The Girl in the Corner by Amanda Prowse

Author:Amanda Prowse [Prowse, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-12-10T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Rae slept well after eventually falling asleep in the early hours. She had forgotten how exhausting distress could be. When she woke with a slight headache and swollen eyes, Dolly was already up, dressed in her hot-pink linen trousers and tunic – which clashed gloriously with her red hair – and sitting on the terrace.

Rae took a deep breath and approached with a feeling of trepidation, alien to her when thinking of her friend.

‘Morning.’ Rae stretched and stood on the edge of the balcony, looking out over the garden to the beach beyond, letting the sun’s rays on her face help restore her wellbeing. Their heated words, fired like arrows, sat in her breast. She could feel the puncture wounds through everything she held dear. She waited to hear Dolly speak, knowing her words and manner would set the tone for the day. She didn’t have long to wait, and her relief was instant.

‘You have had a good old sleep, snoring and farting like a trooper.’

‘That, Dolly Latimer, is rich coming from you. Give me a mo to jump in the shower and we can go and get some breakfast.’

‘I’m not hungry.’

‘Are you sick?’ Rae asked, only half-joking.

‘No, just got no appetite.’

‘Oh my God – you are pregnant!’

‘Very funny. No, I just feel a bit . . .’ She shrugged.

‘Because of all the things I said?’ Rae sat on the lounger next to her friend.

‘Yes. But particularly one thing. Did you mean it: am I that pushy?’ It was a rare flash of self-consciousness from her extrovert friend.

Rae nodded. ‘You are, but neither I nor any one of us would change a single thing about you. You are the glue, Dolly. The energy. And, to steal your words, we love you, all of us.’ She reached out and took her friend’s hand into her own, knowing that, despite their frank exchange, they were still mates and needed the close contact to bring healing. In truth she hadn’t planned what she wanted to say; but now her words were out in the open, Rae hoped they would help them find a way forward on a more open footing. ‘I know some of what I said yesterday didn’t make sense – it doesn’t to me – but it was just the best way I could describe how completely overwhelmed I feel by everything. And how I don’t know which way to turn. I don’t want to forgive and forget if it means I am a pushover or that he might do it again. And I meant it: the only reason it hurts is because I love him.’ She bit her lip and looked out over the sea as this admission sank in. ‘I love him so much, I always have, and I am only just able to admit that now that my anger is fading a little. And I can see how being in the company of someone who flatters you makes you feel nice.’

‘You are talking about Spanish-octopus-cocktail guy.’

‘Yes.’ Rae smiled.

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