‘Vic, listen to me. Don’t you ever think like that again, you hear me? Whatever happens, we always have each other, OK? I promise to do right by you forever. And I really mean that.’
Vic’s cheeks were strewn with tears that mingled with the rain. ‘I’m scared, Danny.’ She wiped her coat sleeve across her face.
‘So am I, but we’ve got this. We’ve got this together. The treatments are getting better. We are young and fit and, who knows, they might find a cure soon and all of this will just have been an awful nightmare.’
Leading her back to the shore, without a word, they turned to face each other. The rain plastered Vic’s hair to her face and soaked through their clothes, but in that moment, none of it mattered. All the fear and hurt that had built up suddenly dissipated. For in the vastness of a wild ocean, they sensed their own smallness, their shared humanity. They wrapped their arms around each other, gripping on as if just being together would make them strong enough to withstand any storm.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Danny whispered, his voice muffled against Vic’s neck.
‘Me too,’ Vic replied.
The rain fell harder, drenching them further, but they barely noticed. The world as they now knew it had narrowed down to the warmth of their embrace, the steady beat of each other’s hearts and the quiet acceptance that their chance meeting had led to a whole lot more than either of them had ever bargained for.
SIXTEEN
WINDSOR
New Year’s Eve
Vic was in Orla’s place making a cup of coffee when she heard the front door fly open and a loud commotion in the hallway. She poked her head around the door to see her spirited housemate throwing her bags and coat onto the floor, then stumbling to the lounge with an anguished groan. On following her through, and finding her friend face down on the sofa, Vic couldn’t help but laugh.
‘I am never fecking drinking again,’ Orla stated dramatically, running her free hand through her unruly black curls. Vic was not in the mood for going anywhere, let alone wishing anyone a happy new year, and she breathed a huge sigh of instant relief.
‘Ma O’Malley decided that a leaving party for her firstborn in the local pub was a clever idea. I mean, Ireland is only an hour’s flight away and I’m already booked to go over on my birthday. You would think she’s never seeing me again. Anyways, I’m ruined. I had a whisky on the flighthome to try and ease my head, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt this shit before in my whole life.’
‘If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard you say that… Coffee?’
Orla looked up at her friend. ‘Bejasus, you look pretty banjaxed yourself.’
Vic took a deep breath. This was her chance to tell all. But once she did, their friendship would be different and she didn’t want it to be different. Maybe just one more day. Tears rushed to the back of her eyes. ‘I haven’t slept much. Nate has gone AWOL and…’
‘He’ll be back. You know what he’s like. Shit, I take it you told him about Blondie, then?’
Vic nodded. Telling him she had been unfaithful would have been like telling him she had won the lottery now she knew what she knew. One thing her dad had taught her was that in life there was always a solution to everything – except for death. He should have added death and HIV because, at the moment, it felt nothing was going to be easy now that she knew she had a virus with such fear and misunderstanding connected to it.
Orla groaned. ‘I think I just need to get into bed for a bit; a nana nap will sort me right out and I’ll feel grand later.’
Vic bit her lip. ‘Orla. I’m sorry to let you down but I don’t think I’m up for a big one later. What with me and Nate and…’
‘Don’t be stupid, the craic is what you need. It’ll do you good to let your hair down.’
‘Says the woman who’s never drinking again,’ Vic replied flatly, then shouted back as she walked through to the kitchen, ‘I’m really sorry, Orla, but I’m going to go to Mum’s for the night. All I feel like doing is watching Jools and his Hootenanny and snuggling up with Chandler.’
Taking Orla’s silence as a sulk, Vic walked back through to the lounge, shook her head, and managed a smile. For,lying flat out on the sofa, was her beautiful friend, absolutely sparko, a thin line of dribble running from her mouth.
Vic turned into her mum’s road to see an RSPCA van parked on the driveway.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ she said aloud, standing still for a second to gather her thoughts ready for the fight to keep Chandler where he really did belong.
Tentatively entering the house, Vic saw no sign of Chandler, or any occupants from the van, for that matter – just her mother at the kitchen table, a large vodka and tonic in hand.
‘You said they’d come and take him.’ Kath emitted a huge ugly sob. ‘I always feed him, and I know I don’t walk him as much as I should, but he loves running around the garden and he’s healthy, Vic, and happy. I know he is. What am I going to do without my boy?’ She began to wail.
‘Slow down, it’s OK.’ Vic continued talking to her mum as if she were a child. ‘Where is Chandler? Did they take him? Where is he, Mum? The van is still out there. I don’t get it.’
‘I don’t know. I was upstairs, came down and he was gone.’
‘So you didn’t let anyone in?’
