Page 39 of Losing Control
“I wish that I could say the same, but Lucy has never mentioned you before.” I can feel both sets of eyes on me, and I wish that the ground would swallow me up.
“I did, Michael, but it was when we first started dating.” I feel hot. Suffocated.
“Well, that was a long time ago.”
“How about we all go for drinks on Friday night and then we can get to know each other?” Cal suggests.
I freeze in position, waiting to see what Michael’s response will be. A few seconds tick by before he answers. “Okay.”
“Great, I’ll give you a call, Luce, and we can arrange where to go and what time to meet,” Cal says before leaning in and placing a kiss on my cheek. “Speak soon.”
Cal says bye to Michael and then walks out of the office, the door closing behind him sounding louder than ever before.
“So, I guess that we have some things to talk about when we get home,” Michael says before he walks away and leaves me with an even bigger sense of dread.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Walking on eggshells
Michael had to practically drag me away from my desk this evening. I didn’t want to go home. I had been dreading it all afternoon. Now I am here, sat on the sofa, waiting for the argument to erupt. Michael is pouring us both a glass of wine, and he is taking his sweet time about it. I don’t know whether it just seems like he is going slow, or whether he is purposely making me sweat just a little bit more. If it is the latter, then it is working.
Nerves radiate through me.
My legs are jigging up and down, and my fingers are picking at imaginary thread on my skirt.
Michael puts the wine back in the fridge and makes his way over to me. Each step has me wanting to stand up and get the hell out of here. I don’t want a confrontation. I don’t want a repeat of the other night, and I also don’t want him to see just how scared I am of his reaction.
Be strong, Lucy.
He won’t hurt you again.
He promised that he wouldn’t.
No matter how many times I repeat this to myself, I still jump slightly when Michael sits beside me, passes me my glass, and places his hand on my knee.
“You don’t need to be so nervous,” he says as he sips his wine and then places the glass on the coffee table. I swig the wine, gulping down as much as I can to settle my nerves.
This isn’t normal, Lucy.
No one should be made to feel this way.
I will my mind to shut up.
“Now, let’s have that chat, shall we?” he says with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
“I didn’t know that Cal was going to turn up, I swear.” My words come out rushed. I can’t get them out quick enough.
“It’s okay, you can’t help someone coming to see you at work.” I look at him, feeling a little confused. I thought that he would have been more than pissed off by now, but he appears so calm and collected, the complete opposite to me. “Why don’t you tell me about how long you have known him, and how you became friends.”
Okay. He just wants an explanation. That I can do.
“We met when we were at high school together. Cal, Kim, Jeremy and I were inseparable, and we have been friends ever since. Cal went travelling eighteen months ago, and no one had any idea when he would be back.”
“So, why not tell me about him?”
“I did.”
“Not really. You may have mentioned his name, but you never said much more.”
