Page 10 of Taking Control
“You can go for lunch with her tomorrow, that should be enough to pacify her for a while.”
“Whatever you think is best,” I reply, trying to hide my delight at having taken control of that conversation without him even realising it.
Michael returns to the cooking and tries to save the now-burnt sauce.
Now all I have to do is convince Kim to have lunch with me tomorrow, and then I can tell her all about my plan.
Chapter Nine
Unexpected interruptions
I convinced Kim to have lunch.
Now we’re sat in a quiet café with our sandwiches on the table, untouched. I am way too nervous to eat, and I suspect that Kim feels the same. My stomach churns as I try to find the correct words to begin the conversation that I need to have with her.
I have been scanning the front door every few seconds, making sure that Michael isn’t going to appear. I wouldn’t put it past him, but so far there’s no sign of him.
“So, what’s this about, Lucy?” Kim asks, her whole demeanour defensive. She doesn’t look like she wants to be here at all, and it leaves me with a sinking feeling that this is what has become of our friendship.
“I just… I just want to explain things to you.” I try to sound confident, but I can’t mask my nerves in front of Kim.
“You mean, you want to explain how you chose Michael, went back to him and dropped me and Cal without a second thought?” Her eyes harden as she speaks and I realise just how much I have hurt her.
“I didn’t drop either of you guys, I would never want to lose you or Cal––”
“Really?” Kim says cutting me off. “Well, then you seriously need to think about how your actions look to us, Lucy. We tried to help you, Cal even came to get you. You had every opportunity to leave Michael, but you didn’t. You chose to stay with him, and that is what hurts, Lucy. All of those months I watched you suffer at his hands. All of those times he belittled you and made you feel worthless. Hell, he’s still doing it now, and I can’t watch him do that to you. I can’t watch as you continue to become a shell of your former self.”
Her words bring tears to my eyes.
I thought that I was doing the right thing by trying to get out of this relationship on my own, but in this moment, I doubt myself. I doubt my decisions, and I doubt whether I can actually do this without knowing that Kim is going to be there at the end of it.
“Kim, please, there are reasons for me doing this,” I say, trying to reaffirm to myself as well as her that I have chosen the correct path.
“Well, go on then, enlighten me because I sure as hell don’t understand why you are still with him.”
“Didn’t you read my letter?”
“Of course I did, but an apology in a letter isn’t going to cut it, Lucy. I need to understand, I want to understand, and ultimately, I just want my best friend back.”
I take a deep breath, I’m ready to lay it all out, tell her the truth, relieve myself of the weight if it all, when I hear the door to the café open and my eyes connect with Michael’s.
He’s smiling at me, but I can’t smile back.
Kim has her back to the door, so she is unaware that the devil has just walked in. That is until he is stood beside our table.
“Ladies,” he greets us and bends down, placing a kiss on the top of my head. “Enjoying your lunch?” He’s got his nice guy act on. Trouble is, he’s trying to fool the wrong people.
“We were,” Kim replies as she stares daggers at him.
“Oh, come on, Kim, can’t we just be friends now that you two are sorting things out?” he says, trying to keep his tone light. Kim looks at him with pure disgust before picking up her bag and vacating her seat.
“It was nice talking to you, Lucy,” she says before adding, “But I’m not sure that our friendship can be salvaged at this point in time.” And with that, she turns away and leaves the café, the sound of the door shutting behind her seeming to echo all around me.
Sadness and disappointment grip me.
I was so close to telling her, so close to trying to mend our broken friendship, but he had to ruin it.
He made sure that I didn’t have enough time to tell her shit.
