Page 69 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 38

“What took you so long?” Heather rushed to the door the minute Melissa walked in. She shook her head, drained—that’s how she felt. This evening had sapped all strength from her. She was relieved to be back home. After shrugging out of her coat, she sank down on the sofa. “I was talking to Noah.”

Heather flopped down beside her. “Imagine my surprise when he walks out of the apartment and quickly moves me back down the stairs. Christ, Melissa. What is this threesome thing you’ve got going?”

Melissa lifted her head and angled it towards her friend. “Don’t say that. Imagine my shock when I found out Noah lived there.”

“When did you find out? Did you know they knew each other?”

“No. I swear. I had no idea. I don’t know how they know each other, all I know is Noah only recently moved in. I found out on New Year’s Day, when I left after talking to Matt.” She paused, took a breath. “I walked out and we bumped into Noah.”

Heather’s eyebrows shifted about half an inch towards the ceiling. “Right after the night you and Noah had been rubbing lips together?”

“Don’t say it like that,” groaned Melissa.

“What did Noah say?”

“He didn’t say much.”

“I bet he didn’t.”

“He didn’t make out he knew me either. He thinks I’ve been two-timing him.”

“Ya think?” Heather’s sarcasm was at its peak. In a softer voice, she added, “No wonder you were so pissed off—so out of it that day you came back.” If that’s what Heather believed about that day, it was fine with her.

Melissa sighed, pulling a hand down her face. “It’s been a nightmare—this thing with Matt. I tried to tell Matt, that day, that we were over and he was … horrible.”

Heather’s face scrunched up. “What do you mean?”

Melissa paused. She couldn’t talk about it—the shame of that day. Some things were better kept to herself. Just as she planned to do with Noah, she was only going to mention the things that were mandatory.

“What do you mean, Melissa? Did he hurt you?” Heather persisted.

Melissa squeezed her eyes shut and slowly shook her head from side to side. “No.” She swallowed. This was getting harder to keep to herself. She’d bottled it up, hoping she could relegate it to some remote place inside her, where in time she would forget. But the bottled up simmering feeling, suppressed inside a finite space, now screamed for release.

“Did you get what you went for?” asked Heather, obviously trying a different tactic.

“Kind of,” Melissa sank her head back into the headrest, feeling hungry but not having the time or the energy to get up and cook.

“What was it?” demanded Heather.

Melissa opened her eyes again, wishing her friend wasn’t so insistent. “It’s nothing I can show you. I deleted it.” She had no intention of showing anyone what was on the memory stick.

Heather’s brow knit together. “Deleted what?”

“Some things.”

“What things?” Heather’s voice grew sharper and when Melissa said nothing, she leaned in towards her. “What things Melissa? You’re scaring me. I’m thinking all kinds of crazy stuff here.”

“He had some photos of me,” Melissa confessed, and sat forward. “We used to goof around.” Heather didn’t need to know the full details, or the whole truth. She didn’t need to know how Melissa didn’t want the photos taken but hadn’t had the courage to say no to him.

“Photos?”

“Yeah, you know. Messing around in my clothes—or underwear—kind of thing…”

“Well, they can be kind of fun—” Heather started, then saw the look on Melissa’s face, “unless you don’t feel comfortable about doing that stuff.”

“That’s it. I felt uncomfortable with him having them.”

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