Page 94 of Falling for You
I wince as I hear a knock on my bedroom door and peel an eye open to see Tanya and Penny poking their heads around. As soon as Tanya sees me, she gasps and runs straight over, throwing her arms around my neck. This just makes me cry all over again.
‘Oh my God, Annie! What’s wrong?’
‘What’s going on? Is everyone okay?’ I feel a thud next to me as Penny sits on the bed.
‘Is it about us?’ Tanya says, her arms still firmly grippedaround my body. ‘We’ve been feeling so awful about it all weekend. I’m thinking about not taking the job so I can stay here with you both.’
‘And I’ll make Mike move in here,’ Penny adds. ‘It’ll be fine.’
I take a deep breath, my face hot from being squashed into Tanya’s face, and dab my cheeks with the back of my hands.
‘No,’ I say. ‘It’s not that.’
‘Well, then what?’ Tanya asks, her eyes wide. ‘What is it?’
‘Hang on.’ Penny holds up a hand. ‘Do we need tea, or wine?’
‘Wine,’ Tanya and I say in unison.
‘Okay.’ Penny scrambles to her feet. ‘Don’t start without me.’
Twenty minutes later and I’ve finished telling them the whole story. How I bumped into Nate at the train station, how my parents took him in, how we had dinner together, how we chatted, alone, for hours, how we kissed, how we slept together … how I found women’s underwear in his flat, strewn across the floor like they’d been freshly ripped off someone else’s body. The note telling him to call Jane if he needed ‘cheering up’.
‘Oh myGod!’ Tanya cries. ‘I can’t … I can’t believe that.’
‘What a bastard!’ Penny snarls, refilling my wine glass.
‘And you’re sure that’s what it was?’ Tanya says desperately. ‘You’re sure the bra didn’t belong to another flatmate, or a mate, or …’
I shake my head. ‘It’s just him and his brother, who’s gay.He said it was just the two of them. And he told me there wasn’t anyone else, I asked him.’
‘Fuck,’ Tanya holds her hands to her forehead, ‘I just … I’m so sorry, Annie. I can’t believe it.’
‘Neither can I.’
I take a deep breath, but it’s no use, my eyes are brimming with tears again in seconds.
‘Oh, Annie!’ Tanya wails. ‘Please don’t cry over him, he’s not worth it.’
‘What can we do to make you feel better?’ Penny says, leaning forward and touching my leg.
I shrug, rubbing my eyes. Tanya and Penny look at each other.
‘Okay,’ Tanya says. ‘That’s okay. We can sort this. I’ll run a bath.’
‘And I’ll make us a great dinner,’ Penny nods.
‘We can watchI’m a Celebritytonight,’ Tanya adds. ‘And I think we have more chocolate.’
‘And more wine.’
‘Please don’t,’ I smile weakly. ‘You girls don’t have to.’
Tanya gives me a warning look. ‘It’s what girlfriends are for.’
‘Oh!’ Penny adds, turning on her heel as she’s about to leave the room. ‘I think I have face packs, and I bought a new candle this weekend.’
I look at her through misted eyes. ‘You girls really are the best.’
