Me. Her. Him - Chapter 61

by Jacob1395

Background
Angela has spent nearly half her life hiding from a man in her past. But when he finally tracks her down, it isn't him she's scared of. It's what he knows.

Background: Angela is shocked when William, an old friend from her past, who she hoped never to see again, comes back into her life, after he applies for a role at her work and successfully secures the job. William’s sudden reappearance puts Angela on edge. She’s terrified he’s discovered her secret, which she needs to protect her family from. William’s convinced Angela knows what happened to his former girlfriend, Caz, who hasn't been seen for twenty years, and that something terrible happened to her. The only person, who can help Angela, is her once best friend, Michelle, but Angela hasn’t seen Michelle for more than a decade. Faced with the threat of William’s return, they know they’ll need to work together to save their future, even if this does mean reopening old wounds, and revisiting a past they'd rather keep buried.

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January 2002

Caz is really beginning to show now. It’s been three months since she turned up on our doorstep begging for help. I was meant to have a conversation with her a few days after she turned up, to talk about next steps, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, and now we’re four months down the bloody line. I’m sure Michelle would’ve done it in a heartbeat, but for some reason she’s leaving this for me to deal with. Probably because she thinks I’ve made this mess and I need to clean it up. Now, I’m sure Caz thinks we’re going to let her stay permanently, and that she doesn’t need to look for a place to stay. I know she hasn’t been in contact with the council. She can’t even help around the house really, because of her condition. She’s already taken over my room, the room that used to belong to Lauren and Hayley, and I’m back in with Michelle.

‘Do you realise its two years now since Caz said she never wanted to see us again?’ Michelle says as we both make our way to work one morning, leaving Caz behind in the apartment by herself, watching an old episode of Friends.

‘Yeah, I know,’ I say, rolling my shoulders back and forth, my breath coming out in a fog.

‘Well, she seems to think we’re her best friends again,’ Michelle says, her voice coming out snarky. ‘What is she three months, nearly four months pregnant now? She’s not going to expect us to help her give birth in five months’ time, is she?’

‘No of course not,’ I say, wrapping my coat around me tighter. I can’t even think of that. ‘We just need to find her a place to stay and then we’ll . . .’

‘Oh come off it, Angela. You’re not going to suggest to her that she moves out while she’s pregnant, are you?’

She’s right. How can we throw her out while she’s still pregnant? We’ll be doing exactly what William did to her. I don’t want Caz to compare us to him. The thought of it makes me shudder. Perhaps we should wait until she’s had the baby at least.

‘I just need some more time to think about it,’ I say.

‘Angela, we’re the ones working here, and bringing in the cash, while Caz is at ours practically living off of the income we supply. I was happy to help her out when she needed the help, but this is going on for far too long. She’s never told us the reason why she won’t speak to her family. She needs to stop moping about it and get in contact with them. It’s probably been years since whatever it was that went on, happened between them. I bet you anything they’d actually be quite pleased to speak to her, if she was to get in contact with them.’

I look briefly at Michelle’s scrunched up face. She’s right, we can’t continue to keep propping Caz up. If only I had the contact details for her family, then I could get in contact with them myself and see if they’ll speak to Caz again. Perhaps they would actually tell me what happened. But Caz hasn’t even told me their names.

Right now, there’s nothing we can do. For the foreseeable future, we’re stuck in this situation with Caz, and I don’t know what to do.

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Character List:

Angela Watkins - Protagonist

Paul Watkins - Angela's husband

Rebecca Watkins - Angela's daughter

Michelle Blake - Angela's former best friend

Kirsty - Receptionist (Angela's friend)

Olivia - Angela's boss

William Harris - Angela's former friend

Caroline (Caz) - Angela's friend

Hayley - Angela's former friend