‘Right – okay,’ she said.
I laughed – partly relieved and partly amused. ‘You sound disappointed.’
‘Not really, I just… I don’t know… I got it in my head that maybe Tommy was there and I was worried… But you would have said something if he was, right?’
Er, no, Claude. Turns out I wouldn’t have, I thought guiltily.
‘Anyway, never mind,’ she said. ‘I told you it was mad.’
She sounded almost wistful, and I didn’t know what to say. Maybe I’d got it wrong. Maybe if I’d told Claude the truth from the onset, she would have been a friendly ear, commiserating that I’d been trapped on a tiny island with the only man I’d ever truly loved.
But it was too late to be truthful.
‘Don’t you miss him sometimes?’ she asked quietly, and it was as if she’d slapped me.
‘How do you mean?’ I stammered, fighting the lump forming in my throat.
‘Just that… I know how much you loved him.’
‘Claude, I…’ I swallowed hard, trying like mad to shake off the encroaching gloom.
‘I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. Besides, an ex is an ex for a reason, right?’ she asked with a faux lilt to her voice.
‘True,’ I agreed. It may have been a foundational principle of the Divorced Diva platform, but it was also a timely reminder that there were reasons Tommy and I were no longer together.Solidreasons.
Right?
Only, the primary reason I left the marriage was because he chose his job over me – a job he no longer had.
Then again, his current situation wasn’t much better – working on a remote island a day’s travel from London.Andhe had a girlfriend. At least, that’s how it seemed.
‘So,’ said Claude brightly. Clearly, a change of subject was imminent. ‘How was today? I want all the envy-inducing details.’
Relieved to be back on steadier ground, I reached for the Metaxa, then regaled Claude with the highlights, spending the most time talking aboutYiayiá.
‘Oh, she sounds like a character,’ Claude said, laughing.
It warmed my heart to hear her laugh like that – it was a rarity. She was so straightforward, so purposeful and single-minded. It made me all the more certain that Claude would benefit from time on Aetheria. And she’d loveYiayiá.
‘You need to come here and meet her yourself,’ I said.
I could easily picture the two of them together. I had no doubt thatYiayiáwould see beneath Claude’s tough shell, then do her best to crack it. She’d have Claude opening up in no time, helping her get back to the Claude she was before her marriage to The Twat.
I’d done my best to help Claude, living with the constant awareness that I hadn’t succeeded. But sometimes it took a stranger, one with a big heart, to break through an emotional fortress.
‘I’m considering it,’ Claude replied, sounding a teeny bit closer to agreeing than she had last night.
‘Excellent.’
‘Mmm. Look, I’ll let you go – and sorry again about… you know…’
‘Not to worry,’ replied my inner stoic.
We ended the call and I sipped my Metaxa, revisiting the lies I’d told my sister.
The big one had seemed unavoidable, which made the lies by omission – skirting all mentions of Tommy – unavoidable by extension. But I regretted every single one.
I should have told Claude about Tommy the first night, but I was certain she would have convinced me that being on Aetheria withtwoexes was far too much to contend with.
