Day 76

Chapter Fourteen

Julie put the used wine glasses into the dishwasher. It seemed to take for ever – she was not working at the speed of light. Her muscles were slow, her arms felt heavy and her heart had sunk somewhere in her boots.

“Put in on programme two, it’s longer,” Pat said as she walked up to Julie. But she knew that Julie was in a world of her own. She had lied and now Julie, her best friend for ever, knew that she was a liar. She know that Julie would be questioning their years of friendship – how many other lies had there been?

Julie closed the door and pressed button 2. A whirr. A whoosh and the machine took over.

“Let’s have some tea,” Pat said and busied herself with tea bags and teapots and mugs. Displacement.

Julie sat slowly on the sofa and studied the top of the coffee table – her stare blank and lifeless.

“So, let me get this right, the picture in the bungalow of your wedding is true – you did marry Patrick. You didn’t get on with his parents and you both thought they would try and stop you marrying. So, you did it in secret. But it didn’t last very long – a mistake. So, you went into denial?”

Pat nodded almost too furiously, her face brightening as she hoped to get Julie back on side.

“But you didn’t tell me? You couldn’t tell me anything about it? Me? Me, who has seen you through measles, and losing your virginity and the awful phase where you became a goth? You couldn’t tell me?”