“Is that a good enough reason to stay?”
“No. Of course not. I suppose I just feel that I’ve invested so much time in this relationship. It’s so hard to throw it all away overnight.”
“I understand.”
We’re quiet for a moment. I sip my coffee, watching the seagulls wheeling around the fishing boats heading out to sea.
“I miss you,” she says.
My lips slowly curve up. “I miss you, too.”
“I keep thinking about Saturday night.”
“Me too.”
“I’ve never felt like that before,” she says softly.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. You made me feel… special.”
“You are special, Beth. Every man should treat the love of his life like a princess.”
“Jude’s never made me feel like that.”
I don’t say anything, but I frown.
“You met Chrissie, right?” she asks.
I continue to frown. Chrissie was a girl that Jude dated for three years while they were at university. He was absolutely crazy about her, and he asked her to marry him. But she said they were too young, and she wanted to travel. They argued about it, and eventually she left and ended up traveling around the world. Last I heard, she was living in Australia.
“Yeah,” I say.
“He still wears the ring she got him,” she says.
I know. I don’t reply.
“Do you think she was the love of his life?”
I close my eyes for a moment. Do I answer as Jude’s friend? As Beth’s friend? As a therapist? Or as her hopeful lover?
I open my eyes. “They broke up, so clearly something was amiss.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Only Jude can answer it properly. I think the point is that if he doesn’t make you feel as if you’re the love of his life, there’s a problem.”
“Yeah.”
I finish off my coffee. “Are you still staying at Kim’s?”
“I will tonight. But I’m going to ask around at work and see if anyone needs a house sitter or something. I need some time on my own.”
I feel a twinge of disappointment that she hasn’t asked if she can move in with me, but of course that’s ridiculous. The good news is that she’s not going straight back to Jude. She’s right; she needs time to put her relationship behind her, otherwise she’ll be on the rebound, and although I don’t care, it might not end well if she realizes she moved too fast.
“That makes sense,” I tell her. “I’ll ask around too, see if anyone knows of a place.”
“It’s February, so everywhere is going to be full. But I’m hoping something will turn up.” She sighs. “Okay I’d better get ready for work. Are you busy again today?”
