“Hey, girls,” Corrie cheers, completely oblivious. “What’s up?!”
When I look up at her, her face falls. She sinks into the empty chair next to mine. “Gabbie… what’s wrong?”
I’m crying now. I was hoping to avoid this, but there was no way I could when Kayla spoke in that soft soothing voice, and contemplated me with those big doe eyes of hers.
I’ve opened the flood gates. I’ve started the movie. I’ve read the prologue. I can’t just end it here, and say, ‘No, seriously, it’s fine. Everything’s good. I don’t even know why I’m crying.’ It’s too late for that.
I decide to get straight to it, and get it over with. “I just found out that John is cheating on me.”
They all stare at me without a word, mouths agape and eyes wide. The silence seems to be endless, and I wordlessly plead with them to say something.
Corrie is the first to speak. “That little asshole, I’m going to kill him.”
I smile a little. That’s so Corrie.
“What happened?” Kayla asks. “With whom?”
I swallow hard. “With another author,” I tell her. “Pretty, smart, successful,” I point out. “You know John… only the best for him.” I don’t tell them her name, and they don’t ask.
Corrie shakes her head.
“Oh, Gabbie,” Maeve chimes in. “What does this mean?”
I can’t answer because I’m not quite sure myself. Will we break-up? I hope not. But can I get past this? I don’t know.
Corrie steals a sip from Kayla’s tea. “You kicked him out, I hope.”
I shrug. “Well, no. He’s sleeping in the guest room.”
“What are you waiting for?” she snaps. “Kick the little fucker out.”
Her words almost make me smile. Yeah, he is a little fucker.
“It’s not that simple,” Maeve cuts in, the voice of reason. “They have two kids, and they made vows.”
“Vows, my ass,” Corrie argues. “He broke those vows when he cheated on her.”
Maeve is a dreamer, and Corrie a realist. And Corrie was married and separated so she sees this whole thing from a different angle, and she’s been through this before.
“Can you forgive him?” Maeve asks. Her pretty brown eyes fix me, silently hoping for a ‘yes’. Maeve is the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet. She has a child-like innocence, and has never lived a hard day in her life, save for the death of her father. She wears pretty dresses and cardigans, and always has a pretty smile on her face. Maeve doesn’t like conflict, can’t quite face reality. And I don’t want to let her down. “I don’t know, Maeve,” I tell her honestly.
“These things can be worked out,” Kayla says. “My friend’s sister is a counsellor, and does couples therapy—”
I shake my head. “No, I don’t want therapy.” Sitting on an uncomfortable chair in front of a stranger, and telling her all our problems isnotgoing to make me less angry. If anything, it’ll make me more upset.
“But…” Kayla says, at a loss for words.
“I have another plan,” I tell them. The girls and I share everything, and I don’t see why I should hide this from them. They’ll wonder why I’m flying off to Denmark out of the blue. I might as well tell them.
They’re all wide-eyed, waiting for me to elaborate.
“What?!” Corrie asks. “What plan?”
“Remember the guy I met on the Internet, the one I told you about?”
Corrie sits up straighter. “The hot one with the scooter?!”
I nod. “Well, he and I have become friends—”
