Page 102 of The Day After Christmas
‘Fine,’ said Adam.
Felicity and Sophie moved over to the window to give them some space and/or eavesdrop like the proper friends they were. Adam shot them a nervous glance. He’d obviously never seen Bex like this either.
There was a long silence. And finally, ‘I missed you so much,’ he breathed, taking Bex’s hand in his.
Bex looked at him for a long moment. ‘I missed you too,’ she said.
Felicity gripped Sophie’s arm silently. It was all she could do not to speak up.
Adam sighed with relief, pressing a palm to his chest. ‘Thank God. I’m so sorry, Bex. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think I need to go and see someone.’
Bex nodded furiously, taking his hand from his chest and holding it gently. ‘I said to Felicity, I wonder if you’ve got some sort of addiction, you know, like that actor.’
‘That was never proven,’ said Felicity from across the room.
They both completely ignored her.
Adam hung his head and Bex put a hand on his shoulder. Sophie rolled her eyes and muttered, ‘How stupid can you get?’ under her breath. They ignored that too.
‘I’m willing to get help,’ said Adam. ‘I have no idea what’s going on with me really but I’m happy to get help if that will make you feel better.’
‘I don’t think anything could make me feel better, Ads. You ruined my wedding day. I thought it was those girls, but it was you.’
Felicity held her breath. That wasn’t what she was expecting Bex to say, and it was clear from Adam’s expression that he felt the same.
‘Hey, I’m not sure that’s entirely fair,’ he began to say.
Sophie cut him off. ‘Let her speak,’ she hissed.
‘Yes, please let me speak, Adam,’ said Bex, suddenly almost deathly calm.
‘You’re right, I’m sorry.’
‘I’ve always known you were in love with Felicity,’ began Bex.
Felicity tried not to cough or make a single sound. She was praying they’d forgotten she was in the room.
Adam opened his mouth to protest but Bex held up a hand.
‘Let her speak for God’s sake, man,’ said Sophie again.
Adam finally nodded, got up from his crouching position and sat opposite Bex on the sofa.
‘Sorry. Go ahead. I won’t say anything else.’
His brow was crumpled. Felicity wondered if maybe he did have proper feelings for Bex after all. Perhaps he’d only just realised. Too little… in typical fashion. But was it too late?
‘Thank you,’ said Bex with a deep sigh. ‘Look, I’ve always known you were in love with Felicity. That was one thing. You two have history and that’s something I could cope with knowing, somehow. Those feelings would always be there, and I knew that but I also knew Felicity would never cheat on me or try to take you from me. I just knew.’
Adam nodded slowly.
Bex went on. ‘But the thing I can’t handle, the thing that really gets to me, Ads, is those other women. You were sleeping with at least one of them the whole time. While we were planning the wedding. While you were sleeping with me. While you were telling me I was the only one for you until the end of time. It’s just despicable.’
Adam grabbed a perfectly primped cushion and began fiddling with the tassels around the edge. To his credit, he still didn’t speak.
‘And to find that out on my wedding day,’ said Bex, with venom. ‘To find that out in front of everyone that I love. In front of Felicity, in front of my mother of all people. To find out that you had been round the block more times than a postman.’ She smiled faintly at her own weak analogy. ‘To find that out, Adam. On my wedding day. In front of everyone like that. I think you’ve taken every scrap of any dignity I may have had left.’
‘I never meant to do that,’ said Adam at last.
