defeat in Chrissie’s voice and felt an unexpected sympathy for her. This wasn’t a play. She moved over to sit beside Chrissie on the sofa and placed an arm around her shoulder. It was the first time she’d touched her ex-wife since they’d got back; the first time since they’d separated.

“Let me put it all right, if I can?” said Chrissie, her eyes pleading and looking into Kiera’s.

Kiera’s breath caught in her throat. Somewhere, deep down, she could see the Chrissie she used to know. The one she had married.

Chapter Forty

The next day, Kiera found herself at Seymour’s flat, waiting to be let in. She hadn’t called in advance, because she didn’t have any idea what she could possibly say. But she knew she owed some kind of explanation. She hoped that seeing Seymour in person would help.

Seymour’s eyes opened wide when she saw Kiera. “Hi,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d see you.”

“No,” said Kiera, “and I’m sorry about that. It really had nothing to do with you, at all.”

“Oh,” said Seymour, her eyes slightly red. Had she been crying?

“I mean, I didn’t run away from you. I just had to go and deal with something.”

“But you did run away, though. Didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” said Kiera, looking at her shoes. “Can we go for a walk?”

“I guess,” said Seymour, vanishing briefly to grab a thin jacket. “Let’s go. But you need to talk to me. To tell me what happened.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

They strolled down Station Road, passing vast numbers of Edwardian terraced houses, each one slightly different, in spite of their original uniformity. Kiera tried to tell the story as best she could, hampered by the fatigue she could now feel hitting her. When they reached Kings Heath Park she was still talking, and Seymour hadn’t said a word.

“So,” said Seymour, slowly, when at last Kiera paused, “you ran out on me because your ex-wife who dumped you, divorced you and stole your savings rang you needing to be rescued from a cult?”

It didn’t sound great when put like that.

“And you want to be with her now?”

“No,” said Kiera, “I didn’t say that.”

“But you’re saying she wants to be with you?”

“I don’t know. She’s a mess right now. She’s been through this utterly traumatic experience and lost everything and she needs someone. I don’t mean a girlfriend or a wife, but someone.” They stopped in front of a bench which looked out over the duck pond. Kiera sat down. Seymour didn’t.

“But does that have to be you?” asked Seymour.

Kiera looked up. “She’s got no one else.”

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